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Phil, Helen, Monica, Selma and Richard — Petraits Rescueon July 23, 2020 at 1:19 pm

Pets in need of homes

Phil, Helen, Monica, Selma and Richard — Petraits Rescue

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Vengeance is ours, saith the gangson July 23, 2020 at 2:02 pm

The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

Vengeance is ours, saith the gangs

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My life as a cotton-growing, slave-owning Southern white gentlemanon July 23, 2020 at 3:29 pm

The Chicago Board of Tirade

My life as a cotton-growing, slave-owning Southern white gentleman

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Cubs set Opening Day 30-man rosteron July 23, 2020 at 4:53 pm

Cubs Den

Cubs set Opening Day 30-man roster

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New championships bobbleheads released of the Bulls’ Armstrong, Cartwright, Grant and Paxsonon July 23, 2020 at 4:54 pm

ChicagoNow Staff Blog

New championships bobbleheads released of the Bulls’ Armstrong, Cartwright, Grant and Paxson

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New championships bobbleheads released of the Bulls’ Armstrong, Cartwright, Grant and Paxsonon July 23, 2020 at 4:54 pm Read More »

Wearing a mask a la Trumpon July 23, 2020 at 6:44 pm

The Quark In The Road

Wearing a mask a la Trump

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Wearing a mask a la Trumpon July 23, 2020 at 6:44 pm Read More »

Chicagoland Drive-In Concert to Be Headlined by DaBabyon July 23, 2020 at 5:38 pm

Thankfully, and despite all the other cancellations for summer events this season on account of the coronavirus pandemic, drive-in theaters have made a surging comeback to bring some semblance of entertainment for families and folk across the board. In that same vein, PR Pop-Ups, a Black-owned entertainment company, is bringing a novel experience to the Chicagoland area. Instead of a movie, PR Pop-Ups is bringing a drive-in concert to the Chicagoland area this weekend, one that will be headlined by rap superstar DaBaby.

Photo Credit: PR Pop-Ups

The Headlights Festival is the first of its kind in the Midwest, and hopes to inspire a new wave of entertainment and live-listening in a time where we, as a whole, have had to adopt new normals. In a statement, Headlights Festival co-creator Rita Lee said, “we understand the need to be responsible amid this pandemic, however, we know there is a desire for live entertainment options after months of virtual communications. We’re excited to announce this will be the first of many live drive-in concerts coming to the Chicagoland area.”

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Beginning July 24th and running until July 26th, Headlights Festival will take place at Cross Pointe Park in Hazel Crest. Attendees will be able to enjoy a lineup of artists and DJs across varying genres on the sprawling 14 acres of land. Part of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit The Support Group, a local nonprofit organization, and other charities.

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Friday, July 24th, will bring festival-goers sets from The Chosen Few DJs, kicking off their first live performances in months since the start of the pandemic. On Saturday, July 26th, former NFL wide receiver, Napalm, will open the set, followed by DJ Drama and friends, and finally, DaBaby will headline the Saturday fun. The best part is that on Saturday, there will be two (yes, dos!) shows with the exact same lineup, so no one has to miss out on the extravagant fun. 

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The final day of the festival will be headlined by Keke Wyatt and Charles Jenkins. Openers include DJ Tony Neal, Slique Jay Adams, Uneqka, and Keedron Bryant, the last of which went viral on social media for this song “I Just Wanna Live.” The song was an anthem for the protests that happened following the killing of George Floyd.

Social distancing measures will, of course, be in place to ensure every patron’s safety. Masks will be encouraged for when people are not in their vehicles, and while patrons aren’t allowed to cook or grill on the premises, they are allowed to bring pre-cooked food and beverages. Tickets start at $100 per car with a maximum of four people allowed to be covered (any additional passengers will require further ticket purchases) and can jump all the way up to $2,000 for a private cabana that includes two bottles, a catered meal for up to eight, and a private server. To purchase tickets and check out their full list of options, head to their page.

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Featured Image Credit: DaBaby Facebook Page

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Chicago Bulls: Boylen’s impact will be for more than ‘just one season’on July 23, 2020 at 11:00 am

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

The Chicago Bulls are playing a dangerous game.

The Chicago Bulls are playing a dangerous game with the current status of their head coach, Jim Boylen. It is one that will almost certainly come back to haunt them if they make the wrong decision.

Let us first start with where we are regarding the status of the much-maligned Bulls head coach. Beginning at the time the 2020 NBA season was suspended, there was a lot of strong talk coming from Chicago and national media, that the Bulls would move on from Boylen. Some prognosticators used stronger language than others, but by and large, it was difficult to imagine a scenario where he would be the head coach in 2021.

However, as time drug on and no move was made to fire Boylen, that position softened quite a bit. Now, those within the media are not certain at all — and in fact — many are starting to believe that there is a very real possibility Boylen does return.

Why? Not because he is a good head coach — though ownership apparently does. Rather, it’s because they do not have the appetite to pay two coaches next season. In the 2019-20 season, Boylen’s contract was guaranteed for just $1 million of his $1.6 million salary.

The fact that a couple of a million dollars would influence such a critical decision for a team valued at $3.2 billion as of February 2020, boggles the mind. It underscores the frugality that has become the hallmark of this franchise in recent memory.

From the Bulls perspective, it’s just one season. That logic is flawed in so many ways. One season can do irreparable damage. Anyone in Chicago remember the impact of the Chicago Bears retaining John Fox in 2017 even though they likely planned to move on from him once his contract had expired at season’s end? Hiring Matt Nagy before the 2017 NFL Draft may have resulted in Patrick Mahomes being in orange and blue.

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So with all due respect to the Reinsdorf family, one season can have significant impacts. For starters, you have a team whose morale seems to be at an all-time low. Very few, if any, of the players like Boylen. In fact, they appear pretty comfortable publicly stating how little they like him. What sort of message does it send to the players that the team values $2 million bucks over the best interests of the team?

Next: The Bulls should bring back Kris Dunn

Bringing back Boylen would certainly make it more difficult to re-sign Lauri Markkanen after next year. You may also see Zach LaVine demand to be traded, as he has not hidden his feelings about Boylen. So the Bulls have to ask themselves whether the long term costs of retaining Boylen outweigh the savings of retaining him. The answer seems obvious, but then again, we are talking about the Bulls.

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Chicago Cubs: Kipnis shouldn’t be a mainstay in the lineupon July 23, 2020 at 12:00 pm

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

Jason Kipnis will be a valuable part of the Chicago Cubs offense in 2020, but he shouldn’t see the lineup when a lefty is on the mound.

The Chicago Cubs garnered some great headlines after signing veteran second baseman Jason Kipnis to a minor league deal this offseason.

Kipnis is a hometown kid. He grew up in Northbrook as a huge Cubs fan, and just a few years ago, he almost played a part in crushing Cubs fans’ dreams during the 2016 World Series.

Now, after a nine-year major league career with the Cleveland Indians, Kipnis is one of the newest members of the Cubs, and he’s already generated some buzz. He homered in the first inning of the team’s exhibition game on Sunday night.

Although Kipnis has had a very successful career, he’s a few years removed from his prime, and rookie manager David Ross would be wise to limit his playing time.

From 2012-2016, Kipnis was one of the top second basemen in the league. Over those five seasons, he put up a .272/.346/.419 slash line, averaging 14 home runs and 22 steals per season while playing good defense at the keystone. Unfortunately, 2016 was his last strong offensive year.

Over the past three seasons, Kipnis has slashed just .236/.305/.403, a far cry from his impressive numbers of 2012-2016. While he’s still managed to hit for some power, the most notable decline has been his on-base skills. His walk rate peaked in 2013 at 11.6 percent and has tumbled nearly every season since – it was down to just 7.8 percent last year.

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The Cubs know they’re not getting peak Kipnis production. They can’t expect that. What they can expect is a very valuable veteran presence who can still provide solid production, but only when facing right-handed pitchers.

Looking at his career numbers, Kipnis has a .788 OPS against right-handers and a .673 OPS against lefties. If we look at more recent stats and just focus on his 2019 numbers, the OPS gap is even bigger – he had a .756 OPS versus righties and a .633 mark when facing southpaws.

Unfortunately, the current Cubs’ lineup is already significantly worse against left-handed pitchers. Kipnis doesn’t address that weakness – he just accentuates it.

Three of the Cubs’ everyday starters last season fared much worse against lefties – Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber, and Jason Heyward. To make matters even more grim, three of the team’s strongest hitters against righties – the guys who the team counts on to perform well every single day – see huge declines in their numbers against left-handed pitchers.

Rizzo, Schwarber, and Ian Happ had the three highest OPS’s on the team when facing a right-handed pitcher in 2019, but when a lefty was on the mound, their OPS’s dropped significantly – 156, 144, and 162 points, respectively.

With some of the team’s top performers already putting up lower numbers against lefties, shoehorning Kipnis into the team’s every day second base role doesn’t make any sense.

When facing a lefty starter, Ross has three better options to pencil into the lineup than Kipnis.

  1. Starting David Bote at second base. While he’ll mainly be used as a utility guy around the infield, Bote’s career .758 OPS against lefties would look a lot nicer in the bottom of the lineup than Kipnis’ .673 mark.
  2. Shift players around the diamond to work Steven Souza Jr. into the lineup. He’s a bit of an unknown coming off a major injury, but during his career year in 2017, he had a .785 OPS against lefties.
  3. Go with the even more unproven Nico Hoerner. He’s inexperienced and has a tiny MLB sample size, but he’d be a much better second base option than Kipnis when a lefty is on the mound.
Next: Cubs fans are overreacting already

Kipnis is a fun addition to the Cubs and could be a difference-maker as a leader in the clubhouse, but at this point, running him out there anytime the opposing pitcher is left-handed is a big mistake.

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Chicago Cubs: Kipnis shouldn’t be a mainstay in the lineupon July 23, 2020 at 12:00 pm Read More »