chicagotribune--2020-01-17--Appellate court upholds decision to award full line-of-duty pension to widow of Buffalo Grove firefi

Appellate court upholds decision to award full line-of-duty pension to widow of Buffalo Grove firefighter who died of cancer

“ He was 51 , and otherwise in good health , and was not a drinker , and there ’ @ @ @ @ @ , and he was exposed to fires .
The village ’ s own job description @ @ @ @ @ , ” Birkett said .
“ Firefighters are exposed to cancerous substances , and in @ @ @ @ @ s proof in the record that he was exposed to smoke and chemicals .
”

Kim Hauber, the widow of Buffalo Grove firefighter Kevin Hauber, second from right, enters the court room with her daughters, from left, Nicole, Brooklyn and Megan at the Illinois Second District Appellate Court Dec. 10, 2019 in Elgin. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
The family of a 51-year-old Buffalo Grove firefighter who died of colon cancer will be awarded a full line-of-duty pension benefit, a trio of appellate court judges ruled unanimously Friday.
The ruling arrived after the village of Buffalo Grove appealed to the Second District Appellate Court to overturn a 100% line-of-duty death pension benefit awarded to the family of late firefighter Kevin Hauber, which was approved by the village’s Firefighters’ Pension Board in 2018 and upheld in 2019 by a Lake County Circuit Court judge.
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“Kevin loved his job, the people he got the honor of helping, and his second family at the fire department,” Kevin Hauber’s widow, Kim Hauber, said on Friday.
“He was, and is, a hero to our family and to others he served,” Kim Hauber said. “I’m saddened that the village administrators felt it necessary to engage in protracted litigation. I am happy, though, that after almost two years of litigation, we can finally put this behind us.”
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The Hauber family’s attorney, Thomas Duda, said he was pleased that the appellate court ruled in favor of his client and her four daughters, but expressed dismay that the village of Buffalo Grove has rejected the pension board’s decision. The difference between the 100% pension and the 75% pension the village of Buffalo Grove believes Hauber should receive is about $25,000 annually.
Duda said he was also frustrated that public concerns about the state’s budget woes and the impact on property taxes have left some local taxpayers criticizing the pension board’s decision to award Kim Hauber her late husband’s full pension.
“These benefits have nothing to do with the problems the state is having with unfunded public employee pension funds,” said Duda, who added that he anticipates the village of Buffalo Grove will likely petition the Illinois Supreme Court to hear the case.
[ ‘Not just fighting fires’: Cancer among firefighters causes alarm, uncertainty and heartbreak ]
Officials in Buffalo Grove were not immediately available for comment Friday.
But last month, the village’s attorney, William Nichols, told the appellate court justices that the Hauber case concerns “a sad and unfortunate situation.”
“This is a highly sympathetic case, and it’s very difficult ... but you still have to prove something more than the inherent risk,” Nichols said.
Buffalo Grove officials last year appealed the lower court’s ruling to award Kevin Hauber’s widow, Kim Hauber, the 100% line-of-duty death pension benefit due to concerns that it could set what they described as, “a dangerous and costly legal precedent.”
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Buffalo Grove firefighters unload the casket of firefighter/paramedic Kevin Hauber, 51, at St. Mary Catholic Church on Feb. 2, 2018 in Buffalo Grove. Hauber died following a four-year battle with colon cancer. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Nichols said although Kevin Hauber provided 23 years of honorable service to the village, which included 127 calls that involved a fire, he said the burden of proof to receive the 100% benefit was not met under the state’s statutory requirements.
"There is no direct evidence of whether he was actually exposed to carcinogens and toxic smoke” that caused him to develop colon cancer, Nichols said last month.
Duda has maintained that the village’s job description for firefighters states that part of the duties involve situations where they will be exposed to various toxic substances, including carcinogenic materials.
Appellate Justice Joseph Birkett said last month that before making a ruling the lower court reviewed Hauber’s medical history, which found no history of colon cancer in his family, which was affirmed by genetic testing.
“He was 51, and otherwise in good health, and was not a drinker, and there’s no genetic predisposition found, and he was exposed to fires. The village’s own job description describes exposure to toxic substances,” Birkett said. “Firefighters are exposed to cancerous substances, and in this case, there’s proof in the record that he was exposed to smoke and chemicals.”
Nichols, the attorney for Buffalo Grove, told the appellate justices last month to consider that Hauber never filed a formal complaint with the department about any incidents in which he may have been exposed to toxic chemicals.
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Village officials have said that Hauber’s widow, Kim Hauber, 41, and the mother of the couple’s preteen triplet daughters, and teenage daughter, is entitled to a surviving spouse benefit, which is equal to 75% of her late husband’s final salary of $101,549, or $76,161 annually.
In a ruling based on their conclusion that Kevin Hauber’s service as a firefighter caused his colon cancer, of which he died in January 2018, the Buffalo Grove Firefighters Pension Board awarded the additional pension benefit of about $25,000 a year to the Hauber family.
Village officials have said previously that they appealed the lower court judge’s ruling to uphold the 100% pension benefit to the Hauber family, as they have estimated it would cost the village an additional $1.7 million due to the line of duty death award.
"Firefighter contributions are fixed by state law; therefore, any additional pension liability will be paid for by property tax payers in the village of Buffalo Grove,” village officials said in statement last year.


chicagotribune--2020-01-17--Lasagna essentials: Break it down into the component parts for best results

Spoon a bit of sauce over the bottom of a casserole dish .
Lay down four or five no-boil noodles @ @ @ @ @ one smidge .
Spoon blobs of ricotta onto the noodles about every 2 inches , @ @ @ @ @ with shredded mozzarella .
Ladle sauce over it liberally , enough to cover the layer @ @ @ @ @ you reach the top of the casserole .
My last layer is usually noodles topped @ @ @ @ @ Parmesan .
Cover the casserole in foil and throw it in a 350-degree oven for @ @ @ @ @ the sauce is boiling on the sides and your no-boil noodles are cooked through .
@ @ @ @ @ it old school with pre-boiled noodles , everything ’ s already cooked anyway and all @ @ @ @ @ heat it through , which will still take 30 – 45 minutes .
Uncover it @ @ @ @ @ of baking to brown the Parm .

