Saturday, December 10, 2022

CHICAGO PREP

Rochelle Zell at Ida Crown, 9:00

DU KANE

St. Charles East at Wheaton-Warr. South, 6:00

St. Charles North at Geneva, 6:00

Wheaton North at Lake Park, 6:00

INTERSTATE EIGHT

Rochelle at Sycamore, 6:00

Sandwich at Kaneland, 7:00

METRO SUBURBAN – RED

St. Edward at McNamara, 7:00

NORTH SUBURBAN

Libertyville at Lake Forest, 5:30

Mundelein at Waukegan, 5:30

Warren at Stevenson, 1:30

Zion-Benton at Lake Zurich, 5:30

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Grayslake Central at Grayslake North, 7:00

North Chicago at Grant, 7:00

Wauconda at Round Lake, 12:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-NORTH

Lake View at Taft, 7:30

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE – EAST

Joliet West at Joliet Central, 12:00

WEST SUBURBAN – GOLD

Leyden at Hinsdale South, 6:00

Morton at Downers Grove South, 4:00

Proviso East at Addison Trail, 6:00

WEST SUBURBAN – SILVER

Lyons at Glenbard West, 6:00

Proviso West at York, 7:30

NON CONFERENCE

Auburn at Yorkville Christian, 7:00

Batavia at Quincy, 7:00

Beecher at Herscher, 4:30

Belvidere North at Woodstock, 1:00

Bradley Tech (WI) at Bowen, 3:00

Bulls Prep at Payton, 11:30

Cary-Grove at Elk Grove, 1:00

Deerfield at Prairie Ridge, 2:30

Dixon at Alleman, 6:30

East Dubuque at Winnebago, 5:00

East Moline at DeKalb, 6:30

Glenbrook North at Highland Park, 5:30

Henry-Senachwine at Wethersfield, 6:30

Hersey at St. Viator, 4:30

Hononegah at Marian Central, 3:00

Kankakee at Rantoul, 6:30

Latin at LaLumiere-Blue (IN), 6:00

Leland at Annawan, 1:00

Lindblom at Christ the King, 6:30

Lisle at IC Catholic, 1:00

Mather at Fasman Yeshiva, 8:00

Mooseheart at IMSA, 6:30

Morris at Wilmington, 1:30

Newark at Parkview Christian, 4:30

Normal West at Plainfield North, 5:00

North Boone at Clinton (WI), 7:00

Northtown at Niles North, 4:30

Oak Park-River Forest at Glenbrook South, 1:30

Ottawa at Streator, 5:30

Richmond-Burton at Elgin, 1:00

Ridgewood at Mascoutah, 4:00

Rockford Lutheran at Northridge, 3:00

St. Anne at Prairie Central, 5:30

St. Patrick at Loyola, 6:30

Stark County at Lowpoint-Washburn, 6:00

Timothy Christian at Marengo, 5:00

UIC Prep at Intrinsic-Downtown, 1:00

Walther Christian at Fenton, 4:30

Wheeling at Crystal Lake Central, 1:30

Williamsfield at Midland, 4:30

Woodland at Indian Creek, 3:15

BARTLETT (TN)

Dunbar vs. Memphis University High (TN), 10:00

HALL

St. Bede vs. Bureau Valley, 12:00

Mendota vs. Hall, 1:30

Fieldcrest vs. Rock Falls, 3:00

Stillman Valley vs. LaSalle-Peru, 4:30

Marquette vs. Putnam County, 6:00

Princeton vs. Pontiac, 7:30

MARIETTA WHEELER (GA)

Kenwood vs. Lovett (GA), 6:00E

MOUNT CARMEL

Lane vs. Lemont, 11:00

Farragut vs. St. Laurence, 12:30

Westinghouse vs. Lincoln-Way East, 2:00

Riverside-Brookfield vs. St. Ignatius, 3:30

Hyde Park vs. Homewood-Flossmoor, 5:00

Curie vs. Mount Carmel, 6:30

SCOTTSDALE CHAPPARAL (AZ)

Simeon vs. Coronado (NV), 11:30M

SOUTH ELGIN

Oak Lawn vs. Hinsdale Central, 2:00

New Trier vs. Rolling Meadows, 4:00

Yorkville vs. South Elgin, 6:00

ST. LOUIS RITENOUR (M0)

Romeoville vs. Life for Life (MO), 2:30

Hillcrest vs. East St. Louis, 7:00

WASHINGTON GONZAGA (DC)

Young vs. Sidwell Friends (DC), 5:00

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Even though Mexican legend Jorge Campos played for the 1998 Fire, it was Zach Thornton who became the team’s first star MLS goalie.

