NOTHING BUT SPORTS

 A lot to get to so let's start with the UNDER ACHIEVING White Sox and I don't want to hear a word about injuries and slow starts because of the weather. Catch the ball, hit the ball and pitch the ball. And the guy who should pay the price is octogenarian TONY LARUSSA who has lost his way and watched today's baseball pass him by. There have been many managers fired during the season and about 25% of the time the new manager actually turns things around and I'm willing to take the chance because the window of opportunity is about 5 years and the Sox have been one and done for two years.....so do the math.

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The administration of the Cubs is still boldface lying to their fans by insisting 'this is not a rebuild.' REALLY???  To date, 24 players have made their MLB debut this season with the north siders but it's not a rebuild? And when the face of the franchise are two 30 year old journeymen, you have a serious problem trying to sell your program. 

Now cub fans are not the sharpest knives in the drawer but even they are asking questions and that NEVER happens. And wait for July when the tears start rolling again when Willson Contreras and Kyle Hendricks say goodbye to the cub faithful and are replaced with minor leaguers and draft choices. Good thing it's not a rebuild.

And speaking of Contreras, it appears that his love child Christopher Morel is now playing outfield for the wrigley faithful and acting just as much of a jerk as Contreras does when he does simple things on the field like fist pumping when he catches the third out......in the 4th inning. He's just another Dominican hot dog who will also learn the hard way that the opposition doesn't like the clowning and showboating and they normally respond by putting a fast ball in your ribs. Just ask Contreras. Act like you've been there, rookie.

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On a related note, the Marquis network which is owned and run by Tom Ricketts lost ALL CREDIBILITY when they edited a portion of the show when two reporters in the segment mentioned the R word. They stopped the taping, deleted the segment and moved on to another topic when they started shooting again. 

The Sun Times responded by pulling all of it's employees from the network and simply stated "There's a huge credibility problem on Marquis with censorship and we won't be involved in the future." REBUILD. There, I said it.

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Did anyone, for a minute, believe Josh Donaldson's explanation about calling Tim Anderson "Jackie"? Donaldson is a pud and there's a reason he's played with 5 teams over the last 6 years. He sucks as a human being and is a terrible locker room presence. Did anyone else notice that the Yankees put him on Covid watch right after that incident and then suddenly he's on a 10 day injury list when the covid watch ended. Love them or hate them, the Yankees are a class organization with a healthy African American fan base and they won't tolerate racism in any form. Even the manager didn't back him and that normally means your goose is cooked. Look for Donaldson to be on the move.

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Dallas Keuchel was FINALLY released by the White Sox after getting the piss pounded out of him again and again this season and save for two outings, he absolutely sucked. He was so bad that the team was willing to eat $14 million dollars remaining on his contract.

On a side note, I like to wager on the over/under total runs scored in a game and the number is normally between 7 & 9 runs. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that Keuchel's 7.88 ERA leads you to bet the OVER and I was 6-1 when Keuchel pitched. It was like free money but he was cut before I could order my Corvette.

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CONGRATULATIONS to the New York Rangers who won two elimination games including the last one on the road and knocked off the heavily favored Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 to advance to the Eastern finals against the two time champion Tampa Bay Lightning. It's always good to have a major market involved when you get to the semis.

On the other side of the world, the Colorado Avalanche will be big time favorites with home ice advantage over the Edmonton Oilers. Trust me, television execs are rooting for the Rangers to get to the finals.

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In the NBA finals, it will be a battle of heavyweights where the Golden State Warriors with their run 'n shoot offense and home court advantage will be slight series favorites to shanghai the Boston Celtics. A great offense against a great defense. Classic. WHOYAGOT?

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Is there a worse sports city than Detroit?? A quick rundown of Motown Muck:

MLB Tigers last made the playoffs as a wild card in 2014--eliminated in 1 game

NBA Pistons have made the playoffs twice in 12 years. eliminated each year in 1st round

NFL Lions are the worst. Haven't won a playoff game in 30 years & lost 7 wild card games.