Fear not if your first attempt (or your first several attempts) at lasagna making is not as glorious as you would hope. Everything can be improved with practice and repetition. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune; Shannon Kinsella/food styling)
I’m of two minds about this whole “last meal” thing. You know, the one where you’ve been convicted (unjustly, of course) of a capital crime — espionage, for example, which is so crazy because you were just taking a selfie in front of the Kremlin — and now grim midnight approaches on the evening of your impending transfer to oblivion and there is but one final question to answer: What to eat?
On the one hand, I may want something so iconically horrific that death’s yawning maw would bring welcome relief. Orwell correctly observed that “worst thing in the world ... varies from individual to individual,” and for me that would be the dreaded staple from my childhood: canned cubed beets in heavy syrup.
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On the other hand, if there’s any edge to be taken off my own personal passage to oblivion, it might be done by a dipped Italian beef with both sweet and hot peppers.
Or lasagna, ooh. Honored guest at family gatherings, trusty savior — even cold — when the late-night munchies mount their attack.
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Let’s take a gander.
Why you need to learn this
Well, it’s a new year, and, God help us, we’re not getting any younger. If you haven’t made lasagna by now, you’d best get on it, especially if you’re planning that trip to Moscow. I hear the chef at Lefortovo Prison has a very limited repertoire.
The steps you take
The noodles are one of three major components of lasagna construction. And using no-boil noodles saves the time of boiling regular noodles, plus save the hassle of wrangling those floppy, awkward pasta sheets. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune; Shannon Kinsella/food styling)
Before we begin, leave us recall that, as we’ve stated oft times before, there’s no accounting for taste: You may find off-putting a lasagna that is heralded by the hoi polloi as the apotheosis of that noodle concoction.
Add to that the fact that, for any given thing on our home planet (Earth), there are more bad examples than there are good. For every Mona Lisa, there are 10,000 inexpertly inked tattoos of “My Old Lady on Her Harley.” And how many meals have you approached with salivating anticipation only to swallow each successively dispiriting bite with an underwhelmed, “Meh.”
I mention this truth for its two subsequent corollaries: First, if we accept the inevitability of less-than-perfect lasagnas, then, whether you’re haunted by the shadow of the hangman’s noose or simply prepping for pangs of nocturnal cravings, you may as well learn how to make it yourself. And second, fear not if your first attempt (or your first several attempts) is not as glorious as you would hope. Everything can be improved with practice and repetition.
Also, take heart in the fact that lasagna really has only three components — the noodles, sauce and cheese. Well, four, if you’re counting ingredients like sausage (Yum!) or spinach (Blech!).
Noodles
The more fancy-pantsed among you probably make pasta from scratch. If you’re a home-noodler, though, you needn’t be wasting your time on this little primer. Besides, I’m sure they’re awaiting your presence down at the Slow Food Clubhouse.
For you lasagna tyros, just buy a box of noodles. Back in the day, the only ones on the market were the kind you had to boil first. They’d come out of the water all huge and flappy like something you’d see in a BBC documentary on alien dermoplasty. Then they’d stick together like lonely cultists and, well, it was a mighty pain.
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Enter the modern age with its jet packs and robot chimp butlers and now, no-boil lasagna noodles you can use straight from the box. Could anything be easier?
Sauce
If you use jarred sauce for your lasagna, nobody with any sense of decency will complain. So, unless Zombie Joe McCarthy is back from the dead and coming over for supper, go ahead and use jarred.
Still, red sauces can be very easy. Some, of course, demand fresh tomatoes and most of your day, but, you can shorten your cooking time dramatically with a simple can of crushed tomatoes.
If I’m cramped for time, like, say, Zombie Joe is banging his cutlery like a Lefortovo prisoner whilst casting his gaze hungrily brainward, I’ll just heat the crushed tomatoes with Italian seasoning and salt.
Or, the late, great Marcella Hazan had that terrific and terrifically easy recipe where, essentially, you just sweat some onions in butter, then add the tomatoes and salt and simmer ‘til it’s tasty.
Here’s my favorite, though:
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Get some bulk Italian sausage whose flavors you really like. Personally, I’m partial to my local supermarket brand. Brown it in oil with some onion, garlic and bell pepper and, when it’s cooked through, add those crushed tomatoes. I use one 26-ounce can for every half-pound to pound of sausage. Then, stir in some boxed chicken stock and season with salt. You can also add Italian herbs or crushed red pepper, if you like. The sauce should be fairly thin because those no-boil noodles really soak up the liquid.
Simmer the sauce until the flavors blend together, maybe 20 to 30 minutes.
Listen, though: When I cook, I’m eyeballing amounts. That’s a skill I suggest you work on, although for now, if you prefer more precision, there’s a detailed recipe below.
Also, for lasagna, I usually make more sauce than I need. I’ve found that pert near nothing is sadder than running out of sauce before your lasagna is completed.
Lastly, some of your fancier lasagnas will alternate layers of bechamel (or its Italian version, balsamella) with the red sauce. Get crazy. I mean, it’s delicious and all, but, that’s a whole ‘nother level of complicated.
Cheese
I add ricotta and mozzarella separately to each layer. Some people combine the two cheeses. Also, some people whisk beaten egg into the ricotta. It adds protein and gives the cheese a bit more structure. Lastly, I’ll sprinkle Parmesan over the top layer.
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Now, for the construction:
Spoon a bit of sauce over the bottom of a casserole dish. Lay down four or five no-boil noodles with their edges overlapping exactly one smidge. Spoon blobs of ricotta onto the noodles about every 2 inches, then sprinkle the whole lot with shredded mozzarella. Ladle sauce over it liberally, enough to cover the layer completely. Repeat layers until you reach the top of the casserole. My last layer is usually noodles topped with mozzarella, sauce and Parmesan. Cover the casserole in foil and throw it in a 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes, until the sauce is boiling on the sides and your no-boil noodles are cooked through. If you’re kicking it old school with pre-boiled noodles, everything’s already cooked anyway and all you have to do is heat it through, which will still take 30 – 45 minutes. Uncover it for the last 10 minutes of baking to brown the Parm.
One last awesome thing about lasagna, by the by, is, as good as it is right out of the oven, it’s also fantastic cold, straight from the fridge. I’m not saying this because marijuana is now legal. I’m just sayin’.
Lasagna
The no-boil noodles need more sauce than a typical lasgna might. The recipe calls for some chicken broth in that sauce to help rehydrate the pasta. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune; Shannon Kinsella/food styling)
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Makes: 8 – 10 servings
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This recipe makes more sauce than you’ll need. Save the rest for another day. Also, no-boil noodles require a more watery sauce, hence the added chicken stock.
1 ½ to 2 pounds bulk Italian sausage
Neutral oil, as needed
1 onion, small dice
1 bell pepper, medium dice (the color of your choice)
2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
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Salt to taste
2 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes
8 to 12 ounces chicken broth or water
½ tablespoon Italian seasoning, optional
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, optional
Crushed red pepper to taste, optional
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1 package (9 ounces) no-boil lasagna noodles
1 pound ricotta cheese
1 pound mozzarella cheese
1 to 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
1. For sauce: Place a heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat, then add oil to coat the bottom. Add sausage; saute until cooked, stirring to break up chunks, 8 – 10 minutes. While sausage cooks, saute onion, bell pepper and garlic in a tablespoon or two of oil in a separate pan until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. When sausage is cooked, drain and discard any accumulated fat. Stir in crushed tomatoes and cooked vegetables. Add chicken stock or water until sauce is somewhat liquidy. Season with salt and stir in optional Italian seasoning, fennel seeds and crushed red pepper; simmer to blend flavors, 20 to 30 minutes.
2. To construct lasagna: Ladle a thin layer of sauce over the bottom of a 13-by-9-inch casserole dish. Lay noodles over the sauce with edges overlapping. Spoon blobs of ricotta onto noodles every couple of inches, then sprinkle mozzarella over. Ladle more sauce to cover entire surface. Repeat with another layer. Cover top layer with noodles, then mozzarella. Add sauce until it’s coming up the sides, then sprinkle Parmesan over.
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3. To bake, cover lasagna with foil and slide into a heated, 350-degree oven until sauce is boiling and noodles are cooked through, about 45 minutes. Uncover for last 10 minutes to brown. Let lasagna rest for 10 – 15 minutes before serving.
Nutrition information per serving (for 10 servings): 498 calories, 27 g fat, 13 g saturated fat, 82 mg cholesterol, 36 g carbohydrates, 10 g sugar, 29 g protein, 917 mg sodium, 4 g fiber
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chicagotribune--2020-01-17--Some hospitals say using lead aprons for X-rays does more harm than good. Lurie will stop using the

Some hospitals say using lead aprons for X-rays does more harm than good. Lurie will stop using the shields this spring.

Lead shields are difficult to position accurately , so they often miss the target area they are supposed to protect @ @ @ @ @ right place , they can inadvertently obscure areas of the body a doctor needs to @ @ @ @ @ a swallowed object , say — resulting in a need to repeat the imaging process @ @ @ @ @ Association of Physicists in Medicine , which represents physicists who work in hospitals .

Patients have come to expect a technician to drape their torsos with a heavy lead apron when they get an X-ray, but new thinking among radiologists and medical physicists is upending the decades-old practice of shielding patients from radiation.
A number of radiology organizations are trying to end the decades-old practice of shielding patients from radiation with lead aprons, as seen in this posed stock image. They say using lead aprons provides no benefit and might even inadvertently expose people to higher radiation levels. But the policy about-face is moving slowly. (Tyler Olson / TNS)
Some hospitals are ditching the ritual of covering reproductive organs and fetuses during imaging exams after prominent medical and scientific groups have said it’s a feel-good measure that can impair the quality of diagnostic tests and sometimes inadvertently increase a patient’s radiation exposure.
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The about-face is intended to improve care, but it will require a major effort to reassure regulators, health care workers and the public that it’s better not to shield.
Fear of radiation is entrenched in the collective psyche, and many people are surprised to learn that shielding can cause problems. The movement also has yet to gain much traction among dentists, whose offices perform more than half of all X-rays.
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“There’s this big psychological component, not only with patients but with staff,” said Rebecca Marsh, a medical physicist at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, who spoke about shielding at a December forum here at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. “How do you approach something that is so deeply ingrained in the minds of the health care community and the minds of patients?”
Covering testicles and ovaries during X-rays has been recommended since the 1950s, when studies in fruit flies prompted concern that radiation might damage human DNA and cause birth defects. Only in the past decade did radiology professionals start to reassess the practice, based on changes in imaging technology and a better understanding of radiation’s effects.
Lead shields are difficult to position accurately, so they often miss the target area they are supposed to protect. Even when in the right place, they can inadvertently obscure areas of the body a doctor needs to see — the location of a swallowed object, say — resulting in a need to repeat the imaging process, according to the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, which represents physicists who work in hospitals.
Shields can also cause automatic exposure controls on an X-ray machine to increase radiation to all parts of the body being examined in an effort to “see through” the lead.
Moreover, shielding doesn’t protect against the greatest radiation effect: “scatter,” which occurs when radiation ricochets inside the body, including under the shield, and eventually deposits its energy in tissues.
Still, Dr. Cynthia Rigsby, a radiologist at Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital, called the move away from shielding a “pretty substantial” change. “I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight,” she added.
In April, the physicists’ association recommended that shielding of patients be “discontinued as routine practice.” Its statement was endorsed by several groups, including the American College of Radiology and the Image Gently Alliance, which promotes safe pediatric imaging.
Around the same time, the Food and Drug Administration proposed removing from the federal code a 1970s recommendation to use shielding. A final rule is expected in September.
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In the coming year, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, which gives guidance to regulatory bodies, is expected to release a statement supporting a halt to patient shielding.
However, experts continue to recommend that health care workers in the imaging area protect themselves with leaded barriers as a matter of occupational safety.
Groups in Canada and Australia have endorsed the change, and a movement to abandon lead shields is underway in Great Britain, according to Marsh.
Marsh, who’s helping direct the educational effort, said perhaps a dozen U.S. hospitals have changed their official policies, but “most hospitals are starting to have the conversation.”
Lurie hospital is launching an “Abandon the Shield” campaign to educate staff, patients and caregivers before it stops shielding across the organization this spring, Rigsby said. Shielding is used for most of the 70,000 X-ray procedures performed annually at Lurie in a variety of settings, from orthopedics to the emergency department.
A few miles away, at the University of Chicago Medicine hospitals, the recommendation to stop shielding “came as kind of a shock,” said Dr. Kate Feinstein, chief of pediatric radiology.
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Feinstein said it seems contrary to what radiology professionals are taught, and she’s uncertain how it applies to her department, which already takes steps to reduce the chance that a shield will interfere with an exam. “We apply our shields correctly, and our technologists are incredibly well trained,” she said.
Nevertheless, Feinstein said, her department is weighing a halt to routine shielding.
Dr. Gerald Ciebien, a dentist, prepares to take an X-ray of patient Andrew Lyons' teeth during a 2005 dental exam at the Harbor Light Center in Chicago. The American Dental Association states abdominal shielding “may not be necessary” and says its guidance on shielding is under review. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
Some hospitals are concerned about violating state regulations. As of last spring, at least 46 states, including Illinois, required shielding of reproductive organs if they are close to the area being examined, unless shielding would interfere with the diagnostic quality of the exam, according to the medical physicists’ association.
Some states are revising their regulations. In some cases, hospitals have applied for waivers or sidestepped state rules by taking the stance that a shield has the potential to affect diagnostic quality anytime it is used, Marsh said.
The amount of radiation needed for an X-ray is about one-twentieth of what it was in the 1950s, and scientists have found no measurable harm to ovaries and testicles of patients from radiation exposure that comes from diagnostic imaging after decades of looking at data.
“What we know now is that there is likely no (hereditary) risk at all,” said Dr. Donald Frush, a radiologist at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford in Palo Alto, California, who chairs the Image Gently Alliance.
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There’s also no evidence that fetuses are harmed by even a relatively high amount of radiation exposure, such as that from a CT scan of the abdomen, Marsh said.
Nevertheless, some patients may insist on shielding. The physicists’ group suggested that when hospitals craft their policies they consider that shielding may “calm and comfort.”
“I don’t think any of us are advocating to never use it,” Frush said.
Public confusion might develop if dentists continue to shield while hospitals don’t. An estimated 275 million medical X-ray exams were performed in the U.S. in 2016, but 320 million dental X-rays were done.
Mahadevappa Mahesh, the chief physicist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, said there’s been less outreach to dentists on the topic. “It’s high time we bring them into the discussion,” he said.
The American Dental Association states abdominal shielding “may not be necessary” but has continued to recommend using lead collars to shield the thyroid “whenever possible.”
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But Mahesh, who’s on the board of the physicists’ association, cautioned that lead collars to protect the thyroid may not be helpful and could obscure images taken by newer 3D dental imaging machines.
Contacted for a response, the dental association said its guidance on shielding is under review.
Technologists especially will need support in educating patients and families “so they are not feeling like they are walking into a disastrous conversation,” said Marsh, the medical physicist.
She is doing her part. At the radiology conference, Marsh strummed a banjo and sang her version of the Woody Guthrie ballad “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Yuh,” with lyrics like: “To get rid of shielding at first may seem strange, but the time is upon us to embrace this change.”
Kaiser Health News is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
©2020 Kaiser Health News
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Visit Kaiser Health News at www.khn.org
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


chicagotribune--2020-01-17--Review: ‘Stop Kiss’ a poignant reminder of when Ellen made headlines by coming out

Co-produced by Pride Films and Plays and The Arc Theatre and very warmly directed by Kanomé Jones , this new @ @ @ @ @ ” makes no apologies for the late 1990s -- in fact , the sound design @ @ @ @ @ , is so filled with carefully curated tracks , I ’ ve had to stop @ @ @ @ @ for a play-list ( the show is worth seeing for the musical cuts alone ) @ @ @ @ @ it features two actresses , Kylie Anderson and Flavia Pallozzi , who forge a pair @ @ @ @ @ you quickly come to care .
Jones has really cast her show well , Most @ @ @ @ @ huge new talent : here , she ’ s charming , funny , vulnerable and @ @ @ @ @ for this couple as the play ideally requires , even if the two women have @ @ @ @ @ where they ’ re going .
They ’ re just propelled by events , and @ @ @ @ @ the one played by Shane Novoa Rhoades .

When Diana Son’s moving “Stop Kiss” was first produced at New York’s Public Theater in 1998, starring Jessica Hecht and Sandra Oh, it became one of the very few dramas to feature a lesbian couple at the heart of its story, and one of an even smaller subset of plays that drew attention to the violence and hostility routinely endured by gays and lesbians in cities like New York, back in an era when even the West Village was less tolerant and by no means safe for everyone.
In the years that followed, “Stop Kiss” was often produced by college theaters; in almost every case, I well recall, its selection for a campus season was controversial and its production took courage. For a sweet 90-minute play that spends most its time charting a budding romance, “Stop Kiss” had an outsized social impact, especially since lesbians still were mostly invisible in mainstream Hollywood products. A lot of young actresses who worked on the play in college were kissing another woman for the first time in rehearsal.
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So it’s a delight, then, to see a relatively rare revival of this groundbreaking play that honors its history, its period, its openheartedness and its determination to embrace and teach audiences of all kinds. For today’s young progressives, I imagine, the piece may well seem overly benign in its tolerance for hapless men and police officers struggling to do the right thing. It demurs politically, you could argue, although that would be a 2020 argument, the situation 22 years ago being both very different and not so different at all. “Stop Kiss” comes from an era when a character named Ellen Morgan, played by Ellen DeGeneres, had just made headlines after coming out on prime-time television.
Shane Novoa Rhoades, Kylie Anderson and Flavia Pallozzi in "Stop Kiss" by Pride Films and Plays and The Arc Theatre. (Patrick McLean photo)
Co-produced by Pride Films and Plays and The Arc Theatre and very warmly directed by Kanomé Jones, this new staging of “Stop Kiss” makes no apologies for the late 1990s--in fact, the sound design, credited to Mike McShane, is so filled with carefully curated tracks, I’ve had to stop myself from calling and asking for a play-list (the show is worth seeing for the musical cuts alone). Yet more importantly, it features two actresses, Kylie Anderson and Flavia Pallozzi, who forge a pair of contrasting characters about whom you quickly come to care. Jones has really cast her show well, Most notably, Anderson is a huge new talent: here, she’s charming, funny, vulnerable and determined. You really pull for this couple as the play ideally requires, even if the two women have no idea, really, where they’re going. They’re just propelled by events, and the limitations of men like the one played by Shane Novoa Rhoades.
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“Stop Kiss” is a conventionally structured play, with one foot firmly in that Ellen sitcom world. But the benefit for audiences there is that the show is funny and taut and generally a pleasure to watch. In this production, it’s both a look back at what was, not so long ago, and a reminder of how small plays in the American theater often have been at the vanguard of change.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “Stop Kiss” (3 stars)
When: Through Feb. 9
Where: Pride Arts Center, 4147 N. Broadway
Running time: 1 hour, 30 mins.
Tickets: $30-40 at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or www.pridefilmsandplays.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--‘We can beat anybody’: DePaul stuns No. 5 Butler 79-66 behind Paul Reed’s 23 points

“ They have a really good start to it , setting the tone early , ” Butler coach LaVall Jordan @ @ @ @ @ going be difficult if we 're putting people on the line 32 times in a @ @ @ @ @ issue .
We 've got to be able to defend without fouling .
If we @ @ @ @ @ times , that 's not the formula to have a chance in this league .
@ @ @ @ @ better as coaches .
Our guys just have to understand every night in the Big @ @ @ @ @ it is .
”

In just two weeks of play in the Big East, DePaul was on the verge of ruining everything it established during an impressive nonconference season.
But on Saturday, DePaul changed course with an elusive victory over a top-five opponent.
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Paul Reed scored 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting and had nine rebounds, Jalen Coleman-Lands added 20 points, and DePaul upset No. 5 Butler 79-66 at Wintrust Arena.
Coleman-Lands was 3-for-5 from 3-point range, and freshman Romeo Weems scored 11 points as the Blue Demons knocked off a top-five team for the first time since beating No. 5 Kansas on Dec. 2, 2006.
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After a disappointing 0-4 start in the Big East, with close losses to Seton Hall and Villanova, DePaul (13-5, 1-4) left little doubt against Butler that its nonconference season wasn't a fluke. The 12-1 start included road wins at Iowa and Minnesota and a victory at home against last season's national runner-up, Texas Tech.
“The last couple of weeks has not been easy for anybody, our locker room most importantly, but as I kept telling them, ‘We have stay the course, stay the course,’" DePaul coach Dave Leitao said.
𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 🔥
We are now only the 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 team to see 70 points against the Bulldogs this season
🔵👿 | #PlayingPossessed pic.twitter.com/xdInk8DdSX — DePaul Basketball (@DePaulHoops) January 18, 2020
The victory over Butler (15-3, 3-2) reaffirmed that DePaul, which has been a bottom-feeder since joining the conference in 2005, won’t be an easy out this season in the Big East.
“It shows we have really good potential; it shows if we come together, like I said all year long, we can beat anybody, but also if we don't, anyone in this league can beat us, and that has shown itself, too,“ Leitao said.
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Butler, which was coming off a home loss to Seton Hall on Wednesday, never led and trailed by double digits the entire second half. The Bulldogs gave up a season-high 44 first-half points, the most since giving up 34 in a loss to Baylor.
Kamar Baldwin led Butler with 16 points and Jordan Tucker added 13. The loss snapped an 11-game winning streak against DePaul.
“They have a really good start to it, setting the tone early,” Butler coach LaVall Jordan said. “It's going be difficult if we're putting people on the line 32 times in a game, that's an issue. We've got to be able to defend without fouling. If we turn the ball over 17 times, that's not the formula to have a chance in this league. We've got to be better as coaches. Our guys just have to understand every night in the Big East, this is what it is.”
Reed and DePaul wasted no time getting started against the Bulldogs. The Blue Demons jumped out to a 22-6 lead. Reed, who scored 13 of DePaul's first 17 points on 5-for-5 shooting, showcased all dimensions of his game. The 6-foot-9 junior made a 3 to give DePaul a 15-6 lead, and then on the next possession, he had a dunk that was set up by Charlie Moore.
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Darious Hall had a steal and layup to cap off the DePaul run. Reed continued his hot shooting by burying another 3. Reed picked up his second foul on an offensive call with 6:05 left in the first half. He played sparingly the remainder of the half.
That's when Butler chipped away at DePaul's lead. Tucker's 3 got Butler to 35-31, but Coleman-Lands was fouled on a 3-point attempt, connecting on all three free throws, and Weems made a 3 as time expired to give DePaul a 44-34 lead at the half. Reed finished with 18 in the half on 6-for-6 shooting.
The Blue Demons showed perseverance after dropping a tough overtime loss at Villanova on Tuesday. With the convincing win over Butler, DePaul proved to be in the mix for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2003-2004 season. The Demons host No. 25 Creighton on Wednesday.


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--‘We cannot rest on our laurels,’ says Mayor Lori Lightfoot in Grant Park as another Women’s March Ch

‘We cannot rest on our laurels,’ says Mayor Lori Lightfoot in Grant Park as another Women’s March Chicago is in the books after hiatus in 2019

During the same time period , several leaders of a separate national women ’ s march group faced accusations of @ @ @ @ @ part over ties to Louis Farrakhan , whose Chicago-based Nation of Islam is considered to @ @ @ @ @ by the Southern Poverty Law Center .
The more controversial leaders have since stepped down @ @ @ @ @ recently established a new board that `` consists of leaders from a wide variety of @ @ @ @ @ , religious beliefs , gender identities and experiences , ” the group said in a @ @ @

Angie Leventis Lourgos, Madeline Buckley

Thousands of people walk on West Adams Street in support of several issues including the 2020 Census, gun violence prevention, climate justice, health care access and voting during the Women's March Chicago on Jan. 18, 2020. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)
As a drizzling rain mostly subsided, Women’s March Chicago supporters and elected officials marched from Grant Park to Federal Plaza before moving on to Trump Tower, where it ended about 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Officials began arriving at Grant Park around 10:30 a.m., and the march formally stepped off shortly after 11 a.m.
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Organizers clarified their crowd estimate, putting it at about 10,000 for the event, which had largely concluded by 1 p.m.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, at the front of the procession, said as a “mother of a daughter,” she wants to work to ensure her daughter inherits a “better, stronger” world.
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“We cannot rest on our laurels,” she said, standing under a bright purple “Start” banner.
Unlike in past years, Women’s March Chicago 2020 didn’t include a formal rally or scheduled programming beforehand. This year’s march-only format included what organizers dubbed a “gallery of issues,” with each block of the procession dedicated to a different cause: the 2020 census, health care access, gun violence, climate change and encouraging voting.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle joined Lightfoot near the front.
She urged people to participate in the November elections.
“I think this march is a good beginning,” Preckwinkle said.
As the procession moved west on Adams Street and passed the Climate Justice signs, a man yelled: “It shouldn’t be raining in January!''
Marchers arrived at Federal Plaza shortly after 11:30 a.m., chanting “Trump Pence Out Now,” “This is what a feminist looks like,” and “Vote him out!”
Standing in the plaza with two friends, 24-year-old Elena Vera said she felt energized by the march and what she felt were important issues on display, like immigration.
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Vera said she feels Illinois has an important place in the movement, as it sits surrounded by mostly red states.
“There are so many important issues,” she said.
The crowd began to disperse from Federal Plaza shortly before noon, though many headed to Trump Tower.
“We are marching to Trump Tower,” a woman shouted from a megaphone as marchers moved headed east on Jackson Boulevard.
As marchers got closer to the tower, police officers on bicycles moved the crowds to the sidewalk as they marched north on State Street. They chanted: “Trump says America first. We say humanity first.”
State Street remained mostly open, with officers directing traffic.
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Around 12:15 p.m., the marchers swarmed the area around Trump Tower, chanting: "Trump Pence Out Now." Horse patrols arrived as a large crowd stayed in place.
Gigi Jaback, 56, wore a pink hat outside Trump Tower and held a large sign that said: “The future is female.” The Joliet resident has been to the past Women’s Marches in Chicago and said the turnout this year felt smaller than in past years.
"Maybe people are just tired," she said.
The crowd at Trump Tower mostly dispersed by 1 p.m.
The decision of many marchers to head to Trump Tower was organic and not part of the formal program, organizers said, but also wasn’t surprising given the fervent opposition against President Donald Trump.
Women’s March Chicago board member Harlene Ellin described the energy level as high along the march route, and said it seemed anecdotally that more men appeared to participate compared with past events.
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“I felt the presence of more men in the crowd,” she said “I know men come as allies. But I also felt that our focus on universal issues — climate justice, the census, voting — might have driven even more to join in.”
Before the march began, police officers on bicycles began lining up near the start line, as several dozen people began crowding near the front of the march.
Two men with megaphones and signs of their own were calling on “all of the sinners” to repent. A brass and percussion band drowned them out, playing Michael Jackson’s “Beat it.”
Kristina Reis and Bridget Hayman gathered near the start line, marching as part of Access Living, a disability services organization.
The Chicago-area women use wheelchairs and said the Women’s March is one of the biggest gatherings in the area that does a better job with disability access.
Hayman said other large Chicago-area events, like those after the Cubs won the World Series, were more difficult to navigate.
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“It’s nice that they’re being more inclusive,” Reis said.
About a half-hour before kickoff, a crowd of hundreds — some keeping warm in iconic pink cat-eared hats — waited at Grant Park.
A loud beating of drums pulsated at the scene as supporters maneuvered around several inches of snow on the ground, raising their homemade signs in the light drizzle.
As Highland Park natives Rami Apelian and his 9-year-old son Jaser waited for things to begin near Columbus and Jackson drives, the boy held a sign that urged men to stand up with women.
“It’s my generation’s duty to teach the next generation,” Rami Apelian said. “Equal means equal.”
Nine-year-old Jaser Apelian marching with #WomensMarchChicago2020. “Equal means equal,” says his dad. pic.twitter.com/Q5TD6mfXwJ — AngieLeventisLourgos (@angie_leventis) January 18, 2020
Despite the cold, damp weather, two teens from suburban Mundelein said they were excited to attend their first Women’s March.
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“It’s a big year for both of us, it’s the first year we’ll be able to vote,” said Nicole Nowicki, 17, holding a poster with the slogan “Grow a pair” adjacent to a pink glitter uterus and ovaries.
Her friend Hannah Stanley, 17, said her dad was a major influence in her decision to take part Saturday, fight for women’s rights “and be politically active.”
Nicole Nowicki and Hannah Stanley from Mundelein, excited for their first Women’s March. And the first election year the teens will be old enough to cast their ballots. pic.twitter.com/SNpT2EjIC8 — AngieLeventisLourgos (@angie_leventis) January 18, 2020
Earlier, other online supporters pledged to turn out.
“I just read there’s going to be rain? Time to convert my umbrella into a sign!” one marcher said on Facebook.
“No matter what the weather we will be there!” another responded.
“I look at less than ideal weather as a portent ... perhaps the avalanche all us snowflakes have been marching for? The House. The Senate. The Presidency,” a third supporter posted.
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A group of people gathered at the DuPage Township Democratic Organization office on Jan. 12, 2020, in Bolingbrook to make signs for the Women's March Chicago. (Mark Black / Chicago Tribune)
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In January 2017, following the inauguration of Trump, the first local Women’s March unexpectedly drew an estimated 250,000 supporters to Grant Park, shutting down parts of downtown. The event was held in concert with other women’s marches internationally.
An anniversary march in January 2018 brought a crowd of some 300,000 to Grant Park, according to organizer estimates. Then Women’s March Chicago hosted a solely local march in October 2018, to encourage midterm election voting, and decided not to organize a traditional January march at Grant Park in 2019, due to the large cost and resource burden of hosting two events in such a short time.
During the same time period, several leaders of a separate national women’s march group faced accusations of anti-Semitism and infighting, in part over ties to Louis Farrakhan, whose Chicago-based Nation of Islam is considered to be an anti-Semitic hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The more controversial leaders have since stepped down, and the national organization recently established a new board that "consists of leaders from a wide variety of communities, disciplines, ethnicities, religious beliefs, gender identities and experiences,” the group said in a news release.
Women’s March Chicago is also scheduling another march in mid-October to encourage voting in the 2020 elections.
Organizers believe everyday news events will help spur marchers to attend these events.
“Momentum comes from 10,000 tiny cuts,” said organizer Ann Scholhamer. “Everything creates momentum in someone. I’m sure uncovering fraud, illegal activity, misogynistic behavior, exclusion, racial events which happen everyday will continue. We wish we could all take a break because this stops. We won’t.”
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eleventis@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--Column: In Megxit, the only justification for privilege is service. Decouple those two words and you

Column: In Megxit, the only justification for privilege is service. Decouple those two words and you have a problem.

Or is this all about having one ’ s cake and eating it too ( a ubiquitous Megxit cliche ) @ @ @ @ @ part of a highly privileged and very wealthy young couple to duck dull responsibility in @ @ @ @ @ the likes of Oprah Winfrey and the Obamas and set themselves up to leverage their @ @ @ @ @ ; she , showbiz ) to make yet more cash with a veneer of doing @ @ @ @ @ Is this really about young people who have yet to figure out that choices have @ @ @ @ @ something you want , you invariably have to give something up , however painful that @ @ @

What lies at the heart of Megxit, the planet-shattering desire of two young parents to abandon the suffocating pressures of their lives on a small, formalist island in the North Atlantic and find room to breathe, and lucrative deals to make, in the wide-open spaces of North America?
(Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle made the announcement recently they would “step back” from their official duties in Britain’s royal family and live at least part time in North America. On Saturday, Buckingham Palace announced they are quitting as working royals and will no longer use the titles “royal highness” or receive public funds for their work.)
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Is this a consequence of a lingering, nationalist kind of racism? Yes, say many wise commentators with a long view. No, say those who insist that Markle, an American actress of mixed racial heritage, was initially loved and embraced as an opportunity for the British monarchy to modernize and throw off the less desirable aspects of its past — their wedding being both rapturously welcomed and warmly reviewed and the young Royals lauded as a new Fab Four.
Even in clear distress following the famed Megxit summit the other day, Queen Elizabeth spoke only with warmth of her disruptive (Yoko Ono-like?) daughter-in-law, reminding the world with repetition that she was part of her family. At press time, Markle had said nothing similar in support of her husband’s nonagenarian Gran.
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Or is this really a story of media harassment? Yes, say those who remember the young Prince Harry following his mother’s coffin down The Mall, part of a whole nation suffering the loss of the beloved Princess of Wales, a vulnerable and poorly treated woman chased to her death in 1997 in a dim Parisian tunnel by a vicious, Euro-tabloid press. No, say those who argue that cameras poking out of the shrubbery is part and parcel of royal life. Now and forever. Like “Cats.”
Or is this all about having one’s cake and eating it too (a ubiquitous Megxit cliche), a desire on the part of a highly privileged and very wealthy young couple to duck dull responsibility in the rain, commune with the likes of Oprah Winfrey and the Obamas and set themselves up to leverage their positions (he, royalty; she, showbiz) to make yet more cash with a veneer of doing glamorous, multi-platform good? Is this really about young people who have yet to figure out that choices have consequences and that to gain something you want, you invariably have to give something up, however painful that may seem.
Well? Which is it? You’ve had several days now, dear reader.
Probably, all of the above. How you feel likely says more about how you look at the world, and your feelings about the British monarchy — heck, your feelings about Britain and/or North America and their ability or lack thereof to make meaningful multi-cultural social progress — than these two humans locked in one of the globe’s strangest personal-professional scenarios.
“Who cares?” you might ask. But that’s disingenuous, since hundreds of millions of people most certainly do care, mostly because of the ability of this one seemingly minor event to crystallize so many of the fissures than make up political and social life in these first decades of the 21st century.
So let’s start with this truth: The only justification for privilege is service.
Decouple those two words and you have a problem. This is the argument consistently made by “Downton Abbey,” for example (its creator, Julian Fellowes, being a prominent advocate for gradual change) and, on occasion, by “The Crown.”
Service, of course, can take many forms. There is doing good for charities, say, but also economic service. British constitutional monarchists rightly note that the massive economic impact of the tourist-baiting royals far exceeds their actual cost to the public purse. By this measure, then, Canada is in a new, good spot. But the moment you remove service from the equation, or maybe even just diminish it, then it is hard to argue why Harry should retain either his title or his familial wealth.
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Inequality is laid bare. With no cushion on the horse.
On the other hand, there is a difference between choosing a life of service and being obliged to one by birth. Or marriage. In those circumstances, you can easily imagine a certain dislocation of soul and function. Then again, that’s hard to imagine if you’re living in poverty in Lancashire, England and struggling to feed your kids. You’d take a crisis of the soul over credit-card bills.
Then you have the currently popular, neo-Marxist argument that the very existence of royalty is a powerful conservative force that must be crushed from within or without. This school of thought very much wants to cast Meghan as a republican (lowercase) revolutionary, finally overthrowing the old crew. This theory is compromised by the couple’s digs on Vancouver Island.
And then again, many such folks don’t like the democratically elected (kinda) Donald J. Trump functioning as a head of state who is so divisive that some won’t go to the White House to be honored. Which hardly is a functional way for a democracy to run. Britain, thanks to its beloved, all-seeing, all-knowing, soul-of-discretion-and-politeness Queen, avoids all of that. Up to now.
Defenders of that state of being understandably worry about what damage Harry and Meghan might do, as they bare their presumably raw emotions in some imagined TV expose to which the traditional Royals will be unable to respond. These traditionalists argue that these two young people are not taking the long view.
Or maybe they are — it just happens to be a different long view. But a very hard needle to thread, no?
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History teaches us that the royals are vulnerable to the megarich — global jet setters with the access to the toys that the royals tend to crave, as many of us commoners also do, in our rare moments of honesty. For all their resources, the royals typically have to borrow yachts and the like to enjoy them. So if you put yourself in Harry and Meghan’s shoes, feeling unsupported and hounded by the press, you can see why they want resources and control. And, sure, the option for some nearby light service, which might just be more about the server than the served.
Meghan and Harry both seem to me like nice people locked in an impossible situation. Pulled this way and that way, mostly by people with their own agendas, bigger than themselves. It will take years before we see what Megxit really means.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--Cubs’ Marquee TV network will launch on Feb. 22 with new on-air talent, but still no deal with Comca

Cubs’ Marquee TV network will launch on Feb. 22 with new on-air talent, but still no deal with Comcast

But there ’ s still nothing signed with Comcast ’ s Xfinity , by far the Chicago area ’ s @ @ @ @ @ roughly half the market , with less than 10 weeks to go until opening day @ @ @ @ @ launch on Feb. 22 , with the Cubs ’ first spring training game , against @ @ @

Cubs fans are wondering if and when Comcast will cut a deal to carry Marquee Sports Network, the team’s TV outlet set to launch next month.
The Cubs are wondering too.
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“Comcast, (covering) like 50% in our market, is the big domino,” Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney said.
Kenney and other executives announced some new Marquee carriage agreements, including one with Chicago’s RCN — along with some programming and personnel news — during their session Saturday at the annual Cubs Convention at the Sheraton Grand Chicago.
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But there’s still nothing signed with Comcast’s Xfinity, by far the Chicago area’s largest carrier as it covers roughly half the market, with less than 10 weeks until opening day and the channel set to launch Feb. 22 for the Cubs’ first spring training game, against the Athletics.
“The one that’s missing and the one that people have asked me about so much this weekend is Comcast,” Kenney told the convention crowd. “One thing you should know is we are offering to Comcast the very same terms that have been agreed to by the 25 carriers that will pick up Marquee. So it’s encouraging to see that 25 distributors find our offering compelling and in fact reasonable.”
Kenney said he’s “confident we’ll get a deal done with Comcast" but also suggested fans reach out to the company for more information.
“You don’t have to tell them I sent you,” he said.
Kenney told reporters after his session that he didn’t know whether a Comcast deal would be done by “first pitch of spring training or the first pitch of opening day, but those are clearly pretty big milestones.”
Going forward, Marquee will be the exclusive of home of the roughly 150 Cubs regular-season games the team controls in its designated Major League Baseball market, a vast territory that includes not only most of Illinois and Indiana but all of Iowa and part of Wisconsin as well as Ohio.
Kenney said Marquee’s deals to date cover roughly 40% of its market.
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Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies will be back as announcers, sometimes joined by a third voice. The rotation of guest analysts (who also will do some studio work) will include Rick Sutcliffe, Lou Piniella, Doug Glanville, Ryan Dempster, Jason Hammel, Dan Plesac, Mark DeRosa and Carlos Pena.
Bringing you the best around the clock @Cubs coverage. pic.twitter.com/lJg3yqCvJm — Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) January 18, 2020
Cole Wright has left NFL Network to join Marquee as a studio host. Fox’s Chris Myers will do some play-by-play and studio work, which Kenney said was on the recommendation of Second City alumnus and Cubs fan Bill Murray.
According to Marquee general manager Michael McCarthy, Murray left a voicemail message in which the actor said: “I think you might get (Myers) cheaply because he lives in LA, and LA's on fire right now.”
Taylor McGregor, who had been covering the Rockies, the franchise her father once ran, is the new Cubs sideline reporter.
“How can you not want to part of something like this?” McGregor said, earning polite convention applause.
The response was more robust later when a fan mentioned former NBC Sports Chicago reporter Kelly Crull, suggesting Marquee should hire her in some capacity.
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Yet another fan drew still more applause noting McGregor was the only woman among the Marquee contributors introduced to the crowd.
“I was thinking the same thing when I was looking at the talent there," Kenney said. "We were really going as heavy as we could with former players. ... Your point is a good one, and we’ll make sure the network does have adequate representation.”
McCarthy said the new channel will offer hourlong pregame and postgame Cubs coverage from a studio across from the ballpark.
“Obviously the theme of our programming is very simple,” McCarthy told fans. “It’s Cubs, Cubs and more Cubs.”
Cubs minor-league games and a repackaging of as many as 4,000 vintage Cubs telecasts are available to Marquee. The channel’s library includes a version of the recent Cubs musical “Miracle,” along with documentaries on players such as Ernie Banks and Billy Williams.
There will be all-access, behind the scenes coverage a la the NFL’s “Hard Knocks” series and samplings from the Cubs’ YouTube channel too.
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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 74 Kris Bryant is introduced. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
The Vegas Sports Information Network’s “Follow the Money” will run on Marquee, as will game coverage from Stadium, the multiplatform sports channel in which both Sinclair and White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf have a ownership stake. Also available to Marquee will be content from other Sinclair regional sports networks.
Kenney and McCarthy said there have been discussions with both WMVP-AM 1000 and Cubs radio flagship WSCR-AM 670 about possibly simulcasting content on Marquee. All McCarthy would say about whether that will happen is that Marquee is not done announcing its programming plans.
Like renovating Wrigley Field and developing property around the ballpark, Marquee is a cornerstone of the Ricketts family’s strategy to enhance Cubs revenue streams and develop new ones.
The Ricketts family has been talking about the Cubs launching their own TV channel since acquiring the team from Tribune Co. in 2009, if not before.
The Cubs first had to wait out the final 10 seasons of a 15-year deal tying the team to what would become known as NBC Sports Chicago. That partnership with the White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Comcast ended after the 2019 baseball season.
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For those outside the team’s designated market area, games on Marquee will be available through MLB’s streaming service. There is, however, one carrier the Cubs announced Saturday in the Rickettses’ hometown of Omaha, Neb.
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ESPN and Fox Broadcasting — Fox-32 in Chicago — will continue to pluck some games from the Cubs’ schedule by virtue of their deals with MLB, but no longer will games be seen on free over-the-air WGN-9 or ABC-7.
The regional sports network business model on which Marquee, like NBC Sports Chicago, looks to profit requires carriers to pay a monthly fee based on the total number of households the channel reaches, regardless of how many actually watch the games. Advertising is sold on the basis of anticipated viewership.
Sinclair earlier said it had reached agreements with AT&T’s DirecTV, U-verse and AT&T TV to carry Marquee. Ditto for Charter Communications and Mediacom Communications.
The Cubs on Saturday said they continue to negotiate with streaming services such as YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV and FuboTV to offer Marquee in the team’s market area.
Prospects are less rose for an agreement with Dish Network covering its Dish and Sling services as it has made no secret of its goal to upend the RSN business model to keep its costs down.
The new deals the Cubs announced at the convention were with:


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts on fans’ reaction at convention: 'I’m not sure I was being booed’

“ People have to realize the correlation between what you spend and how much you win isn ’ t nearly @ @ @ @ @ d like it to be , particularly for a large-market team , ” he said @ @ @ @ @ last year ( the Red Sox and Cubs ) didn ’ t make the playoffs @ @ @ @ @ in the playoffs combined ( the A ’ s and Rays ) that have less @ @ @ @ @ ) .
So it ’ s really not just about money we put out there @ @

Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts on Saturday defended the team’s offseason inactivity and hinted at an eventual breakup of the core who won the 2016 World Series.
In an interview with WSCR-AM 670 on Day 2 of the Cubs Convention at the Sheraton Grand Chicago, Ricketts said avoiding luxury-tax penalties was a “factor” in the team’s lack of spending, which has tempered enthusiasm from the fan base following an 84-win season.
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“It’s not the only factor, but it’s certainly something that got put into the last collective bargaining agreement, and we have to work with it,” Ricketts told the Score’s David Haugh and Bruce Levine.
With Kris Bryant on the trade market all winter and team President Theo Epstein trying to stay under the $208 million luxury-tax threshold, this convention has been much more subdued than in past years.
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While die-hard fans have seldom booed players at the annual event since Sammy Sosa left, they booed Ricketts at the opening of the convention. They also booed after Ricketts mentioned the Marquee Sports Network — the team’s new TV outlet set to launch next month —on stage.
“I’m not sure I was being booed,” Ricketts said Saturday, though video of the booing spread Friday night on Twitter.
Sammy Sosa was booed before at the Cubs Convention. But until last night never heard a network booed at the Cubs Convention. https://t.co/XcHuFr80Vw — Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) January 18, 2020
Ricketts theorized Saturday that fans were booing Marquee because they were “worried about change." He added that a “good percentage” of cable companies have signed on to carry the network and he was “confident” a deal with Comcast’s Xfinity, by far the area’s largest carrier, will get done.
The traditional panel discussion headed by the Ricketts siblings was absent for the second straight convention, and Ricketts called it “played out.” He insisted he was “very, very accessible," calling the controversy “kind of a tempest in a teapot.”
Ricketts didn’t talk specifically about failed contract negotiations with Bryant, though he confirmed “some guys haven’t thought it was the right time to do an extension.” The Cubs have tried to get long-term deals done with several players, including Bryant and Javier Baez.
“There’s nothing I can do about how players’ salaries escalate as they get further along in their careers,” Ricketts said.
Ricketts said fans loved the 1969 Cubs because they were together a long time.
“You have a lot of time to get to know Ernie (Banks) and Fergie (Jenkins) and Glenn Beckert and all these guys," he said, “That’s fabulous, and I wish that was still the case."
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Bryant and Baez control their futures, and their market value continues to rise. Both are scheduled to be free agents after 2021, unless Bryant wins a grievance and is granted free agency after this season.
Asked about the extension talks with Baez, Ricketts deferred to Epstein but then pivoted back to payroll concerns.
“It would be awesome to keep everyone together,” he said. “That would be great. But the reality is the way players work their way toward free agency makes it difficult.”
Ricketts called the Cubs the top-spending organization in baseball in 2019. They finished second in payroll, but Ricketts claimed expenditures “in other parts of the organization” put them over the top. He said spending doesn’t always translate to winning.
“People have to realize the correlation between what you spend and how much you win isn’t nearly as perfect as you’d like it to be, particularly for a large-market team,” he said. “The top-two payrolls last year (the Red Sox and Cubs) didn’t make the playoffs. There were two teams in the playoffs combined (the A’s and Rays) that have less payroll (than the Cubs). So it’s really not just about money we put out there.”
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Ricketts said rookie manager David Ross will “bring new energy” to the Cubs, and fans “can trust Theo and Jed (Hoyer).” He advised everyone to “take a deep breath” and remember the team still has many core players on the roster.
“I’m sorry we don’t have a prize free agent or something sexier to talk about right now,” he said.


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--Weather forces Bulls and Cavaliers to delay flights to Chicago for Saturday’s game

Although , the Bulls are still struggling against winning teams ( 1-17 on the season ) , they have had @ @ @ @ @ like the Cavaliers , who are behind them in the standings .
The Cavs did @ @ @ @ @ of the season , a 117-111 defeat in Cleveland on Oct.30 .

Both the Bulls and Cavaliers are in the middle of one of the toughest stretches in their schedule this season. The winter storm in Chicago this weekend added an extra wrinkle to their travel plans.
The Bulls spent the night in Philadelphia after their 100-89 loss to the 76ers on Friday while the Cavs stayed overnight in Memphis, Tenn., after a 113-109 loss to the Grizzlies, forcing both teams to fly Saturday morning ahead of their evening matchup at the United Center. It added some extra intrigue to the game between two struggling teams.
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“Both of us are coming off tough losses,” Cavs coach John Beilein said before the game. “And we both have to deal with it.”
Mood seeing the weather forecast from Chicago tonight and hearing we can't fly into O'HARE from Philadelphia 🥶PlanesTrainsandAutomobiles🥶 pic.twitter.com/zT5WjdtEZo — Stacey King (@Stacey21King) January 18, 2020
Neither coach wanted to make excuses for the tough turnaround, but it forced both teams to adjust.
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They each canceled morning shootarounds and shortened their film sessions. The Cavaliers, wrapping up a six-game trip, still arrived in Chicago and met at the team hotel in time for their scheduled 11 a.m. team meal. Beilein then gave the players the afternoon off to nap before going to the United Center.
The Bulls also are in the middle of a difficult January, playing 17 games in 31 days. Friday kicked off a stretch of three games in four days.
“We need to do the basics better,” coach Jim Boylen said. “I haven’t talked about the travel. I’m not going to talk to the team about how difficult it was or whatever. I don’t do that. This is the pro part of the professional part.”


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--3 takeaways from the Bulls’ 100-89 loss to the 76ers, including another quiet night for Lauri Markka

3 takeaways from the Bulls’ 100-89 loss to the 76ers, including another quiet night for Lauri Markkanen

That might be a result of the bad ankle he has been playing through recently , but even in their @ @ @ @ @ two centers ( Wendell Carter and Daniel Gafford ) , Markkanen still was kept under @ @ @ @ @ needs to be more aggressive , but the Bulls are struggling to create offense on @ @ @ @ @ is rarely a focal point on that end of the floor .
In the second @ @ @ @ @ he went scoreless and took two shots .

PHILADELPHIA — For a half Friday night, the Bulls were able to hang with the 76ers, even holding a one-point lead coming out of the break against a undermanned team playing without Joel Embiid.
But the Bulls’ third-quarter woes returned once again as the Sixers moved ahead and took control before handing the Bulls a 100-89 loss, making them 1-17 in games against teams over. 500 this season. And once again, the Bulls struggled to score consistently, being held under 90 points.
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When Zach LaVine, who finished with 23 points, is not carrying this offense, the Bulls have few other options, especially if Lauri Markkanen is still nursing a sprained ankle and finding his way within coach Jim Boylen’s offense.
Here are three takeaways from Friday’s game.
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1. It was another quiet night for Lauri Markkanen.
Bulls forward Lauri Markkanen attempted only nine shots in 29 minutes, scoring 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting. By comparison, Luke Kornet played 28 minutes and took 10 shots, scoring 13 points on 4-for-10 shooting. One of these players is a key member of the Bulls future.
The Bulls got another quiet night from Markkanen in what is becoming a recurring storyline. After a strong December that looked to be turning his season around, his scoring from game to game continues to be inconsistent while his playing time continues to hover around the 30-minute mark.
That might be a result of the bad ankle he has been playing through recently, but even in their first game without their top two centers (Wendell Carter and Daniel Gafford), Markkanen still was kept under 30 minutes. Maybe he needs to be more aggressive, but the Bulls are struggling to create offense on a nightly basis and Markkaken is rarely a focal point on that end of the floor. In the second half against the Sixers, he went scoreless and took two shots.
Markkanen’s disappearing acts are troubling for the team that came into the season expecting him to start to take the next step in his progression. But nights like Friday have become too common, and an adjustment needs to be made to get Markkanen more comfortable in the offense.
2. The Bulls benefit from getting out in transition.
The Bulls got out and ran in the first quarter and through the first half, and it translated into a halftime lead. Boylen emphasized as much during an interview on the ESPN broadcast between the first and second quarters, and by pushing the pace they were able to generate offense.
The Bulls scored 18 fast-break points by halftime to gain the slim lead and finished the game with a 29-6 advantage in fast-break points. Ultimately, the Bulls could not keep up their hot and fast start, running into third-quarter woes again as they were outscored by 11 after the halftime break. That matched the Sixers’ winning margin.
But the Bulls were able to hang around with one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference by getting out in transition and getting Markkanen involved early. It’s something they should attempt to do more often.
3. Zach LaVine’s streak of scoring 25-plus points ends, and it highlights a glaring stat.
The Bulls played in their only nationally televised game of the season, and the ESPN broadcast referenced this stat, which comes thanks to Christopher Kamka at NBC Sports Chicago. LaVine has scored at least 20 points in 29 games this season, compared to just 20 such games from everyone else on the Bulls combined.
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Per @ckamka, Bulls 20+ point games this season
29 Zach LaVine
20 Everyone else combined — Bulls Talk (@NBCSBulls) January 17, 2020
So an elite defense like the Sixers’ has little else to worry about than using its best defenders to frustrate LaVine, who was limited to 23 points on 9-for-20 shooting in 36 minutes. He also finished 0-for-7 from 3, and his career-best five-game streak of scoring at least 25 points ended.
LaVine still attacked the basket and got to the rim frequently, he just had little help on the offensive end. Three other Bulls besides him reached double figures, led by Coby White’s 14 points off the bench. Kris Dunn did not score and took only three shots in 15 minutes. Markkanen’s struggles have been well-documented, but this further emphasizes the need for more from him offensively so LaVine is not stuck shouldering the burden alone.
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chicagotribune--2020-01-19--Man, 34, shot while walking dog on North Side

The man was walking his dog at 11:28 p.m. in the 4000 block of N. Broadway St. when he heard @ @ @ @ @ police said .
He suffered a gunshot wound to the right hip and was taken @ @ @ @ @ in fair condition .

A 34-year-old medical resident was shot while walking his dog Saturday night in the Buena Park neighborhood on the North Side, according to Chicago police.
The man was walking his dog at 11:28 p.m. in the 4000 block of North Broadway. A police source and a family member confirmed the victim’s identity but it is being withheld because he could not immediately be reached for comment.
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The man saw a man in a dark Canada Goose coat, who appeared to be intoxicated, standing about 25 feet away from him, a police source said.
Moments later, the cellphone he was holding in his left hand was shot at, and although the victim wasn’t sure who shot at him, he told authorities the intoxicated man was the only person he saw nearby, the source said. More gunshots were heard and he fell to the ground and felt pain, police said.
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He was able to take his dog back to his home before alerting authorities, officials said. An ambulance arrived and took him to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition after suffering a gunshot wound to the right hip, according to the source.
His phone was lost or damaged when it was shot at, the source said.
The victim is a medical resident in the emergency medicine department with Northwestern Medicine and has lived in Chicago for almost four years, said his father. The man’s father, who lives in New York, said he found it both heartbreaking and ironic that his son would be shot, given his profession.
“I worry about him,” the elder man said. "He called and told me everything that happened. I’m as nervous as a jaybird about him being where he is — he was just out walking his dog.”
No arrests have been made, a police spokesman said.
Chicago Tribune’s Rosemary Sobol contributed.
jvillagomez@chicagotribune.com
pfry@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--Ask Amy: Lost love letters should be returned to sender

I composed a respectful letter to her oldest son ( who is in his late 70s ) , telling him @ @ @ @ @ specifically apologized at the beginning of the letter if he thought this was an intrusion @ @ @ @ @ , but on the other hand many people these days do genealogy research , and @ @ @ @ @ about their family 's history .

Dear Amy: In the early '30s, my uncle attended college in North Carolina.
He met a girl and they fell in love. When he graduated, he moved back to his home state, and she stayed in North Carolina.
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They exchanged letters through 1933 or so, but the long distance doomed the relationship. He apparently was devastated at the breakup and saved all of her letters.
My uncle died in1979 and I inherited all of his estate, including all of her letters (about 120), pictures, and other small items she had sent to him.
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In trying to decide what to do with them, I found her family on the internet. She passed away in 2002 but has a large extended family.
I composed a respectful letter to her oldest son (who is in his late 70s), telling him what I have. I specifically apologized at the beginning of the letter if he thought this was an intrusion into their family's life, but on the other hand many people these days do genealogy research, and would love to know all about their family's history.
I have not sent the letter. My family is pretty split over this. Some say to just throw this stuff out, while others agree that I should contact the family. I don't want to upset them over their grandmother's love affair with someone they've likely never even heard of.
What do you think I should do?
— Conflicted
Dear Conflicted: Do NOT throw out these letters and photos. Contact the woman's son, accurately describe what you have, and offer to send the collection to him.
I detect an undercurrent of scandal or embarrassment over this collection. I fail to see why you are hesitating. Your uncle and his correspondent were young people who loved one another. Their tender story is beautiful, and universal.
As far as I can tell, there was no taboo to their love affair. These letters -- and especially the photos -- would most likely be treasures to her family members.
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Dear Amy: Should I be concerned that my boyfriend's (female) work friend, whom he would only see twice a year at conferences (and has recently gotten divorced), is driving four hours to visit our town? She says she wants us all to go to dinner.
Here is the problem: We live in a very small and unassuming place. No one ever just vacations here. It's obvious to me that she's coming to town just to see my boyfriend.
He is oblivious, and says I'm being jealous. He and I have a very solid relationship. Am I just being crazy?
— Jealous?
Dear Jealous: Jealousy isn't always a bad thing, but it is often flung in a partner's direction like an accusation, instead of it being the reasonable and justified response to a specific situation.
You might as well cop to feeling this way: "Jealous? You bet I am, buster." This doesn't mean that he has done anything wrong (or that she has), but that he is a desirable guy, and she is a newly single woman taking a four-hour road trip just to say hi.
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The real concern would be if she (or he) insisted on excluding you. Neither of them has.
Attend this dinner, behave like a sophisticated and confident person, laugh at all of their inside jokes, ask pointed questions about work and family, think of people you could fix her up with -- and suss this out.
Your Spidey sense should tell you whether you've got a real problem, or whether this is perhaps a case of someone (her) exploring a new territory, only to find that there is a sturdy flag already planted there.
Dear Amy: I'm the child of an older dad -- a man who people assumed was my grandfather.
I simply corrected people and let them be embarrassed all by themselves.
"K In Colorado" is an older dad who should be a lot more worried about keeping himself healthy, so he can be vibrant through all his son's life than about a stranger's assumptions.
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Letting ignorant people bug him is not good for his health.
Ask Amy Daily No-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
— Summer
Dear Summer: Your dad raised a practical and resilient child. Good job, Dad!
I completely understand the frustration this dad must experience to frequently be mistaken for his adolescent son's grandfather, but this assumption was a likely outcome when he chose to have his first child at the age of 57.
Good and happy parents embrace the joys of parenthood, while tolerating its many frustrations.
Get the latest no-nonsense advice for better living delivered to your inbox every morning with our Ask Amy newsletter. Sign up here.
(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
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Copyright 2019 by Amy Dickinson
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--Conor McGregor makes quick work of Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in 40 seconds at UFC 246

Cerrone is the winningest fighter in UFC history with 23 victories inside the octagon , a mark that reflects both @ @ @ @ @ an uncommonly busy schedule .
Cerrone , who also holds the UFC record with 16 @ @ @ @ @ a whopping 11 times since McGregor 's win over Alvarez , and he was in @ @ @ @ @ time since he lost his only UFC title shot in December 2015 .