It’s now Thornton’s job to help produce the next one.

Hired Monday as the Fire’s goalkeeper coach to replace Adin Brown after his departure to San Jose, Thornton set the standard for the franchise’s netminders during his playing career. He’s one of three players to have a role in the team’s six trophies and leads the Fire in appearances (215), starts (212) and wins (109) as a goalie.

Thornton began the Fire goalkeeping lineage that includes Jon Busch, Sean Johnson and Gabriel Slonina, something the team hopes will continue with Chris Brady. It’s not lost on Thornton that he’s being tasked with keeping that line going.

“That’s my job, that’s my responsibility to get the goalkeepers to the high level, to maintain a standard that was set in the past,” Thornton said.

To connect with players, Thornton said it’s important to earn their trust and have mutually respectful relationships. He has done that during previous stints as a goalie coach in Houston (2022) and D.C. United (2015-2021).

Something Thornton doesn’t do much with his goalies is talk about his own playing career, regardless of how much he accomplished.

“I rarely speak about my playing days when I’m coaching or teaching,” Thornton said. “It’s all about them and the situation. Yes, I have some experience and have been in those situations, but I would just use that to help convey the message. I won’t say, ‘Oh, when I was playing’ I try to stay away from that.”

As of now, Thornton’s pupils with the Fire will be Brady, 18, and 30-year-old veteran Spencer Richey. Thornton doesn’t want to “pigeonhole” how he’ll coach two players at different stages of their careers and would prefer to see how training goes and adjust from there.

If Slonina doesn’t return on loan and Brady is indeed the starter next year, Brady’s progress will be one of the most important storylines around the 2023 Fire. Thornton is impressed by Brady’s experience level with U.S. youth national teams, his goalkeeping instincts, physical frame, athleticism and eagerness to learn.

“The sky is the limit for [Brady],” said Thornton, who added that he’ll give his input on who should start in net after the preseason but the final decision will go to coach Ezra Hendrickson.

No matter who starts in net, the Fire are hoping to move closer to their successful early years when they were one of the best clubs in U.S. soccer. Thornton is the latest staffer connected to those days, joining first-team assistants CJ Brown and Frank Klopas.

Thornton is hoping to play a part in the Fire returning to that level.

“I would love to give that back,” Thornton said. “I would love to be a part of getting this club to being consistently successful like it has been in the past and to pass that on. That would mean the world to me.”

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The White Sox left the winter meetings in San Diego without a left fielder in tow, but not to worry. Two months remain until pitchers and catchers report to spring training. The angst and concern among those who follow the White Sox is palpable, if social media is any indication. They are worried.

“I 100 percent empathize with it, but there’s no added benefit to acquiring a player, doing a bad deal on December 6 that is a lot worse than doing a good deal on January 6,” general manager Rick Hahn said.

Big names at bigger than ever prices found new teams during the meetings. The Sox, meanwhile, made a pick in the Rule 5 Draft.

“There’s excitement. We feel it,” Hahn said on the last day Wednesday. “We all come out here. Your staff is out here. You’re talking, there’s a bit of a fever pitch, an energy, a focus on the game.”

But the Sox, who made splashes in recent winter meetings, made nary a sprinkle in this one.

“In the end, we’re not going to force it,” Hahn said. “We’re going to wait for the right deals to present themselves and then act accordingly.”

The Sox also need a second baseman, but they don’t plan to exceed their record 2022 payroll and have about $15 million left to spend. Don’t be surprised if they go with minimum salaried Romy Gonzalez at second base and devote their resources to left field. Gonzalez batted .238/.257/.352 with two homers in 32 games in his first season.

“In the end, it’s going to depend upon what’s accessible at [second base and left field],” Hahn said. “If you pool all your resources, does that significantly upgrade your ability at one spot and [make] you feel like the potential difference between the upgrade at the other spot is worth that sacrifice? Or are there equally accessible upgrades so you wind up addressing both?”

With Andrew Vaughn getting moved from the outfield to first base where he’s best suited, and left fielder Eloy Jimenez is pegged at designated hitter, the most significant acquisition for the Sox either by trade or free agency could be left field.

Jimenez excelled at DH on a regular basis during the second half of 2022. Moving him there makes the Sox better defensively and puts Jimenez, perhaps manager Pedro Grifol’s No. 4 hitter, at less risk of getting injured.

Grifol already has bonded with Jimenez having managed him in winter ball, and he knows the DH conversation could be delicate. Jimenez wants to be an outfielder, and could get time there assuming the new left fielder doesn’t play 162 games.

“He’s a huge part of this ball club,” Grifol said. “There are very few guys in this game that just want to be a DH. I don’t expect my conversations with him to be, ‘hey, you’re going to be a DH,’ and it’s like, ‘oh, yeah, great.’ Players want to play, and I’m assuming he’s going to want to do the same thing.”

Grifol said Jimenez will work in left field in spring training and could get some time in left. The same can be said for left-handed hitting Gavin Sheets, who could also back up Vaughn at first.

As for right field, the Sox are hanging their hat on Cuban prospect Oscar Colas, 24, a roll of the dice considering Colas has never played a major league game. How Colas would handle major league pitching and how he mentally handles his first inevitable slump will be unknowns until he encounters those things. On the plus side, Colas will be a faster upgrade defensively to those who patrolled right field last season, and he provides a left-handed bat needed to balance the Sox lineup.

“He’s ready,” said Sox international scouting guru Marco Paddy, a special assistant to Hahn. “He’s prepared to handle that challenge. He’s mature enough and had experience in Japan.

“Oscar is a special kid. A lot of desire. A lot of hunger. He wants to play. He wants to be good.”

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When Julianne Sitch began playing soccer as a little girl, she had to be on an all-boys team. Her role models were male because women’s sports were still lagging well behind in prominence. But then the United States won the 1999 Women’s World Cup, which gave Sitch and other girls famous female athletes to look up to.

Now Sitch has made her own history.

Sitch coached the University of Chicago men’s soccer team to the NCAA Division III championship. Last Saturday in Salem, Virginia, the Maroons beat Williams College 2-0 for the title, and Sitch became the first female coach to lead a men’s soccer team to an NCAA national championship.

“Just having these opportunities and people continuing to hire females in these roles and have this is huge for young women to have something to dream and aspire to,” Sitch said. “As a young girl, if you don’t see it, you might not believe it, you might not be able to dream it. And now I think women have something to aspire to.

“As great as this is for young women, I still think this is great for young boys and young men to have something to aspire to. They can see themselves in a lot of different roles, and it gives them an opportunity to dream big and go out and do the things they want to do, as well.”

An Oswego native who starred at DePaul, Sitch played professionally and had three stints with the Red Stars. Sitch then went into coaching, serving as an assistant on the U. of Chicago women’s team in 2015-17 and 2019. She also spent 2018-19 as an assistant coach on the UIC women’s team.

In 2020, Sitch became an assistant coach with the Red Stars, where she stayed until April, when she was named the men’s coach at Chicago. Sitch was recommended for the job and encouraged to pursue it by former Maroons coach Pat Flinn, who left for Drake in January after guiding the team to the 2021 national semifinals.

If Sitch’s players had any apprehension about their incoming coach, it didn’t last long.

“At first I [thought], ‘OK, this is

new,’ ” said junior midfielder -Robbie Pino, who scored the first goal in the national final and was named the tournament’s most outstanding offensive player. “But then we found out about [Sitch’s] background and how she played pro and she had so much -experience. Really, once we hit the spring practice sessions, we [thought], yeah, she’s a really good coach. And then throughout the season, she was fantastic.”

When Sitch returned to Hyde Park to succeed Flinn, she already knew about the program and the type of student-athletes the school has. There wasn’t any worry about getting the team to buy into her coaching, and Sitch’s focus was just to be herself.

“I had zero pushback from the players, from the university, from the athletic department, and that’s a huge tribute to the culture that’s been built at UChicago,” Sitch said. “These student-athletes are nothing but remarkable, and they’re just incredible humans and from Day 1 they have embraced me, and that I’m very grateful for.”

Pino’s words reflect that sentiment.

“I don’t think there’s really any difference in terms of having a male or female coach,” Pino said. “It’s just whether they’re a good coach or not.”

The Maroons went 22-0-1 and didn’t allow a goal in the tournament semifinal or final. Wearing suits but also their championship hats, the team was feted Monday by the university and school president Paul Alivisatos. Sitch’s name popped up all over sports media and social networks in the days after the title.

Seeing the players relish their success and be toasted by the university made a mark on Sitch.

“They’re proud of each other,” she said. “The coolest thing was just to watch them celebrate together.”

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Oh, boy, we can’t wait to see superstar shortstop Carlos Correa in blue pinstripes at Wrigley Field.

It’s going to happen, isn’t it?

Uh-oh.

In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter, we led with that very question about that very coveted free agent. Alas, about three-quarters of voters said no.

“Cody Bellinger will be their top signing,” @JTurco60 commented. “The false hope never ends with this ownership.”

At least the Cubs made a little noise at the winter meetings in San Diego. The White Sox? Ugh. We asked if the Sox will make any major acquisitions this offseason, a question that went over like a lead balloon.

“Remember,” @KaboomLip wrote, “fiscal responsibility is more important than winning championships. That doesn’t change until the owner does.”

Last, we asked about Willson Contreras and Jose Abreu. You remember those guys, don’t you? Anyway, the real question: Which departed free agent will have a better go of it post-Chicago?

On to the polls:

Poll No. 1: Will the Cubs sign free-agent shortstop Carlos Correa?

Upshot: Well, let’s see, the Cubs didn’t sign Trea Turner. At last check, they didn’t sign Xander Bogaerts, either. Anybody seen Dansby Swanson? It might be Correa or bust, if the Cubs’ intention is to reel in a star shortstop. Does this organization have the stomach for paying what that could cost? And, if not, how are fans supposed to take that?

Poll No. 2: Will the White Sox make any major acquisitions this offseason?

Upshot: Sox fans’ skepticism is so thick nowadays, you can cut it with a knife. “They won’t, and we knew they wouldn’t,” @SultanofClout surmised. “Been this way my whole life, and it won’t change until ownership does.” Hey, that sounds kind of familiar. For what it’s worth, general manager Rick Hahn indicates the Sox will look to be active in the trade market.

Poll No. 3: Who will have bigger post-Chicago success, Willson Contreras (Cardinals) or Jose Abreu (Astros)?

Upshot: Contreras joins Paul Goldschmist and Nolan Arenado in one heck of a Cardinals lineup. We’re sure he won’t torment the Cubs at all. Abreu — five years older — has taken his talents to the World Series champs in Houston, where he has the bat and the work ethic to fit in more than fine. And the Sox are supposed to catch the Astros how, exactly?

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The Heisman Trophy presentation is Saturday, which always makes this a delicate time to be writing about college football. Why? Because the rules are explicit: If I reveal my ballot before the winner is called to the stage on ESPN, I’ll lose my vote. And we absolutely, positively can’t have that.

OK, fine, three hints: My No. 1 guy plays west of the Mississippi, wears an odd number and shares a surname with a previous winner. Stumped? Of course you are. That was such a good job of keeping things shrouded in mystery, I should get the Disguiseman Trophy.

Ha! What a wise guy. And speaking of which, here’s a whole list of college football awards that — like so many untelevised Emmys categories — won’t be part of any glitzy show. These, folks, are the 2022 Wiseman Trophies.

Fliesman: It goes to the Northwestern Wildcats, who traveled nearly 4,000 miles — all the way to Dublin, Ireland — to find their only win in the Week Zero opener of a 1-11 campaign that, from September on, was a real bunch of blarney.

Sizeman: Get a load of you, Desmond Watson. The 6-5, 415-pound Florida defensive tackle punishes the scale like no pro prospect since former Bears offensive tackle Aaron Gibson, the NFL record-holder at 410. Only a sophomore, Watson, who can bench-press over 500 pounds and squat more than 700, started nine games for the Gators and — wearing No. 21, somehow enhancing the spectacle — flashed outsized potential.

Thighsman: As a 17-year-old freshman, Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen, who has legs like sequoias, publicly challenged Packers powerhouse AJ Dillon to a squat contest. As a sophomore, Allen poked fun in a tweet at Giants star Saquon Barkley, referring to the superstar’s tree-trunk legs as “cute.” He talks the talk and, with 100-plus yards per game for the second year in a row, definitely walks the walk.

Tiesman: We should’ve known Houston and UTSA would end up sharing this one when their season opener wasn’t settled until a third overtime. A week later, Houston went to OT again and UTSA went to double OT, and each team would have yet another OT game after that. That’s a whole lot of stress.

Sighsman: Another shared honor, this one by Chandler Morris and Gary Patterson. Morris, who beat out Max Duggan for TCU’s starting quarterback job, got hurt in the opener, watched Duggan go in and crush it, and the rest was Heisman-finalist history. Patterson, the winningest coach in TCU history, watched first-year successor Sonny Dykes step in and lead the Horned Frogs to the College Football Playoff. Together now: Sigh.

Prizeman: This goes to whichever NFL team gets to draft Alabama QB Bryce Young, last season’s Heisman winner and, if we’re being honest, still the best player in the country. Young gets an assist for opting out of the Sugar Bowl.

Baptizeman: Tennessee fans swim away with the honors for celebrating an incredible 52-49 win against Alabama by carrying the goal posts right out of Neyland Stadium and heaving them into the Tennessee River.

Riseman: Unknown nationally heading into the Alabama game, Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt caught an amazing five touchdown passes against the Tide, the launching point of a Biletnikoff Award season. Vols fans should’ve given Hyatt a ride on their shoulders along with those goal posts (before gently setting him down at the river’s edge, needless to say).

Friesman: Congrats, Potato Bowl. Are you a football game or an appetizer at Beef O’Brady’s?

Spiesman: It can go only to coach Scott Satterfield, who resigned at Louisville to take the Cincinnati job less than two weeks before the Fenway Bowl pitting Louisville against — yep — Cincinnati. Satterfield won’t be helping either team in this game … or so he says.

Criesman: Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is the richly deserving recipient for running a godawful offense — coordinated by in-over-his-head son Brian — onto the field all season, pausing only to lash out babyishly at the media for, you know, noticing it.

Triesman: A tip of the helmet to Northwestern tackle Peter Skoronski, maybe the best offensive lineman in the country. On a truly terrible team never more than one false step from disaster, this big fella somehow gave up zero sacks and graded out — for the third year in a row — as an absolute superstar.

Surpriseman: Coach Lance Leipold wins it twice, once for leading Kansas to its first bowl berth in 14 years and again for signing a contract extension to stay when he easily could’ve gotten out of Dodge and found a comfier gig.

Repriseman: Remember Jim Mora? That’s right, the younger one. A coach fired so many times eventually comes down — if he’s lucky — to his very final chance, and for Mora that was UConn, the absolute bottom of the FBS barrel. Guess who else is going bowling?

Whysman: Lastly, we honor Wake Forest’s prolific quarterback, Sam Hartman, who missed the first week of the season after having a rib removed to ease pressure on a vein. Where the heck is this going? Well, that rib has spent the rest of the season in Hartman’s refrigerator. And after one final game, he plans to have it made into — what else? — a necklace. No ribbing.

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Emil Richards, the famed percussionist, vibraphone specialist and L.A. session musician (the fabled Wrecking Crew), died at the age of 87 in December 2019. If the name is unfamiliar to you, Richards performed with Frank Sinatra, George Harrison, Frank Zappa, Judy Garland, Charles Mingus, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, The Monkees and dozens more.

Yet you are very familiar with his work. Really. Because Emil Richards played the xylophone parts on the opening theme of ”The Simpsons,” did the finger-snapping on the theme song for ”The Addams Family” and beat the bongos on the ”Mission: Impossible” theme song.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do your best on this quiz. As always, should you or any of your quiz forces be caught or killed, the Quizmaster will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Have fun and learn a lot.

1. Reader Bernie M. suggested Feb. 7 for a question. It is indeed an interesting offseason date. On that date in 1940, Walt Disney’s ”Pinocchio” was released (and you can tell by the nose on my face, that’s no lie). On that date in 1949, Joe DiMaggio signed with the Yankees for $100,000, the first six-figure contract in the major leagues. On Feb. 7, 1958, the Dodgers officially became the ”Los Angeles Dodgers Inc.,” a move that changed baseball history. The next year, 1959, in a move that changed Chicago baseball history, White Sox president Mrs. Dorothy Rigney agreed to sell the team for a reported $2.7 million. Who was the buyer?

a. Bill Rigney

b.Bill Veeck

c. Charles O. Finley

d. Charles Comiskey

2. Reader Ed S. points out that in June 1972, Sammy Davis Jr. had a No. 1 hit with the song ”Candy Man,” written for the film ”Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” The 1972 White Sox hit 108 homers, with Dick Allen, Carlos May and Ed Herrmann leading the way, and went 17-11 in June. The Cubs hit 133 homers, with Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Jim Hickman and Jose Cardenal at the plate, and also went 17-11 in June. Which team hit the most homers in June?

a. The Cubs

b. The White Sox

c. The same

3. Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry recently died. In 1962-83, Perry appeared in 777 games, starting 690 of them for the Giants, Cleveland, the Rangers, the Padres, the Yankees, the Braves, the Mariners and the Royals. He allowed 399 home runs. Which Chicago batter hit the most homers against him?

a. Ron Santo

b.Billy Williams

c. Bill Melton

d. Dick Allen

4. Reader Marysue J. was born on Oct. 8, 1958, the same day that the Yankees drew even in the World Series (3-3) by defeating the Braves in 10 innings when a Moose drove home the winning run. The Yanks won the Series the next day, becoming the first team to come back from being down 3-1. The big Game 7 blow was a three-run home run off Lew Burdette in the eighth inning. The shot was hit by a Moose who soon would find his way to playing first base for the White Sox. Who’s that Moose?

a. Bill Skowron

b.Bob Moose

c. Moose Haas

d. Mike Mussina

5. Since 2014, who led all Chicago players in games played, home runs, extra-base hits, RBI, runs scored and batting average?

a. Jose Abreu

b. Jose Abreu

c. Jose Abreu

d. Jose Abreu

6. On June 8, 1969, the Yankees’ uniformNo. 7 was retired on Mickey Mantle Day. A crowd of 60,096 came to Yankee Stadium to honor Mantle. In that crowd were reader Bruce B. and Bill B., who might have been slightly hung over (what better way to salute The Mick?) while watching the Yankees sweep the White Sox in a twin bill. Don Pavletich wore No. 7 for the Sox that day, and Tim Anderson wears it these days. Which of the following Sox players also wore No. 7?

a. Kenny Williams

b. Steve Sax

c. Mark Kotsay

d. Jorge Orta

e. All of the above

7. The ”Bill James Handbook” is my must-read every offseason (and during the season, as well). The 2023 edition is available right now, and after you have purchased my book, the ”Handbook” is a must. It’s filled with varied items, most of which I never even had considered. I love looking at the various leaderboards for items of interest. For example, Freddie Freeman led the National League with a home batting average of .347 (minimum of 251 at-bats). Which NL shortstop finished second on the list?

a. Dansby Swanson

b.Trea Turner

c. Nico Hoerner

d. Francisco Lindor

8. Congratulations to new Hall of Famer Fred McGriff. The ”Crime Dog” played 19 big-league seasons, including 195 games with the Cubs. He totaled 493 homers and hit 42 for the North Siders. His 493 homers are the same number hit by what other Hall of Famer?

a. Lou Gehrig

b. Al Kaline

c. Stan Musial

d. Willie Stargell

9. ESPN’s Chris Berman gave McGriff the nickname ”Crime Dog” after the cartoon public-service-announcement dog McGruff. The pitcher who was known as ”Barney” or ”The Big Train” died Dec. 10, 1946. Who was he?

a. Eppa Rixey

b. Barney Rubble

c. Walter Johnson

d. James Trainer

ANSWERS

1.Bill Veeck, one of my heroes, was the buyer. Chicago insurance broker Charles O. Finley said that he could match the price. Charles Comiskey would try to stop Veeck from buying the Sox but would be unsuccessful.

2.Each team hit 25 homers in June 1972. The Quizmaster mixes it with love and makes the world taste good.

3. In his fourth big-league appearance (and start), Gaylord Perry allowed his first homer on May 5, 1962, to Billy Williams. Williams hit eight more homers against Perry, the most of any player. And that’s no spit.

4. Bill ”Moose” Skowron, who was born in Chicago on Dec. 18, 1930, attended Archbishop Weber High School. After his playing days, Skowron owned a bar in suburban Cicero.

5.Jose Abreu hit .292 with 243 homers and 863 RBI in a White Sox uniform, trailing only Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko on the team’s all-time homer list. No first baseman in baseball has collected more homers and driven in more runs than Abreu since his first season. His presence at the plate, in the field, in the dugout, in the clubhouse and among fans of great baseball will be missed in Chicago.