NHL This is my personal favorite, the Red Wings were the cock of the block until the BLACKHAWKS ripped their hearts out in the 2013 conference semi-finals of the stanley cup playoffs. The wings had a 3-1 lead and needed just one more win to advance but gagged it up and the Hawks eventually beat them in a game 7 overtime to eliminate the motor city mouths and rip the hearts out of the team, their fans and the organization itself.

In fact, when offered a chance to switch conferences, the Wings did exactly that to avoid further embarrassment by having to play the Hawks 8 times a year. The Red Wings have never been the same, getting bounced in the first round the next three years and then disappearing from the playoffs completely since 2016 plus the team isn't even competitive in the race for the playoffs. I absolutely love it.

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Who are the big boys in MLB this year? The usual suspects in the American League are the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays and the Astros with the disappointment to date being the White Sox but we have two surprises in the Twins and Angels but I think Joey Gasbag will find some way to overmanage that team out of the playoffs.

National League? Let's start with the Dodgers, Brewers, Cardinals and Padres with the disappointments being the Braves, Phillies and the Giants but the most pleasant surprise in all of baseball is the New York Mets. Beset by pitching injuries to two superstars, they still maintained and as a matter of fact, INCREASED their lead over the last month. Times get tough and tough teams respond. Listening, White Sox?

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Remember when Cub fans cried when all of their favorites were traded away? Check this out:                              Javy Baez   .195 with 3 home runs

                                      Kris Bryant  .270 with zero homers and on the dl AGAIN

                                     Anthony Rizzo    .213   with 11 dingers

 OK, here's more former cubs:   Jose Quintana   1-2   2.15 era

                                           Kyle Schwarber     .188  with 11 homers

                                      Yu Darvish             4-2   3.78 era

The Cubs did absolutely the right thing in dumping those guys. Father Time catches up to all of us and takes your speed and power and makes you more brittle. So on with the REBUILD! There, I said it again.

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Enough is enough. Talk to you later.

                                                                  

NOTHING BUT GOOD NEWS

 Went to see "ain't too proud" at the Cadillac theatre over the weekend and it is a spectacular musical based on the life and career of the Temptations, featuring 31 songs in a fast paced history that covers 60 years of a group that is still in existence. Otis Williams was the founder of the group as he took the best players from two separate bands and made up the Temptations who became the first Motown group to win a Grammy.

If you saw Jersey Boys, the story format is the same as they walk you thru history from the inception of the group but there is no dancing in Jersey while 'ain't too proud' has you mesmerized by the moves on stage and your toe will probably be sore at the end of the performance from tapping it to the beat of the music. The show closes this week but make a note to see it next time they're in town. BOFFO!!

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A quick restaurant review from Route 21 in Wheeling....Buca de Bepo, which is loosely translated as Joe's Basement, features Italian food to the fullest and I guarantee you that take-home containers will be in the car afterwards. The menu prices seem a little steep at first but everything comes family style so the quantity evens out. Example: I ordered stuffed shells for $30 and there were NINE delivered to the table. doggie bag please! TRY IT!

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And here's the best hint I can give you if you want to do the theatre and dinner.

 GO TO THE MATINEE at 2:00 p.m. and make a dinner reservation up in a civilized area. The event normally ends around 4:30 which means you can escape the jungle in broad daylight and avoid the violence that permeates Cook County once the sun goes down and the ghetto rats appear. 

2nd hint....NEVER eat dinner BEFORE the event because your eyes get very heavy in those comfortable theatre seats. Or at least that's what I've heard.

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Memorial Day services are emotional and beautiful at the same time. Despite all the recent problems, we still live in a great country.

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Good news on the drug front as EL TOMATE (the tomato) was extradited from Mexico and faces enough charges to put him away for life. CASAR SALGADO is one of four brothers that ran a cartel in the areas of Acapulco and Mexico City BUT before you start thinking Mexico is now fully cooperating with our DEA and the cartels will disappear, many times bad guys are allowed to be extradited only because they chose to back the wrong political party or refused to donate. Sad but true. I guess it's take your wins when you can get them.

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BEST CHICKEN WINGS in Lake County and it's not even a discussion. FAIRMONT SHORES in unincorporated Lake Villa off route 59. Closed on Mondays but they open at 4 during the week. Ask for CAJUN MILD which have a little bite to them but for you psychos with burned out taste buds, order the heat. BEST CHICKEN WINGS!!!

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Perennial candidate and millionaire WILLIE WILSON, 73, is putting smiles on the faces of a lot of poverty level people as he continues to hand out vouchers for free food and/or gasoline. This week alone, he's handing out A MILLION DOLLARS in vouchers. Good for you Willie but you're still not going to be mayor. Wilson has run for numerous positions including President, Senator and Mayor but gets clobbered every time. For you older folks, think LAR DALY of Chicago, who also ran for everything back in the 50's & 60's. Willie Wilson made his millions by owning several McDonalds and a medical supply company.

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55% of the audiences were over the age of 35 but 'TOP GUN-MAVERICK' rocked the box office this weekend to the tune of  $248 MILLION DOLLARS which isn't a bad number for three days. The movie which stars TOM CRUISE has also received excellent reviews.

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The weather finally warmed enough to sit in the gazebo at night listening to music and enjoying an adult beverage with a cigar and the only light on the deck is being provided by my electric palm tree....yes, the same one you see on that Corona beer commercial. Perfect!

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Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul, 83, was arrested for DUI over the weekend in California. Now let me see if I have this straight...........The Pelosi family is worth $114 MILLION DOLLARS and Paul can't afford an Uber? The Speaker had no comment on her husband's arrest Saturday night but wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall when Nancy gets home today from her east coast visit?

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I will now share my personal experience with you buying a car because everyone deserves a laugh this week.

After 9 years with my trusty Ford Explorer, I broke down and bought a 2020 Ford Edge   (which is basically the Explorer without the third seat) with 16,000 miles and it has every goodie known to man and it's a very cool car but my laughter started when DAN THE DINOSAUR sat in the cockpit and realized there's no more CD players, you don't need a key, there's no shifter and you start the car by stepping on the brake pedal and pressing a button. WHAT?

 The wipers go on automatically when they sense moisture (scared the absolute crap out of me the first time) and the headlights TURN WITH THE CAR which blows your mind the first time you take a curve because as you straighten out, you see the field of light snap back to the straightaway. I thought I was having an LSD flashback.

Buttons open and close the tailgate and drop the back seats plus the rear camera can also give you multiple angles of vision (if you know how to operate it!) and the car has numerous locations where you can plug in your whatever, no matter what kind of cord you have but if you forgot your cord?? just drop your phone in the little box and it charges itself while you drive. STOP IT!!

So I'm driving it around the first couple of days trying to get used to everything and it's warm & sunny so I press the A/C button and you could immediately hang meat inside the car which I really like but then I noticed 4 squiggly blue lines on the climate board, just to the left of all the A/C options. Living on the edge, I press the squiggly button and it fully lights all 4 lines and in 15 seconds, somehow my butt is being air cooled. I actually laughed out loud and realized all I needed was a wide brimmed hat with a feather in the band and I would be absolutely RIGHTEOUS driving around my neighborhood!!

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Today is the last day of May so summer is in full swing. Stay safe, avoid Chicago whenever possible and enjoy the warm weather for the next 4 1/2 months. We'll talk later.

NOTHING BUT BAD NEWS

 A day of remembrance for all of the men & women who served in the military, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. Like a heavyweight boxer in the closing rounds, we have been rocked back on our heels in recent weeks but this is still a great country and hopefully, we will recover from these tragedies in time. Again, I salute the military and this country!!

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What to do about the gun issue? If I were king..........everyone would have the right to own a simple handgun for personal protection and 3 round shotguns would also be allowed for hunting purposes but there would be absolutely NO ASSAULT WEAPONS ALLOWED in this country. They are produced to kill large amounts of people in a very short period of time and no one can argue that.

In New Zealand, they made a decision after the church massacre in 2019 to ban assault weapons and then had a buy back program over a period of 6 months before the law went into effect and 56,000 weapons were surrendered.

Now if you're unlicensed to possess a weapon and are found in possession of a firearm, it's adios for 4 years. Carrying a banned weapon? 5 years. And if you just aim that prohibited weapon at a person, pack your bags for a 7 year vacation. And any type of alteration to a stock weapon gets you ten years.

Congratulations to the politicians in New Zealand for having the stones to take a stance to protect the people long term. Are you listening, Republicans? Someone on that side of the aisle has to see the big picture. 119 school shootings in the last 4 years, which is more than 2 a month. What has to happen for you to get your heads out of your asses? 

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Speaking of weapons, the warmer weather has brought the start of the annual summer homicide Olympics, which are now underway in the city of Chicago. I just thumbed thru the last ten issues of the Sun Times and there are at least three murder stories in each issue. The jungle rats are out in force although an incident the other day gives me hope for the future: Two ghetto thugs got into a shouting match from 15 feet and the both drew their weapons at the same time....... and killed each other! PERFECT!! No one else hurt and now there are two less pieces of garbage in the jungle. 😁😁 !! An addendum to my newspaper scouring.....every picture of a victim or the person arrested was black. DISCUSS. My friend Larry was out of town so I'm asking you to talk about it.

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot is out of her mind if she thinks lowering curfew by an hour is going to make a difference but when the rich folks from the Gold Coast and the Magnificent Mile are making noise, the Mayor had to do something because those are the residents who float her campaign with big time donations.

Spoke to three of my friends on CPD and they all laughed at the new restriction. "We're already down two thousand officers and they want us to get tied up for two hours with a juvenile arrest? The Mayor has lost her mind." Ouch. It's never good when the rank & file are grumbling............

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BEWARE! Apple came out with Air Tags in 2021, a high tech way to track your lost purse, keys and even your luggage but they are now being used by stalkers to track their victims. The tag sells for $29 and is the size of a half dollar and can be secreted in vehicles, brief cases and even certain types of clothing with very little effort. It's a disaster for domestic violence victims as their partners can now track their locations 24/7 but Apple has responded with several cell phone apps to notify a potential victim that an unwanted Tag is in their vicinity. Now let's see what happens.

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COVID......just when we thought it was safe, the numbers are zooming upwards and while we're at it, let's throw in MONKEY POX which isn't normally fatal but can make you look like a leper for 3 or 4 weeks and IT IS VERY CONTAGIOUS, with the virus being spread by breathing droplets, coughing, sneezing and also sexual contact. Why don't we just wrap ourselves in saran wrap and lock the door? 

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JOSEPH KROMELIS, aka "the walking man" who is homeless in Chicago was doused in gasoline and set afire by a 27 year old man from Melrose Park, who has been arrested and charged with attempted murder and arson and given no bail.

 Kromelis, 75, suffered 3rd degree burns over 65% of his upper body while sleeping on lower Wacker drive and burned for almost 3 minutes before a nearby security guard put the fire out with an extinguisher. Kromelis is in grave condition and not expected to survive. 

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Over five thousand flights were cancelled over the holiday weekend due to labor shortages and some bad weather. Apparently, there is a big time shortage of air traffic controllers AND flight personnel which would make flying extremely unsafe and violate federal standards for minimum personnel requirements.

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WHERE THE HELL ARE ALL THE WORKERS???? I drove down the main drag by my house recently and 19 of 24 stores had "help wanted" signs. I just don't get it. Wages have never been higher plus benefits & bonuses abound but no takers. Closer to home, my local school district needs bus drivers at $22 an hour but their recent ad brought ZERO responses.

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Tired of all the political commercials yet? Many more to come.

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Chicago is finally getting a casino which means thousands of jobs (if they can fill them) and dozens of armed robberies as winners try and make their way home with their winnings. They will need HUNDREDS of police personnel to keep members of the jungle away from the parking lots and the city can't stock normal shift requirements now. This will be a MAJOR headache for the city. Ask the city of Elgin about their escalating crime stats when the GRAND VICTORIA opened in 1994. OUCH. 

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OK, that's enough bad news for one day. The world sucks but we have to find ways to make it a happier and safer place. Later,

JUST ODDS AND ENDS

 I'm a little confused over the recent movement to wipe out student loans. You want to attend college but you can't afford it so you make a deal with a bank for a loan that you pay back when you're done with school. Sounds like pretty basic business to me. I had a student loan and paid it back according to their schedule and life went on. WHY SHOULD THESE MILLENIAL WADS get their loans dismissed? You took the money after applying for it. Now pay it back.

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Would you ride the trains in Chicago? It seems to change year to year but apparently THE RED LINE is now the best place to get robbed, raped, shot or murdered. And who's lying to whom? Shootings in the downtown area are up 64% but the police commissioner says murders and shootings are down for the month of April but 26 people were shot and wounded over the past weekend in addition to nine fatalities. You think those numbers are bad? Just wait.  The hot weather is just around the corner and then all of the jungle creatures will be out in force and the violence numbers will rise accordingly.

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ROE vs WADE became a victory for liberals in 1973 but the heavily right wing supreme court appears ready to reverse that ruling and eliminate a "constitutional right" to have an abortion which means those procedures would no longer be allowed under government sponsored insurance programs such as Public Aid, Medicare and Medicaid. If I read the opinion correctly, individual states could still allow them but they wouldn't be covered by federal insurance. I see a huge problem resurfacing in the low income neighborhoods when they can't afford the procedure and the only option is to have the baby and put him on the welfare rolls for the next 18 years. Gee, I wonder who pays for that?

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In just six more weeks, PEDOPHILE R. KELLY will be sentenced in New York for racketeering, kidnapping, bribery, illegal sex with minors, forced labor aand a few other sexually related crimes which could result in a life sentence. Kelly's Chicago trial starts August 1 and his attorney tried desperately to have the New York sentencing delayed until after the Chicago proceedings but that motion was denied so now he will face 21 more sex related charges. 

At 55, any sentence over 25 years will be just like receiving a life sentence because the federal system is much different regarding early release. There may be no need for a Chicago trial if the judge has a heavy hand on June 15.

In case you haven't figured it out, Kelly is a piece of crap who needs to be flushed down and out of sight. He has had numerous sexual accusations regarding minors over the last 30 years along with numerous domestic violence complaints but his wealth and notoriety always got him off the hook....but not this time. Kelly is currently being held in the federal detention center in New York City, in case you want to drop him a card or letter.

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Amazon continues to zig and zag regarding union status at various warehouses and  after the union was elected in Staten Island last month, they expected repeated success on Monday in New York but the union was soundly defeated by a 2-1 margin. A third union vote is yet to be decided in Alabama because of over 400 challenged ballots but the beat will continue across the nation as Amazon fights charges of unsafe conditions and arbitrary terminations along with allegations that they make up the rules as they go along.

Starbucks is facing the same challenges but the union has prevailed at FIFTY stores while losing only five with 230 more stores filing for a union vote. Starbucks has countered the movement by announcing new and improved benefits and pay raises but only for those stores which are non-union.

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If Mayor Lightfoot gets her way, it looks like the Bally Corporation will get the approval to build Chicago's first casino, which will be located in the River West neighborhood, located at the hypnotic address of 777 w. Chicago Ave. which is the current address of the soon to be defunct Chicago Tribune printing plant at the corner of Chicago & Halsted.

It's not a done deal but Bally's has been the front runner from the start over the objections of some aldermen who are resisting the upcoming congestion but the mayor appears to have the 26 votes from the city council.

The casino will generate at least $200 million annually and that money is currently earmarked to pay down the city's 16 BILLION DOLLAR total pension debt to both the police and fire departments as well as provide 12,000 temporary construction jobs and thousands of permanent positions at the casino.

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And finally, a sad goodbye to COUSIN JACKIE who died peacefully in her sleep on Monday night. Godspeed to you and I'll never forget the good times we had at Arlington Park when just the two of us snuck over there for some nice Friday afternoons. Rest in peace.

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That's it for now.