Wisch List

From the Saturday, June 14, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

By Dave Wischnowsky

The WISCH LIST

It’s so impressive that last summer when one of my wife’s friends visiting from the East Coast laid her eyes upon Lake Michigan for the first time, she shouted out in a Boston accent as thick as a bowl of chowder, “That is not a lake, no sir!”

But, yes, indeed it is.

And while Chicago’s massive inland “ocean” inarguably is the city’s greatest natural resource, one could actually argue that Chicago doesn’t use it enough as an entertainment resource. And I would agree.

However, one local entrepreneur wants to change that.

This week, Beau D’Arcy floated his big idea about how he wants to provide Chicagoans with a new way to enjoy Lake Michigan by creating a floating oasis about a mile off the shore complete with sundecks, restaurants, bars, shops, a swimming pool and room for plenty of boats to dock. Called Breakwater Chicago, the $23 million project sounds pretty wild. And it is. But I also think it’s an intriguing way for Chicago to start making its Great Lake even greater for both residents and visitors.

Because, unless you own a boat, have a friend that does, or are willing to drop big bucks to charter a cruise, most people don’t really get a chance to enjoy the lake beyond dipping your toes in it from a beach.

Continue reading “It’s a Great Lake, but it could be even greater”

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) With its brutal winter weather and a stadium that’s far too small, Chicago has no business hosting a Super Bowl.

But an NFL Draft?

Well, yes, the Windy City absolutely should host that. And come 2015, NFL Media senior analyst Gil Brandt believes that it indeed will.

“If I were an oddsmaker, I would say Chicago is where it’ll be next year,” Brandt told SiriusXM NFL Radio about the 2015 draft after the league sent letters last week to Chicago, New York and Los Angeles requesting information about their capabilities of hosting the coveted event.

The nation’s three biggest cities are expected to submit proposals later this month, with NFL officials planning to visit every draft site and make a decision at some point this summer. A league spokesman has stressed that more than 12 cities remain in the mix to host the 2015 draft, but that Chicago, New York and L.A. were the first to be sent formal letters.

Considering that, I’d say you can expect the host city to emerge from that trio. And when it does, it absolutely should be Chicago.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

From the Saturday, June 7, edition of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

It’s been a big week for the Chicago Cubs.

They had the draft. They actually pulled off a walk-off wins over the Mets and Marlins. And they continued to play against their backdrop of distractions and general nonsense, of which I of course have thoughts. And here they are.

Manny be what?

What exactly is Manny Ramirez?

We know he’s now an Iowa Cub and a so-called “player-coach” for the organization’s Triple-A affiliate. But what does that even mean?

Continue reading “Keeping score on the Cubs’ latest moves”

Friday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) During the 2004-05 college basketball season, Rashad McCants rarely went to class at the University of North Carolina. His tutors wrote his term papers. And he probably should have been academically ineligible when his Tar Heels beat Illinois, 75-70, in the national championship game.

At least, that’s what McCants said to ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” in an interview released today that’s the latest blow in an ongoing academic scandal that continues to metastasize for North Carolina and its athletic department.

In Illini Nation, many fans are still smarting from that championship game loss to the Tar Heels nine years ago, and this morning several of them reached out to me online to ask how I was feeling about McCants’ claims.

My answer? Sad.

Sad because if it’s true that Illinois lost the national title to a team that had at least one ineligible star – and, who knows, perhaps several of them – then that’s certainly an enormous shame.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) When their turn comes around this evening in the 2014 MLB First Year Player Draft, Chicago Cubs executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have insisted that they’ll select the best player available with the No. 4 pick.

But should they, if that player isn’t a pitcher?

Shedding light on the franchise, Baseball America currently rates the Cubs’ minor league system as the fourth best in baseball, calling it a “very top-heavy system that drops in talent quickly” before also adding that, “Championship teams are built on star power.”
I’d actually argue, however, that championship teams are built on power pitching, of which the Cubs have little in their ballyhooed minor league system. And considering that crucial need, I believe the time has come for the Cubs to finally roll their first-round dice on the best pitcher available – and not just the “best player.”

Of the top 100 prospects listed by Baseball America prior to the 2014 season, the Cubs lay claim to an impressive seven in Javier Baez (No. 5), Kris Bryant (No. 8), C.J. Edwards (No. 28), Albert Almora (No. 36), Jorge Soler (No. 41), Pierce Johnson (No. 87) and Arismendy Alcantra (No. 100).

Two of those players – Edwards and Johnson – are pitchers, but among all right-handed prospects, Baseball America ranks Edwards as only the 14th best, while Johnson comes in at No. 32. The Cubs have no left-handed pitching prospects listed in Baseball America’s top 30. They do have one reliever (No. 6 Arodys Vizcaino) listed among the top 10.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Tuesday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) It’s June.

So, where’s Kris Bryant?

Well, on Monday night, the No. 2 pick of the 2013 MLB First-Year Draft was down in Tennessee blasting his 18th home run of the season for the minor league Smokies and driving in three runs to stretch his Southern League-leading mark to 49 RBIs.

Those numbers weren’t quite good enough to help the Chicago Cubs’ Double-A affiliate beat the Birmingham Barons, as the Smokies fell 4-3. But are they good enough to help the Chicago Cubs themselves?

I believe so. And I’d like to see Bryant get his shot in the big leagues.

Now, not later.

After Monday night’s output, the 22-year-old Bryant now leads the Southern League in an incredible nine offensive categories, including all three Triple Crown statistics of home runs, RBIs and batting average (.350). His 18 homers ranks third among all minor leaguers.
The big league Cubs, meanwhile, have been shut out in three of their last five games, own a team batting average of .231 and currently have the worst record in baseball at 20-34.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

From the Saturday, May 31, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

These days, it seems that rooftops are constantly in the news in Chicago.

But rarely for enjoyable reasons as the tiresome saga at Wrigley Field between the Chicago Cubs and the Wrigleyville rooftop owners continues to play out, with its next venue likely to be inside a courtroom.

However, in spite of the bird’s-eye drama along Sheffield and Waveland, there are rooftops in Chicago where you can actually spread your wings and relax this summer. And here are some of my favorites.

IO Urban Roofscape
127 W. Huron St.

Located on the 4th floor of the Godfrey Hotel in River North, IO Urban Roofscape may not only be the newest of Chicago’s rooftop lounges, it might be the best one, too.

I visited the spot earlier this month for a National Restaurant Association Show event and was surprised the sheer size of IO, with its stylish, laid-back indoor lounge leading to an outdoor deck with a retractable roof that offers a spectacular southward view of Chicago’s muscular skyline. Unlike some cozier rooftops in the city, IO provides plenty of room to roam while sampling the impressive list of cocktails.

Continue reading “Clear views on Chicago’s best rooftops”

Friday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) All’s fair in love and war.

And perhaps college football recruiting.

Although, this week, the SEC – of all leagues – is arguing otherwise now that Notre Dame and Penn State, a pair of (gasp!) northern schools, have declared their intention to invade the south’s fertile recruiting turf by bending the NCAA rules in a way that SEC schools would surely admire.

If they weren’t on the short end of the stick, that is.

Here’s the hot read on the situation that has SEC coaches crying foul: NCAA rules prohibit coaches from running camps more than 50 miles from their campuses, but they does allow “guest coaching” at camps hosted by other programs – no matter where those programs might be located.

As a result, Nittany Lions coach James Franklin will “guest” host satellite football camps this summer at both Georgia State University in Atlanta and Stetson University in DeLand, Fla., while Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly is planning to do the same at Georgia State.
Georgia State and Stetson benefit from the arrangement by drawing more high-quality players to their camps, while Penn State and Notre Dame sidestep the NCAA rulebook and get to work with and recruit athletes because they’re merely considered to be “guests” of the host staffs.

Such satellite camps are sending SEC coaches into orbit because their conference is the only one in the nation that outlaws its members from being guests at another school’s camp. That rule is surely something that’s now drawing a chuckle from Franklin, who recently matriculated to Happy Valley after spending three seasons coaching in the SEC at Vanderbilt.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

From the Saturday, May 24, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

With the proposed addition of the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum nestled along Chicago’s lakefront, Mayor Rahm Emanuel envisions a glittering civic gem that would complete the city’s Museum Campus and offer what he calls the “tourism and educational opportunity of a lifetime.”

The Friends of the Park, meanwhile, see only a Death Star.

And on that point, I think the group dedicated to preserving Chicago’s lakefront is unfortunately missing the forest for the trees.

Earlier this week, the city unveiled its proposal to offer movie mogul George Lucas a free parcel of lakefront land – the 17-acre parking lot between Soldier Field and McCormick Place – in the hopes of convincing the Star Wars creator to build his interactive museum on the property.

On Wednesday, Emanuel elaborated on the proposal, saying, “There’ll be no taxpayer support on this effort. And yet, an individual is willing – like Field, like Adler, like Shedd – to leave a legacy for the city by investing their own money, close to about $1 billion, in enriching the educational and cultural life of the city of Chicago.”

If those numbers are true – and in Chicago, you never know – that sounds like a great deal for both the city and the greater Midwest, as the museum would bring Hollywood-worthy attraction to what many on the coasts still consider to be “flyover country.”

Perhaps just as significantly, the museum would also transform an unsightly parking lot into a swath of new green space that the museum would call home. But don’t tell that to the Friends of the Park who said this week that it welcomes the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum, but not on “lakefront public open space.”

Continue reading “Seeing red, Lucas Museum critics missing the green”

Thursday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) At Wrigley Field, the Cubs played 13 innings against the New York Yankees on Wednesday afternoon.

That’s a long time, but it may be nothing when compared to what Chicagoans could be forced to endure if the Cubs’ bitterly contested battle against the rooftop owners ends up going to court.

Because that’s a game that won’t end any time soon – and just like against the Yankees, the Cubs could easily lose it, too.

This morning in a video posted on his team’s website, Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts unveiled his latest proposal to finally get the Wrigley Field renovations underway while basically daring the rooftop owners to sue him. In response, the rooftop owners said they’ll do just that.

“Unfortunately, this decision by the Ricketts family will now result in this matter being resolved in a court of law,” said Ryan McLaughlin, spokesman for the Wrigleyville Rooftops Association.

And that truly is unfortunate. Because anyone who thinks that a trip to court will help expedite a resolution to the endless war between the Cubs and the rooftops doesn’t know much about court.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …