Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) The Assembly Hall means a lot to me.

As a kid, it’s where my dad and I watched the Harlem Globetrotters dribble circles around the Washington Generals. And as a youth, it’s where my mom and I saw the cast of Les Misérables bring down the house.

As a teen, it’s where I cheered on my high school’s basketball team during remarkable back-to-back runs to the Elite Eight. And as a college student, it’s where I donned a cap and gown for my commencement from the University of Illinois.

Throughout my entire life, Assembly Hall has also been the site of countless Illini basketball memories shared with both friends and family. So, while I’m thrilled to see the 50-year-old arena is getting a much-needed injection of cash that should preserve it for another 50, I’m also melancholy about seeing its longtime name relegated to the history books.

“It now has a name rather than a description,” University of Illinois Chancellor Phyllis Wise said on Monday during the announcement that as part of $60 million, 30-year naming rights deal the venerable Assembly Hall will now be known as the State Farm Center – starting immediately.

To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …

From the Saturday, April 27, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

From the heart of Chicago to the heart of Champaign, it’s about 140 miles as the car drives. But if the University of Illinois has its way, the distance between its campus and the metropolis to its north will soon become much shorter than the span your finger traces on a Rand McNally.

Or, at least, it’ll feel that way to millions of Chicagoans.

In August 2011, when he was hired as Illinois’ new athletic director, Mike Thomas proclaimed during his introductory press conference that he wanted the university to be “King of Chicago.”

Whether such a thing can even be accomplished in a city with such diverse interests and college alumni is highly debatable. But in recent months, Illinois has launched a spate of initiatives – both sports-related and otherwise – with the clear intent of increasing the school’s presence and influence as it attempts to put its crown on Chicago.

This month, Illinois announced that Learfield Sports’ Fighting Illini Sports Properties had secured WSCR 670 The Score as its newest radio affiliate on the statewide Illini Sports Network. The terms of the new multi-year arrangement call for the station to carry Illini basketball games starting with the 2013-14 season and Illinois football beginning in 2014.

“This is very exciting news for Fighting Illini fans throughout the Midwest,” Thomas said. “The signal strength and coverage area of WSCR 670 The Score is tremendous, giving our fans the very best ability to listen to Fighting Illini football and basketball.”

With its 50,000-watt signal, WSCR will certainly give Chicago-area fans far better ability to listen than current radio partner, WIND 560, which broadcasts at a meager 5,000 watts.

By comparison, Northwestern and Notre Dame – Illinois’ chief competition in the city for the attention of college sports fans – respectively air their football games on WGN 720 and WLS 1000, which both boast 50,000-watt signals.

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Saturday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) He may be a natural-born hitter, but when it comes to playing the field, Starlin Castro is not a natural-born shortstop.

He just plays one on TV.

During his rookie season in 2010, Castro committed 27 errors in just 123 games. During his sophomore campaign, he committed 29 in 158. Last season, he committed 27 in 162. And this year, he already had committed four through 21 games heading into Friday night’s in Miami.

I don’t think that’s the kind of “Committed” that the Cubs meant with their slogan this year. But, hey, it fits.

And the problem with Castro is that he doesn’t. Not up the middle at least. And not when the team is likely to soon have another very appealing option to fill his sizable shoes.

Considering that, at some point the Cubs need to seriously consider moving Castro to a position – third base, perhaps – that’s more befitting a career .959 fielding percentage. And they perhaps should consider experimenting with such a switch sooner rather than later.

This spring, Cubs phenom Javy Baez – selected as the No. 9 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft – was invited by the Cubs to the big-league camp in Arizona. The invitation positioned Baez as the latest challenger for Castro’s job at shortstop, which Castro knew but was very magnanimous about.

To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) The Chicago Bulls are playing a playoff game tonight.

Derrick Rose is not.

So, tell me Bulls fans, how does that make you feel?

I know how ChicagoNow blogger Steve Huisel thinks Rose’s extended on-court absence makes fans feel. On March 27 he wrote, “If you were to ask a Chicago sports fan who’s on their Mt Rushmore of hated Chicago athletes, the most common responses would include Jay Cutler, Carlos Boozer and Alfonso Soriano. All three players entered this city with great promise and ‘love’ from the fans, but currently walk around with a negative connotation. If Derrick Rose isn’t careful, he might be the fourth head to this dubious ‘Mt Rushmore.’”

I know how Rose sitting out makes my buddy Dan feel. On Tuesday, he texted, “The people who actually went to medical school are saying he needs to play. Ask Iverson the difference between games and practice.”

And I know how seeing Rose wearing a suit instead of a uniform makes my Twitter friend Scott feel. On Wednesday he wrote, “If the Bulls win this series and play MIA – 3 months after (Rose) was medically cleared (to practice) – and he’s not out there, I have a prob w/ that.”

Scott went so far as to add that if the Bulls do advance past the Nets to face Miami and “next month New Orleans offered Eric Gordon and two [first round picks for Rose] … I’d consider it.”

I wouldn’t. But I do understand many Bulls fans’ frustration.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Over the weekend, the Big Ten pulled off a heady play when the league leaked word that it’s mercifully dumping the much-maligned Legends and Leaders divisional monikers in favor of geographical names.

However, when it comes to actually rallying to win this conference name game, the Big Ten still stopped short of the goal line.

And Jim Delany’s league has more work to do.

On Saturday, ESPN.com reported that the Big Ten will finally replace the confounding Legends and Leaders names with the clear-cut East and West when Maryland and Rutgers join the expanding league in 2014.

In an additional refreshing move, the Big Ten West also will reportedly now include the six teams located in the Central Time Zone – Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern and Wisconsin – as well as nearby Purdue. Meanwhile, the Big Ten East will include the Eastern Time Zone schools of Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers.

It’s clean. It’s simple. And it’s smart.

But it also isn’t enough.

To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …

My Wisch List newspaper column from the Saturday, April 20, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

It’s served as a filming location for two Batman movies and one Transformers flick, and it’s sometimes been called “The Incredible Hulk.”

Now, just like Bruce Banner, the super-sized old Chicago Main Post Office could be getting a serious influx of green – as in dollars, not skin.

Standing at 433 W. Van Buren St. on the southwestern fringe of the Loop, the old Chicago Main Post Office is a nine-story-tall monolith that looms alongside the Chicago River and over the city’s Amtrak and Metra tracks. For travelers zipping – or crawling – along on the Eisenhower Expressway it’s a familiar landmark, as I-290 cuts through a massive opening in the base of the structure and morphs into Congress Parkway.

With its floors covering two full city blocks – more than 60 acres – the post office, built in 1921, is a monument to the era when Sears and Montgomery Ward made Chicago the mail-order capital of America.

But over the years, the post office became antiquated. In 1966, for example, a logjam of 10 million pieces of mail actually clogged the building’s system for almost an entire week. And since 1996, when postal operations were moved into a new facility, the post office has actually sat fallow, save for the filming of blockbusters Batman Begins in 2004, The Dark Knight Rises in 2007 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2010.

In October 2009, however, a wealthy British investor named Bill Davies purchased the post office with the plans to transform the massive building into a sprawling retail, residential, commercial and entertainment complex. His aggressive proposal included an initial phase that would create a parking garage and add a 40-story hotel on the building’s east side.

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My Saturday, April 20, column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) A World Series championship is coming to Wrigley Field.

At least so says Tom Ricketts, now that the Cubs owner has been given the preliminary go-ahead by the city to invest $500 million into the franchise’s iconic 99-year-old ballpark and its surrounding neighborhood.

“If this is approved, we will win the World Series,” Rickets vowed on Monday, referring to the agreement to overhaul and modernize the Wrigley Field, although the tentative plan still needs to pass through a number of Chicago landmark and planning commission hoops before it’s approved.

Considering that the Cubs are footing the bill without taxpayer money, it’s likely that it will be. And with the deal, Ricketts says that the updates made to Wrigley Field will generate new revenue streams and elevate the Cubs into the Major League’s upper crust of payroll spending year after year.

If it happens, that’s great. But it doesn’t also mean that winning will be simple. Not with the Cubs’ dearth of top-line pitching coupled with the changing face of free agency, which will make it all the more difficult for the Cubs to acquire top-line pitching.

No matter how much cash they might have.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

My Tuesday, April 16, column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) I went for a run this morning.

Thought about the Boston Marathon with every step.

And throughout the much shorter course that I covered through Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, it saddened me to think how sports aren’t an escape from Monday’s despicable act of terrorism at the finish line of Boston’s iconic race. Rather, in this instance, they’re a reminder of it – as well as a disconcerting example of just how vulnerable we are when gathering together to enjoy a sporting event.

On Monday morning, one of my Facebook friends who studied at Boston College – which is my fiancee’s alma mater – posted a status that read, “Today is one of my favorite days in Boston. Wish I could be there cheering on the runners and enjoying the festivities.”

A few hours later, she was sending her online love to the city for entirely different reasons. And I couldn’t help but wonder if the Boston Marathon bombings might impact the way we experience sports as significantly as 9/11 impacted the way we travel at airports.

Late Monday night, the Chicago Tribune reported that shortly after the explosions in Boston, Illinois officials already were looking for clues on how to better protect the public at ballparks, races and festivals.

“The attack at the Boston Marathon comes as a stark reminder,” read the Tribune story, “that this is an age when every public gathering or event – no matter how festive – can be considered a target for terror.”

To continue reading visit CBSChicago.com …

This weekend’s Wisch List newspaper column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

By Dave Wischnowsky

The WISCH LIST

Last Monday during the Chicago Cubs’ loss to the Milwaukee Brewers during their Wrigley Field opener, erstwhile closer Carlos Marmol was serenaded with boos when he entered the game.

So what did the demoted pitcher do after the game? Well, naturally he promised to lead the team famous for not making the World Series to the promised land.

“I’m going to put us in the World Series and make the fans happy again,” Marmol vowed, perhaps meaning that he’d be buying his teammates tickets to the Fall Classic.

Funny thing is, the next night Marmol went and won a game out of the bullpen, giving him a win, a loss, a save and a blown save just a week into the Cubs’ 2013 season. Now, that’s versatility.

Considering how Marmol actually started his baseball career as a catcher and outfielder – he batted .258 for the Rookie League Arizona Cubs in 2002 – maybe the guy really thinks he can lead the Cubs to the World Series by himself.

Obviously, he’s “Committed,” or perhaps should be.

With this latest quirky episode, the Cubs proved once again that while they might not have the market cornered on closing out wins, they do have it cornered on maddening, oddball closers.

On that note, here are five of my favorite – or least favorite – Cubs closers from the past 25 years, a group that was as likely to open a can of worms as it was to close a door.

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Saturday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) From 1994-98, I was a student at the University of Illinois, and during those four years I saw a grand total of 14 football victories.

Seven of them came during my freshman year. Five more happened in my sophomore year. I saw two when I was a junior. And during my last year on campus – which also happened to be Illini coach Ron Turner’s first – I was witness to zero W’s.

But, hey, don’t feel too bad for me.

The Class of ’99 only saw 10 wins total in four seasons.

Over the years, Illini Nation has suffered through far too many bleak ones on the gridiron. But as Illinois football prepares for the summer – the team’s annual Spring Game was held in Champaign last night – before the start of Tim Beckman’s second season, I don’t think I can ever recall a bleaker outlook for the program. Or remember the fandom’s level of hope being at a lower ebb.

Writing for the Decatur Herald-Review last weekend, columnist Mark Tupper described Illini football as “living in the shadows.”

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …