Wisch List

Thursday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) They’ve seemingly been on life support since the New Year, but like zombies on AMC, this Illinois basketball team isn’t dead quite yet.

In fact, these Illini are still fighting.

And as outlandish as it may sound – and as unlikely as it may indeed be – the other fact is that Illinois still has something big to fight for: namely, a chance for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Yeah, seriously.

On Wednesday night, Illinois took the air out of “Nebrasketball,” using a stifling defensive effort to deflate the soaring Cornhuskers in a 60-49 win at State Farm Center. The victory was the Illini’s second in a row and third in its last five after suffering eight straight losses, improving their record to 16-12 overall, 5-10 in the Big Ten.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Tuesday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) With so many fans so weary of rooftop battles and so fatigued with a franchise that’s so seemingly unfocused on fielding a winning team – or even a so-so one – anytime soon, the Chicago Cubs are stuck between a rock and a dull place.

And they need to find a way out, as hard as that might be.

Otherwise, they’re liable to end up killing off half their fan base from sheer boredom.

In an attempt to provide an escape route from the logistical and legal boondoggle plaguing Wrigley Field’s pending renovations, the Chicago Tribune’s Paul Sullivan on Sunday wrote a story entitled, “Cubs need fresh ideas to break rooftop impasse.”

In the article, Sullivan interviewed some TV production people about one such fresh idea. He asked them if the Cubs could perhaps mimic the Blackhawks by erecting virtual TV ads at Wrigley in place of the giant beer sign slated to be put up in right field.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

From the Saturday, May 26, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

The calendar tells us that spring is right around the corner.

Although, I lost my calendar somewhere in a snow drift about two months ago.

Nevertheless, I’m certain that the season is coming (and staying) at some point, even if that isn’t just yet. In the interim, I thought it might be nice to think about what will be coming to Chicago along with springtime – just as long as their progress doesn’t get stuck in any snowdrifts.

360 Chicago

Since opening in 1969, the 94th-floor observation deck of the John Hancock Building has offered Chicago’s most breathtaking views – yes, even better than Willis Tower’s. But now, after 45 years, that lofty lookout is getting a fresh identity.

Beginning in March, the John Hancock Observatory will be rebranded as 360 Chicago and feature the tagline “Best Views. All Around.” Later this spring, the tourist hotspot will then undergo a full renovation featuring an updated look that’s described in a press release as “rich in blues and greens, meant to celebrate the natural land, sky and water elements seen from the observatory.”

Continue reading “What’s Chicago springing on us this spring?”

My Feb. 22 column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Hey, it might be the greatest sporting event on Earth, but, really, who needs the NCAA Tournament?

Not us, here in the Land of Lincoln, apparently. Or even them, over there in the Hoosier State. At least, that’s certainly the way it looks right now.

Because, despite being arguably the two American states most closely associated the sport of basketball, it’s looking less likely by the day that any school from Illinois or Indiana is going to end up qualifying for next month’s NCAA Tourney.

Now, that’s madness.

Over in our neighboring state where the likes of Larry Bird, Brad Stevens and Bob Knight built their legends thanks to the month of March, SI.com’s Seth Davis asked last week, “An NCAA Tournament without a team from Indiana? Is that even legal?”

It is. And, actually, the entire Hoosier State was shut out from the NCAA Tournament as recently as 2005, although prior to then it had at least one team qualify every season since 1972. Coincidentally, Illinois also failed to see any of its programs punch a ticket to the Big Dance that year, making ’72 the last time that both the Hoosier State and the Land of Lincoln were shut out in the same season.

But now 42 years later, it looks like history could repeat itself.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) For weeks – months? – the University of Illinois basketball team has been tough to watch. So much so that Illini fans could hardly be blamed for wanting the season to end just so they didn’t have to watch it any longer.

Well, rub your eyes, Illini Nation.

Because what you should actually want is to see more of this 2013-14 team, not less. And the goal for this youthful Illini squad should be to qualify for a postseason tournament, any postseason tournament, in order to build toward what truly matters: the future we can’t see yet.

On Wednesday night in Minneapolis, the suddenly straight-shooting Illini knocked down 8 of 13 3-pointers – including five by budding freshman star Kendrick Nunn – as they upset the Golden Gophers, 62-49.