LAS VEGAS — Conor McGregor stopped Donald Cerrone with a head kick and punches 40 seconds into the first round at UFC 246 on Saturday night, announcing his return to mixed martial arts with his first victory since 2016.
The Irish former two-division champion returned from a three-year stretch of inactivity and outside-the-cage troubles with a performance that echoed his greatest fights during his unparalleled rise.
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McGregor (22-4) floored Cerrone (36-14) only 20 seconds into the bout with a perfectly placed kick, and he mercilessly finished on the ground to the delight of a sellout crowd at T-Mobile Arena.
McGregor's hand hadn't been raised in victory since November 2016, when he stopped lightweight Eddie Alvarez to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two championship belts simultaneously. With his fame and fortune multiplying, McGregor fought only his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather in 2017, and he lost a one-sided UFC bout to lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in late 2018.
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After a year of inactivity and trouble outside the cage, McGregor vowed to return to elite form in this bout against a fellow UFC veteran and stoppage specialist. His dramatic victory over Cerrone indicated he's on his way.
Cerrone is the winningest fighter in UFC history with 23 victories inside the octagon, a mark that reflects both his durability and commitment to an uncommonly busy schedule. Cerrone, who also holds the UFC record with 16 stoppage wins, had fought a whopping 11 times since McGregor's win over Alvarez, and he was in the cage for the 15th time since he lost his only UFC title shot in December 2015.
But Cerrone's last two fights were stopped when he took too much damage, and he couldn't block McGregor's decisive kick or recover from the punishment on the ground.
McGregor believes he can recapture the fearsome form he showed during his meteoric rise to unprecedented MMA success. He won 15 consecutive fights during a five-year run from low-profile shows in Dublin to the world’s biggest MMA events, stopping five straight elite UFC opponents with punches on the way up.


chicagotribune--2020-01-18--'I’ll put that upon myself’: Zach LaVine scores 21 of his 42 points in the 4th quarter as the Bulls

'I’ll put that upon myself’: Zach LaVine scores 21 of his 42 points in the 4th quarter as the Bulls come back from 19 down to beat the Cavaliers 118-116

The potential for an ugly game already was high considering both teams were playing the second half of back-to-backs after @ @ @ @ @ Friday night before getting to Chicago on Saturday morning .
While the Cavs were finishing @ @ @ @ @ the Bulls started the game sluggish .
Meanwhile , the Cavs came out firing , @ @ @ @ @ first half ( 12-for-17 from 3 ) , missing 70 % only by missing a @ @ @ @ @ had made 14 straight shots in the quarter before that last miss .

The Bulls were rescued by Zach LaVine on Saturday night as he lit up the United Center for 42 points with a 21-point fourth quarter to lead an unlikely 118-116 comeback victory against the Cavaliers.
LaVine’s heroics saved the Bulls from a frustrating loss, but when a team comes back from 19 points down in the second half and 15 entering the final period, more than a few things had to go right. A night that began looking miserable for the Bulls ended with them showing signs of progress.
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Coach Jim Boylen rolled out a lineup he hadn’t used all season. And credit the Bulls for giving a much more inspired effort defensively in a lineup that featured Kris Dunn, LaVine and Tomas Satoransky in the backcourt with Chandler Hutchison and Lauri Markkanen in the frontcourt, a smaller lineup that turned the tide in the final period as they held the Cavs to 14 points on 27% shooting and paved the way for LaVine to go off.
“Tenacity,” Dunn said. “Everybody was flying around … we switched a little bit, changed it up on them. I love what the coaches did, gave a different look. They allowed us to go out there and fight.”
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Here are three takeaways from the Bulls’ comeback win against the Cavs:
1. Zach LaVine bails Bulls out from a bad loss.
If not for a miss on a halfcourt shot attempt at the buzzer, the Cavs would have shot 70% in the first half in what was quickly becoming one of the Bulls' most lackluster defensive efforts of the season.
“We were just low energy in the first half,” Jim Boylen said. “We were slugging uphill. Guys were trying, we were in mud a little bit.”
Enter Zach LaVine to lift the Bulls out of the mud.
It’s still an issue that, at times, this offense gets caught up watching LaVine and waiting for him to bail them out of possessions. But once he got hot Saturday, they were paving the way for him to succeed. And LaVine continues to show he can rise to the occasion.
It’s making an awfully compelling All-Star case for LaVine, especially as he continues a red-hot January that should put him firmly in consideration to play in next month’s game at the United Center. He is fourth in the NBA in scoring this month, averaging 30.6 points per game and shooting 50%, both his best for any month this season.
Zach LaVine scored FORTY TWO points in last night's comeback win vs the Cavs, including 21 in the 4th quarter alone as the Bulls erased a 19-point deficit to take the W.
PS: 2 days left to vote him to the All Star Game: https://t.co/XeTIaCKArt pic.twitter.com/SituRVspHg — Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 19, 2020
“He’s been a monster, he’s been a monster,” Boylen said. “He’s been talking in the huddles. He’s been chattering. He’s been locked in. What he’s doing better is he’s bouncing back from maybe a poor moment or a bad stretch, he’s bouncing back now. He’s not playing backward at all. And that’s what the great ones do, they don’t even worry about that play. And that was a herculean effort.”
2. The Bulls tried to get Lauri Markkanen involved.
After Lauri Markkanen disappeared down the stretch during their loss to the 76ers on Friday night, the Bulls came into Saturday’s game determined to find more scoring opportunities for him in the offense. So they began the game by calling a play for Markkanen, and even though it resulted in a turnover, it showed a commitment to try and get him more involved on offense, one that continued all game.
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Markkanen started the second half with a 3 and scored the first basket of the fourth quarter before Zach LaVine took over. But the Bulls got more of a contribution from their third-year forward, whose scoring and playing time have reverted to near his rookie season instead of taking a step forward.
On Saturday, he went 7-for-14 from the field with 17 points in nearly 33 minutes, playing the entire fourth quarter as the Bulls made their comeback.
“I had no problems with that,” Markkanen said with a smile. “It was fun to be out there.”
”He wants to help the team win,” Jim Boylen said before the game. “I have to make sure he’s involved. He was involved, he didn’t shoot the ball enough (Friday night). It wasn’t that he wasn’t involved, I have to make sure that he gets more than two shots. He’s fought through some injury and he’s given us everything he has.”
3. Wendell Carter Jr. is optimistic about his return timeline as Bulls test out new lineups.
The Bulls released an initial timeline of four to six weeks for Wendell Carter Jr.’s recovery from a sprained right ankle, and the second-year center believes he’s on track to return at the shorter end of that timeline. Carter, who has not played since Jan. 6, is already feeling an improvement in his ankle and even though he is limited to upper-body workouts, he is aiming for a return by the All-Star break at the latest.
His return would be welcomed by the Bulls, who are without Carter and rookie center Daniel Gafford, sidelined for two to four weeks with a dislocated thumb.
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“It’s frustrating because I am a competitor,” Carter said. “But on the back end, everything happens for a reason and it could’ve been worse.”
The Bulls have been piecing together their lineups without him, which included the debut of that small lineup in the fourth quarter with Lauri Markkanen at the five and Chandler Hutchison at the four. That lineup was on the floor during most of their fourth-quarter comeback.
And even though Luke Kornet, who has been filling in as the starting center, started off hot with eight points in the first quarter and finished with 11 overall, the Bulls perhaps could use that smaller lineup more frequently as they try to survive without Carter.
“It was good, we were switching everything, felt like we were a lot more athletic and faster,” Zach LaVine said. “And it was an aggressive lineup. We’re out there making plays when we needed to. We were wearing them down, and with Hutch out there it made it big because if he gets the rebound he can push it, too, so it made it faster.”
Here’s more coverage from Saturday night’s game:
With each made basket by Zach LaVine, each point that willed a frantic Bulls fourth-quarter comeback, the crowd at the United Center became re-energized. They had been lulled to sleep by the Bulls falling behind early, down 19 points in the third quarter, and facing a 15-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.
And then LaVine took over and put on a fourth quarter show.
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He scored half of his game-high 42 points in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Cavaliers 21-14 by himself in the final period to lead the Bulls to a 118-116 victory Saturday night. By the time LaVine punctuated his performance with a reverse layup and knocked down the ensuing free throw to put the Bulls in position to ice the game late, the crowd had worked itself into a frenzy.
“It’s make-or-break time,” LaVine said. “We’re not going to get back in the game by just playing nicely, so I’m going to attack their body, try to make them make a call, got some tough finishes, made some tough shots. But I’ll take that upon myself.”
Once again with the Bulls in need of a bailout, LaVine was there to rescue them.
If he wanted to make a statement that he should be given consideration for the All-Star team next month, he did so in emphatic fashion. He recorded his third 40-point game of the season to go along with six rebounds, three assists, a career-best five steals and two blocks.
LaVine made 19 field goals, the most by a Bulls player since Scottie Pippen on Feb. 18, 1997, and still shot 60 percent, the first Bulls player to do that with at least 30 shot attempts since Michael Jordan on Jan. 21, 1997.
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“If that’s not an All-Star performance, I don’t know what is,” coach Jim Boylen said.
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It saved the Bulls from what was shaping up to be one of their worst defeats of the year.
In the first half the Bulls had little answer for guard Collin Sexton, and the Cavs offense had their way with them through three quarters. The Bulls gave up a season-high 73 points by halftime. The Cavs reached triple digits in the third quarter. Sexton, the second-year guard who went one pick after the Bulls’ first selection in 2018, scored 26 points while Kevin Love put up 29 in a lackluster defensive effort from the Bulls.
“We were getting our (butts) kicked,” LaVine said. “(Boylen) didn’t really have to say a lot. We know we’re playing, they came out there and they jumped on us. ... We had to flip it around, because if we didn’t it was gone be an ugly game.”
The potential for an ugly game already was high considering both teams were playing the second half of back-to-backs after their travel plans were delayed Friday night before getting to Chicago on Saturday morning. While the Cavs were finishing a six-game road trip, the Bulls started the game sluggish. Meanwhile, the Cavs came out firing, shooting 68.4% in the first half (12-for-17 from 3), missing 70% only by missing a buzzer beater. The Cavs had made 14 straight shots in the quarter before that last miss.
Then LaVine took over and helped lead the Bulls to a furious comeback. This marked the first time the Bulls have won a game after allowing at least 102 points through three quarters since November 1990.
“I stepped up into that role because I understand the situation,” LaVine said. “I’m not scared to fail. I think I’ve worked hard enough to go out there and put the team on your back sometimes because I feel like I have that ability.”