6. Jorge Orta wore No. 6; the rest wore No. 7.

7. Nico Hoerner hit .318 at Wrigley Field and .244 on the road. He clearly loves the hometown fans.

8. Fred McGriff hit the same number of homers as Lou Gehrig. Stan Musial and Willie Stargell each hit 475 homers.

9. Sportswriter Grantland Rice gave Walter Johnson his nickname ”The Big Train” because of his size and his fastball. The express train was the fastest vehicle known at the time. He was nicknamed ”Barney” in honor of Barney Oldfield, the race-car driver. Johnson was a brilliant pitcher who had 38 1-0 victories and took 26 1-0 losses.

UNABASHED PLUG: Don’t forget that ”In Scoring Position,” published by Triumph Books, is a great holiday gift for the baseball fan in your life.

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The science of defending a two-on-one rush in the NHL is complicated.

And with the Blackhawks not only conceding too many counterattacks lately but also struggling to defend them, coach Luke Richardson — who faced hundreds himself during his own playing career — has been working closely with his defensemen to break down that science.

In any two-on-one, there are a few key decisions the defenseman must make: where to position himself between the puck carrier and the puck carrier’s teammate, whether to slide and when to slide if he does.

The objective is to force the puck carrier to shoot rather than pass — and to shoot from an angle. Smothering the teammate and giving the carrier a pseudo-breakaway isn’t smart, either, as Hawks veteran defenseman Jack Johnson — who also has faced hundreds of rushes — explained Friday.

“You don’t want the goalie to move,” Johnson said. “You want to try to let the goalie get as set as much as you can. That’s why you try to take away the pass. They might make a pass or two early — by the blue line — but once you get to the top of the [faceoff] circles, you want to try to lock down one side.”

Richardson has suggested his defensemen start equidistant between the two attackers (or slightly closer to the puck carrier) as the rush crosses the blue line, then gradually shift toward the teammate as the rush approaches the net. But the talent of the two opposing players — and their tendencies toward shooting or passing — can factor in, too.

“If the guy on the other side is a 50-goal scorer, I’m going to really shade onto [him],” Johnson said.

And then there’s the question of sliding or not sliding. There’s no correct answer, only personal preference.

Sliding is probably more common league-wide, but Johnson, for example, was taught not to while growing up and has stuck with that approach.

“I tried sliding one time, and the guy just dragged it around me and scored,” Johnson said. “I’m like, ‘I’m never doing that again.’ “

Richardson has been showing the Hawks examples of two-on-one rushes they defended poorly using both approaches. Against the Oilers last week, Seth Jones slid twice in the third period but did so too passively and arguably too early, allowing the Oilers to connect their passes and score both times. Against the Devils on Tuesday, Ian Mitchell didn’t slide during a rush in the first period, but he was too close to the puck carrier and too far from the teammate, allowing the Devils’ pass to connect and forcing goalie Arvid Soderblom to make a big save.

This is the area Richardson has harped on the most. One way or another, the Hawks need to allow fewer passes to get through. And if that’s by sliding, he’d like to see them do it a half-second later and more aggressively.

“If you’re going to slide, you have to slide at the guy, and your body has to be through the passing lane,” he said. “It can’t be your stick [in the lane]. Guys are too skilled in this league. If you have a 1-inch stick to stop a pass, they’re going to thread that through.

“You have to slide at a kind of 45-degree angle [toward] the player with the puck. If your body’s in the passing lane, that means they’ll have to lift the puck, saucer-pass it 2 feet high and land it within 4 feet. That’s pretty hard to do nowadays, especially if it’s later in the period and the ice is bad. As you’re going at the guy, usually the equipment is so big . . . the puck will touch something. It just throws the timing off, and maybe it doesn’t even get through.”

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When he played, no one regularly clocked Michael Vick’s speed using GPS, the way quarterbacks are measured today. Maybe that’s a good thing, Vick joked.

“I was quicker than I was fast,” Vick, a Fox Sports analyst, said this week.

He’s being humble. The all-time rushing leader among quarterbacks also held the NFL’s single-game, regular-season record — until Bears quarterback Justin Fields ran for 178 yards on Nov. 6 against the Dolphins.

Then a star with the Falcons, Vick had 173 rushing yards in a 2002 overtime win against the Vikings that ended with his 46-yard touchdown run. Maybe, Vick said, he’d want to know how fast he ran in that game.

“The anxiety,” he said, “is getting caught from behind.”

It didn’t happen often. And it’s not happening this year with Fields, either.

“He’s faster than everybody thought,” Vick said. “He never had to showcase those skills at Ohio State.”

Technology allows Fields to prove just how rare those skills are. In 2015 — Vick’s last season — the NFL began embedding monitors in shoulder pads at every venue in the league. Teams receive postgame reports with tracking data and measure distances run during practices.

NFL Next Gen Stats has made measuring speed so ubiquitous that Fields was told Sunday, after he said he felt slow, that he reached 20.15 mph on a 55-yard touchdown run against the Packers. Fields responded wryly that he needed to reach 21 or 21.5 mph next time.

“I got to do some extra sprints or something,” he said.

What he has done this season is special enough:

o Fields has hit top speed more often than any ballcarrier, be it a running back, receiver, quarterback or tight end. He has more runs of 20-plus mph this season than any player in a season since 2018, per NFL Next Gen Stats and Zebra Technologies.

o He’s the fastest quarterback. Fields posted the fastest run of any quarterback this season when he hit 21.23 mph on a 41-yard run against the Cowboys that was shortened to eight yards by tight end Cole Kmet’s holding penalty. That run made him the 15th-fastest ballcarrier on any play this season. No quarterback has had a run finish a season in the top 20 since Next Gen Stats began publishing regular-season speed figures in 2017.

o He has hit fourth gear more often than anyone else. Fields has reached 15 mph 70 times on 128 carries. That’s tops among all rushers. Packers running back Aaron Jones is second with 52. Fields trails only one player in percentage of runs over 15 mph. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has reached that mark on 74.2% of his runs, while Fields has done so 54.7% of the time.

o Fields has made the most out of the least. He leads the NFL with 438 rushing yards over expected, a stat that measures gains contrasted against the GPS location and speed of blockers and defenders. Browns running back Nick Chubb is second with 328 yards. Fields is the only player with three of the league’s top 20 RYOE plays this season.

Technology makes it easy to fetishize Fields’ speed. Still, his runs require subtlety. On his 55-yarder Sunday, Fields planted his foot to escape blitzing cornerback Keisean Nixon before taking off up the right seam, where he was untouched.

“It takes a special person to not get touched running up the middle,” Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson said.

Johnson admits to being “spoiled” by watching Fields run. In training camp, defenders call out when they’re close to the quarterback, whom they cannot hit, and declare it a tackle.

“Then, when you go out there on a Sunday, you’re like, ‘No, they’re not tackling that dude,’ ” Johnson said. “I definitely wouldn’t want to face a quarterback like him with that ability in the air and on the ground. He definitely does some amazing things.

“It’s something we enjoy. And I feel like it’s starting, almost, to become an expectation for him to make those all-star plays.”

Quarterbacks are running more often than at any point since at least 1981, per Football Outsiders. Not counting kneeldowns, quarterbacks have averaged about 3.6 carries per game and 5.9 yards per carry this year.

Fields, meanwhile, is averaging 9.8 carries per game and 7.1 yards per carry.

“When he tucks the ball, you can see a switch flip — he’s a running back now,” said former Bears safety Brock Vereen, an analyst for CBS Sports Network’s “That Other Pregame Show.” “He’s reading his offensive line like a running back. He actually becomes a running back.

“As a defender, it’s terrifying.”

Vereen considers Fields part of a “gigantic wave of running quarterbacks” whose comfort carrying the ball comes from their wide-open college offenses. Even Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow ran for 767 yards over his two years at LSU.

The wave led Vick to joke his records are being toppled more frequently than the other former players he works with at Fox. Two weeks ago, Eagles cornerback Jalen Hurts broke Vick’s franchise record by running for 157 yards against the Packers.

“I’m glad to be in that lineage, and for them to be joining us,” Vick said.

Fields reminds Vick of former Panthers star Cam Newton — the second-leading quarterback rusher of all time — more than himself. Both are long-striding, physical, fast runners. Newton has two inches and 20 pounds on the 6-3, 228-pound Fields. Fields, though, is three inches and 20 pounds bigger than Vick in his prime.

The next step, Vick said, is for Fields to excel in the passing game. When the season began, Vick considered that a week-to-week proposition. He since has admired Fields’ poise in the pocket and thinks no quarterback is ever fully settled in the first year of any scheme.

“That should come more next year when he gets more comfortable in the offense,” Vick said. “I see a guy that you can build around.”

And one whom others can’t catch.

“At some point,” Vick said, “you start to realize, ‘I have talents — and running the football is one of them.’ ”

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