Chicago Bears: Three trade packages for Odell Beckham Jr.on April 19, 2020 at 1:00 pm
(Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)
Chicago Bears: Three trade packages for Odell Beckham Jr.on April 19, 2020 at 1:00 pm Read More »

(Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bears need help. The defense is championship caliber and everybody knows it. That defense allowed this team to be 8-8 when they otherwise should have been 4-12. They need to take advantage of having a good defense like that before it is too late. They are a franchise that always seems to put together a good unit on the defensive side of the ball but they have settled for lackluster offense forever.
Jay Cutler is statistically the greatest quarterback who ever played for them so that should tell you a lot about the franchise’s ineptitude at the position. Well, Nick Foles is coming in to compete with Mitchell Trubisky for the starting job. This offense was horrible in 2019 and it will continue to be horrible if the quarterback position isn’t played better. Foles or Trubisky have a chance to play well but if it doesn’t work, they will be in trouble.
One way they would be able to help their quarterbacks is by giving them everything they need to succeed. Obviously, the offensive line should be the first priority. If they handle that in the draft, things will be easier in 2020. Well, if they are able to trade for a receiver like Odell Beckham Jr., that should be a huge help to a quarterback trying to find his way. He is an elite player that can really help the offense score more points.
Beckham Jr. would help this team in multiple ways. He has all of the hand-talent in the world that should help the team advance the ball. He has been in trade rumors lately and if the Bears are able to work something out with the Cleveland Browns for him, they should do it. These are three good trade packages for the Bears and Browns to complete a trade like this:
Chicago Bears: Three trade packages for Odell Beckham Jr.on April 19, 2020 at 1:00 pm Read More »

(Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Baseball America ranks Jake Eder as the 71st best prospect in this draft class, and he presents an intriguing opportunity for the Chicago Cubs in the second round. The Ocean Ridge, Florida native gets lost in a Vanderbilt rotation that features both Kumar Rocker and Mason Hickman.
However, Eder was a regular in the weekend rotation for the Commodores and became a consistent contributor from day one on campus. During his freshman campaign, he made 11 appearances – including nine starts – and struck out 37 batters in 33.0 innings while limiting batters to a .210 average.
His command left a lot to be desired as he allowed 22 free passes, which equates to exactly six walks per nine innings. He participated in the New England Collegiate Baseball League that summer, improving his walk rate to 3..6 BB/9. Eder also struck out 34 in 25.0 innings of work.
Back on campus, he made 19 appearances as a sophomore, all out of the bullpen, and struck out 41 batters in 39.1 innings. He spun the team’s second-best ERA among relievers (2.97) and was critical in Game 3 of the College World Series, clinching the final out in Vanderbilt’s title run.
That summer, Eder participated in the Cape Cod League, making four appearances – including three starts – and struck out 15 batters in just as many innings. More importantly, he walked just four batters. He transitioned to the rotation this year, making four starts and struck out 27 batters in 20.0 innings before the shutdown.
Per BA, his command is inconsistent, as demonstrated by his issues with walks, and his pitch arsenal consists of a fastball that tops out at 96 mph and average pitches in both his curveball and changeup.

He’d be a risky pick in the second round, as scouts have noted that he struggles to repeat his delivery, but he could potentially become a dominant starter with the assistance of the Cubs’ pitching lab. He’ll need another pitch to stick in the rotation long-term. If not, he has the potential to be a high-leverage bullpen arm.
At 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, Eder has the prototypical size scouts look for in a starting pitcher. The big lefty throws from an overhead arm slot and his mechanics are correctable, which makes him such an intriguing selection in the second round
Based on his stats at Vanderbilt, he profiles closest to both Nationals’ Patrick Corbin and Marlins’ Caleb Smith.
Corbin 2019: 3.25 ERA, 7.5 H/9, 1.1 HR/9, 3.1 BB/9, 10.6 K/9
Smith 2019: 4.52 ERA, 7.5 H/9, 1.9 HR/9, 3.5 BB/9, 9.9 K/9
Eder Vanderbilt career: 4.00 ERA, 7.1 H/9, 0.7 HR/9, 4.6 BB/9, 10.2 K/9
Chicago Cubs Draft: Vanderbilt’s Jake Eder pro comparisonson April 19, 2020 at 2:00 pm Read More »

SALT LAKE CITY, UNITED STATES: In this 14 June 1998 file photo, Michael Jordan (L) holds the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy and former Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson holds the NBA champions Larry O’Brian trophy 14 June after winning game six of the NBA Finals with the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT. The Bulls won the game 87-86 to take their sixth NBA championship. Jackson left the Bulls following the 1998 season and 12 January reports indicate that Jordan plans to announce his retirement at a 13 January news conference in Chicago. AFP PHOTO/FILES/Jeff HAYNES (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)
The Chicago Bulls have been a less than admirable franchise over the past few years. Under the “GarPax” regime, things had really started to get worse. Well, the hiring of Arturas Karnisovas last week really seemed to make some people excited. He came from the Denver Nuggets where he turned them into a contender in the Western Conference. Now, they are hoping to get things going back in the right direction again.
Well, winning is the way to sell your brand to fans. The Chicago Bulls did that in the 90s as they won the NBA title six times in a span of eight years. It was one of the greatest dynasties in the history of sports. It produced the greatest player in the history of basketball in Michael Jordan as well. It was a dominant run but a dominant team.
Well, how do the Bulls go back to selling out the United Center? Winning is the answer but they might get a boost from ESPN’s documentary called “The Last Dance”. It is a ten-part documentary that will feature the Bulls’ final season of their magical dynasty. The 1997-98 Bulls were the last team to bring the NBA title to Chicago and it is also the season where everything fell apart. The ten-part series will premier two episodes for five weeks.
There are expectations that not everything featured in this documentary is going to be positive. Michael’s allegiance to Phil Jackson is something that may have led to the dynasty falling apart but there are definitely more things that are going to be shown here. There are people that believe that this might not paint a pretty picture of Jordan but it will give fans an all-access to what actually went on with that team.
There are definitely going to be some things that are shown in this documentary that are wild. It is the type of drama that can reel fans back into caring about this team. Chicago is a great sports town that loves all of its teams. If the modern-day bulls ever had a bit of championship-level success the city would go crazy. This series might not have all great moments but it definitely will show of a time where the Bulls were capable of putting together an entertaining product.
As we struggle in our second month, the syllable count is not quite as precise as in the first edition. Just as life will never again be as smooth.
SPRING
Though April is the cruelest month.
We mustn’t become a wasteland
Of hollow city streets.
VACCINES
Hope for tiny pinpricks
To keep the viral bits at bay
And pray that no other comes.
LEADERS
I am not a student
Of our presidential history
But some would have done better.
STREAMING
Now the greatest challenge
For homebound’s brain to decipher
Watch Hulu, Netflix, or Prime?
MASKING
Our eyes peer out bravely
Over narrow strips of cloth and paper
Looking for friendly smiles.
DISTANCE
We walk a looping road
Measuring a mile each time we circuit
Six feet is so far apart.
ANTIBODIES
At U of I Med we were taught
About the immunoglobulins M and G.
Now the whole world is learning.
EXPERTS
When EF Hutton talked
People listened to their good advice
But Dr. Fauci’s is better.
SANITIZERS
Hand washing can chafe
While alcoholic disinfectants
Leave an irritating tang.
FUTURE
We don’t forfeit our hope
We use it all up and then we remember
Hope is a renewable energy
Make life better for someone. Click here.
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More Covid-19 Haiku For Todayon April 18, 2020 at 10:00 pm Read More »
On the first night I joined my cancer support group, back in 2012, a member of the group told me that cancer was a gift. I was crying at that moment, but stopped on a dime. I was speechless.
Not long after, I discovered the New York Times’ feature, ”Picture Your Life After Cancer,” a series of photos that people submitted of themselves with short descriptions of their lives after a cancer diagnosis. I ran across two photos, both of Laurie Comings, a young woman who had survived leukemia. In one she was dancing at a wedding. In another she was in scrubs working as a nurse on an oncology unit. In her description, she wrote, “When tallied up, no, it is not a blessing, and never tell a cancer patient that it is.”
I wanted to hug her, dance with her, talk to her. She was angry about what cancer took from her, about how it made her suffer, about how treatment had left permanent disabilities. And in her words I found validation and comfort.
It is human nature, at least for some humans, to find silver linings. And, I’ve heard people say similar things about COVID, about its “gifts.”
But I want to push back hard against the notion that the tribulation itself brings the gifts, that if we look hard enough we will find silver linings.
To talk like this erases suffering. We erase each other and erase our humanity. Cancer is awful. It’s terrifying, traumatic, painful, soul-destroying. Cancer kills our children and our husbands, our mothers and grandmothers.
For those who live through it, cancer leaves behind trauma and anxiety, depression and sorrow.
Treatments often have lifelong effects: hearing loss, lymphedema, neuropathy. People lose organs and limbs. People lose their voices, their privacy, their sex lives. People lose friends and family members.
Suffering and dying do not in real life mirror their depiction in movies. So much of suffering through cancer is disgusting. Pain isn’t noble. It can be intolerable both to feel and to watch. Drugs that relieve pain often shut down consciousness and bring their own side effects.
I imagine the same is true of those who’ve met COVID face to face.
This morning I took my thyroid pill and choked on it. It was stuck in my throat and I couldn’t breathe. For half a second I thought I’d die. I panicked. But then, of course, it cleared and I could drink water.
I thought then of people with COVID, unable to catch their breath for long periods of time. The terror they must feel. The sounds they must make.
I remember being in a hospital room with my mother when a mucus plug caused her to code. She couldn’t breathe, and while she was conscious the look in her eyes is something I’ll never forget, though I have tried.
These are not gifts, and you’ll not find silver linings in their midst. They are the stuff of nightmares and post traumatic stress.
Yet, I am a long way from my cancer diagnosis and successful treatment. I am starting to gain my footing in the midst of COVID. And, I know that I have grown and learned in spite of the suffering, in spite of the lingering effects.
I walk my dog through my neighborhood, usually a quiet place, not unfriendly but not full of gregarious hand wavers and folks calling out, “Hello, how are you?” either.
I’m seeing folks and dogs I’ve never seen before, and almost without fail people greet each other with warmth. As they cross the street to keep good distance they smile and comment on my dog.
As my dog sniffed a tuft of grass, one woman said, “Do you know what he’s doing?” Pause. “Checking his pee mail.” I roared laughing.
A group of us gathered on the four corners of an intersection a few weeks ago, all looking in the sky at a group of 20 or so migrating vultures. We watched together and talked about how eerie it was to see them.
I watch John Krasinski’s “Some Good News” every week and marvel at the kindness and generosity of human beings.
But these are not gifts of COVID. They aren’t silver linings discovered.
These are intentional acts by human beings. The good we see in the midst of suffering is the good we make.
Cancer and viruses are diseases, aberrations, replicants. They are not gifts and they are not joy.
Humans, though, we’re capable of creating the good, of learning in spite of the bad, of making in the midst of the ignoble some nobility. Some can even, in the midst of horrible pain, offer joy, craft peace.
Clouds don’t have linings. There is not good inside of them. Instead we stitch good inside of them.
When we do these good things, we honor the suffering of others, we acknowledge it, we are humble in its presence. We can fight for others and for ourselves. We can believe.
We can make for ourselves a new normal, where both grief and hope have a place. We can see others, hear them, offer care.
We can give the gift of ourselves.
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I am a writing professor who lives in the suburbs south of Chicago. I’ve lived my life in the deserts and mountains of New Mexico, the tundra of Alaska, and, now, in Chicagoland. If I could have lived a different life, I would have chosen to be taller and to play point guard for Pat Summitt’s Lady Vols. Instead I’ve gotten to live my life as a writer and reader, a teacher and student, a cook and a bike rider with my husband, daughter, two cats and a dog. If you’d like to get in touch, please email me at [email protected]
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A Reminder: Cancer is not a gift and neither is COVIDon April 19, 2020 at 12:02 am Read More »

It’s extremely strange how one human being, Weird Al Yankovic, is so transcendently gifted for the art of parody songwriting, and the rest of us…well not as much…but in varying degrees. Randy Rainbow and BradyFan83 are actually pretty amazing at this.
All I know is this- the key is to retain the right lyrics when you can, and to strike the right balance between keeping/changing lyrics. I also know that being creative is the key to keeping your sanity during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. It helps you get through the monotonous days, which all bleed together at this point. What’s today? Frednesday Smarch 34th? I realized my 2020 day planner was pointless weeks ago and burned it for heat.
In terms of creativity, did you see the video of that British family doing “One Day More” from “Les Miserables” coronavirus version? It went viral (we need to retire that hackneyed old buzz phrase for good now!). What about the cast of “Hamilton” and their “In the Zoom Where it Happens“?
How about my sister’s coronapocalypse editions of songs from “West Side Story” and “Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat?” Those are available upon request, email me. So in this spirit…I give you, “I Believe” from “The Book of Mormon.” (embedded below)
It’s actually already been parodied, in much better form than this, by NCIS Los Angeles’ Barrett Foa and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, about Mitt Romney in 2012 (embedded further below)
[embedded content]Ever since New Year’s
I thought 2020 could be the best…
So what happened?
I thought this could be a wonderful year…
so what happened?
March was supposed to be all so exciting.
Covering my alma mater in the tourney.
But on the 11th, everything got cancelled
Oh, woe is everyone, including me
I’ve always longed to leave the house more.
To do the things I never dared.
This was the time for me to step up.
But now we’re sheltering-in-place and scared
A novel virus with no therapeutic or vaccine.
What’s so scary about that?
I must trust that social distancing can beat it,
And the CDC always has my back.
Now I must be a complete shut-in
I can’t have even one single visitor!
I believe-
That anti-vaxxers are dangerous idiots.
I believe-
The Asian wet markets must be closed.
And I believe-
That Sean Hannity definitely doesn’t speak
for America.
I am a Chicagoan.
And a Chicagoan just believes.
You cannot quarantine part-way.
You have to quarantine all the time.
It’s time to set my social life free
Time to shun the entire world
And share my experience with no one except me!
I believe-
That Mayor Lightfoot has a plan for all of us.
I believe-
That plan involves
Me going absolutely nowhere.
And I believe
That the current President of the United States,
Donald Trump, has no clue WTF he’s talking about.
I am an Illinoisan and, dang it,
An Illinoisan just believes.
CHORUS
An Illinoisan just believes.
ELDER PRICE
I know that I must go and do-
The things Tony Fauci commands.
CHORUS
Things Fauci commands.
ELDER PRICE
I realize now why he sent me home!
If you use hand sanitizer in faith
It will always work for you, just believe
In W.H.O. and have no fear.
GUARD
(spoken) Immune system! We have an intruder! A virus just crossed the cellular membrane!
ELDER PRICE
I believe!!!
That Florida’s Governor is a Covidiot.
I believe!
That Georgia’s governor isn’t much better!
And I believe that in 1918 the Spanish got screwed when a Kansas or Chinese born influenza was named after them!!
CHORUS
It wasn’t actually a Spanish Flu!!
ELDER PRICE
You can be good at social distancing!
A social distancer just believes.
GENERAL
(spoken) How do we fight this?
ELDER PRICE
And now I can feel the isolation.
Doing what J.D. Salinger and Howard Hughes were born to do.
And I feel so incredible-
to be sharing Zoom, Skype and Cisco WebEx with you.
The guidelines say that you must stay six feet away,
If you listen to Dr. Birx herself you’ll know.
But you must listen to her without any doubt,
And let your facial hair grow!
CHORUS
Let your facial hair grow!
ELDER PRICE
I believe!
That J.B. Pritzker knows what he’s doing!
I believe!
That Newsom and Cuomo do as well.
And I believe
That the Garden of Eden is any place that has fresh air
If you believe,
The curve, we’ll flatten it.
And you’ll know it’s all true-
You’ll just see it.
We’ll be back to normal!!!
And by gosh-
Hopefully, that’s sometime this year!!!!
Oh, I believe!
I believe!
CHORUS
Believe!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.
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I continue to try and stay up on beer events during the continuing lockdown. Basically, it’s anything happening at brewery tap rooms or virtual happy hours. If you have something going on and you want to invite people over, whether in person or in video virtu, use the email link above!
Decided to go freshen the beer cellar. Will be reviewing some of these soon.
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Home Edition: Chicago Beer Week, April 20-23on April 19, 2020 at 3:41 am Read More »
This past week, NBC held a Stay at Home media tour with Brian Tee and Nick Gehlfuss from Chicago Med. Wednesday was the final episode of this season. The episode titled “A Needle in the Heart” revealed Dr. Marcel getting a visit from two New Orleans detectives who have questions about his past. We also see that Dr. Choi put his life in danger to save a child. The episode was definitely a fan favorite garnering an all-time high viewership. The “Chicago Med” finale scored 1.1 and 9.2 million viewers, its second-largest viewership tally of the season.
As huge supporters of the show and staying at home, we hopped on IG Live with The Men Of Med to discuss their thoughts on the final episode and see how they’ve been holding up during quarantine.
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Chicago artist Andrei Rabodzeenko brought an exhibition of drawings to the FlexSpace at Riverside Arts Center this January past. A marvelous show of works made using a technique he calls “life-trembling line”; allowing the unconscious to guide the hand as the drawing is being made, limiting input from the conscious – while still creating a work that makes sense to a conscious eye. The drawings were exquisite; delicate renderings of dreamscapes – vistas outside of time. From these, beings emerge, seeming to be born as physical energy out of a complex world. A balance between being and environment.
Andrei’s show, “Energy, Frequency, and Vibration”, curated by Dr. Lise McKean was the first show I helped guide from opening to closing as the brand-new gallery director of FlexSpace.
Just a few brief months after we closed that show, the world is so much changed. Challenging, upended, uncertain. Looking to the future yields a palpable, at times almost unbearable unknown.
As director of the FlexSpace I’ve been thinking about how to support our creative community during this time of vast uncertainty. Sharing inspiration with artists seemed a good way to go, and I started this series “Checking-in” with artists. Andrei agreed to be our inaugural artist and graciously invited us in to his studio via zoom. He shared work he’s making now, and we talked about how the solitude of the artist’s studio is connected in the larger society, the inspiration in sidewalk chalk drawings, and the value in staying the course despite the global pandemic.
Artists are community-builders and connectors. We are problem-solvers. We keep going despite tough times all around. We devise ways to pursue ideas, make work, and share it – whatever the context. I hope you enjoy this reflective conversation with Andrei.
For other inspiring online art conversations, check out:
“Photos at Zoom“: A new lunchtime lecture series from the Museum of Contemporary Photography with a vibrant roster of artists and topics. Recordings are available on the Museum site.
The Commons Online at the Museum of Contemporary Art is a ‘digital extension’ of their second floor commons space and updates regularly with projects, events, and discussions.
Hyde Park Art Center has moved a big selection of their programs online. Registration is underway for classes that begin soon. And classes are ‘contribute what you can’ to encourage people to be involved.
Riverside Arts Center, home to the FlexSpace is also offering “Boredom Buster Boxes” delivering projects to your door. Order online with ‘no-contact’ deliveries.
For a publication gathering info about the ample creativity in Chicago’s art community, check out “The Quarantine Times” by Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Andrei Rabodzeenko, Drawing #82. from Energy, Frequency, and Vibration at the Riverside Arts Center FlexSpace, January 2020
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Dateline: 1973- San Francisco. A hot bed time and place for popular music. Keyboardist Gregg Rolie and guitarist Neal Schon are members of the legendary rock band Santana. It’s time for them to leave the nest and form their own band. The result was the start of Journey.
Last week I ran into a LA Times article where their music critic said he hated The Doors, but was going to revisit their musical catalog to see if it would change his mind about that band. Hmmm…I have a few bands for which I have those feelings. Journey is one of those bands. There’s plenty of time to listen to some music. Why not try the same experiment.
That led me to the Journey discography.
These guys have put out a lot of material. Fifteen studio albums! They really pushed it during their first decade with ten albums. That was common during an era when bands made a lot of money through record sales.
I’m not going to listen to all of their records. It’s too much. Way…way too much. I decided to hear their first two albums from the Rolie/Schon days. Then I picked out three from when Steve Perry joined the band as their lead singer/front man. Finally, I found some live versions of the greatest hits. A nice variety to make a judgement, right?
We start with the albums “Journey” and “Look Into The Future.” Like most new bands, Journey at this point couldn’t quite figure out what their sound should be. Some of the songs sounded like they should be from the Santana catalog. Others had a progressive rock feel. There was nothing wrong with that. Plenty of bands don’t find their sound…their calling for years. It may take multiple albums to get it right.
My problem with those albums was the lack of feeling and soul. Technically, the early Journey was fine. The musicianship is terrific. They’re just missing the heart. Yeah, you can sound like Santana, but you aren’t Santana unless you have Carlos Santana. Journey didn’t have him.
A couple of albums later, Steve Perry joined the band. What a voice on this guy. He had the pipes and he had the look that a true front man for a great rock band needed to have. From this point on, Journey became a hit machine.
Journey has had ten platinum albums and eighteen top forty singles since Perry became their leader. You know all the songs, “Feelin’ That Way”, “Wheel In The Sky”, “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin” and of course, the legendary “Don’t Stop Believin’.”
Normally, when I hear a Journey tune on the radio, I change the station. This week I listened to them all. Every. Single. One!!
I still don’t get it. I figured I might be missing something. I looked for people who liked/loved Journey. What was it that they got that I didn’t?
“Were they a great band? God no! Are they still overplayed on the classic rock format? Ugh. Having said that, my late 70s/80s childhood would not be the same without them.”
“I didn’t like them then, but I enjoy them now. Taste in music is personal.”
“Love love love. Posters all over my teenage bedroom!!!!!!”
Like one of the quotes says, “taste in music is personal.” That’s so true…and after a week of heavy Journey listening, mine hasn’t changed. The Journey I heard three decades ago sounded blah and with a lack of heart and soul. I still feel that way now. I’m sure this piece won’t change anyone’s mind. People who love Journey will continue to listen to their music and attend their concerts. I’ll continue to change the radio station and get on with my life.
It’s good to know that not all things in life are changing due to the pandemic.
Related Post: Musical groups I’ll try to learn to during the coronavirus quarantine
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Entertainment:: Music, Music, Pop Music
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Gregg Rolie, Journey, Neil Schon, Steve Perry
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January 17, 2020 at 12:00 am