The unexpected victory lifted Illinois to 15-12 overall, 4-10 in the Big Ten, and most significantly gave the Illini a better shot of actually finding something in what’s been a lost season. Namely, an NIT bid.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) In Chicago, power matters.

But what exactly is it that defines power?

On Monday, when Chicago Magazine released its third annual list of the “100 Most Powerful Chicagoans,” it explained that, “Influence, ability, and clout decide who ranks where.”

And who ranks at the top of the magazine’s list for 2014 is Rahm Emanuel, although when Chicago’s mayor was asked who he thinks is the most powerful person in town, he responded, “I have no idea. I don’t spend time thinking about it.”

Well, on Monday night, I did spend time thinking about not the most powerful person in town, but rather Chicago’s most powerful sports figure. Among its roll call of political heavyweights, business executives, celebrity restaurateurs and artistic types, Chicago Magazine did place six local sports figures on its 2014 Power List, although four of those six dropped from their spots in last year’s rankings.

Just like wins for their struggling teams, Chicago’s sports bigwigs could apparently use more power. Or perhaps, when it comes to sports, wins and power equate to the same thing. Either way, here are the city’s most powerful sports figures as ranked in Chicago Magazine’s list, along with my own thoughts about each:

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

From the Saturday, Feb. 15, editions of The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

Like anywhere, it’s about red roses, boxes of chocolates and romantic dinners at restaurants probably charging a mark-up because, well, it’s Feb. 14.

But in Chicago, Valentine’s Day is about something else, too.

And it’s far from heart warming.

On Feb. 14, 1929, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre took place inside a brick garage on Chicago’s North Side. Considered the most notorious gangster killing of the Prohibition era, the incident left seven men dead and made Al Capone a national celebrity, while also bringing the unwanted attention of federal authorities upon him.

And here, eighty-five years and one day removed from the infamous event, are some things you might not know about the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Continue reading “At the heart of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre”

My Feb. 14 column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) It’s Valentine’s Day, and I’m feeling the love.

Yes, for my wife, of course. But also for the University of Illinois’ football scheduling, which I think is pretty sweet.

And while Illini athletic director Mike Thomas hasn’t yet earned his recent raise and contract extension based on the overall production of his hand-picked football and basketball coaches, he does deserve a pat on the pack for what he’s done with future scheduling for the pigskin program.

On Tuesday, Illinois announced that it has agreed to a home-and-home series with Connecticut in 2019 and 2020. This comes on the heels of announcements last year that the Illini will face North Carolina in 2015-16, South Florida in 2017-18, Virginia in 2021-22 and Kansas in 2023-24.

Last fall, before Thomas had even finalized the UConn and Kansas contracts, I wrote that if someday the Illini football program – arguably the most underachieving in the nation – ever does enjoy achievement on a consistent basis, we very well might look back on this time as when the groundwork for that was laid.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

My Feb. 13 column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Well, so much for any chance of seeing the Streaking Illini.

Instead, during its first chance to string back-to-back victories together in more than a month, the Illinois basketball team saw its defense stripped naked by Nebraska’s Shavon Shields on Wednesday night. And then after halftime, its offense seemingly wandered off into the cornfields around Lincoln of an eventual 67-58 loss.

Perhaps it didn’t want to watch the defense either.

Here’s to hoping that both the offense and defense make up and find their collective way back to Champaign for Saturday’s game against Ohio State. Although, with the Illini now just 14-11 overall and 3-9 in the Big Ten, this frustrating season has undoubtedly reached the point where everything is much more about the future than it is about the present.

That’s something that even John Groce seems to have accepted.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

My Feb. 11 column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) On Monday, the temperature reached 61 degrees in Sochi.

Here in Chicago, it bottomed out at minus-2.

Perhaps rather than chasing the Summer Olympics, we should have put in a bid to host the Winter Games instead. After all, they could attach a ski jump to the Willis Tower Skydeck, right?

OK, maybe not. But while watching the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Olympics on TV last Friday night, I couldn’t help but feel a little melancholy that Chicago, truly one of the globe’s greatest cities, won’t get an opportunity to enjoy its own global stage come 2016.

Instead, Rio will get the chance to strut its stuff. And while I’m sure the Brazilians will put on a fantastic Carnival-themed show two years from now, I also couldn’t help but wonder just what the Windy City would have pulled off for its own Opening Ceremony.

Yes, one can joke about how the theatrics would have been a revue featuring the Blues Brothers, hot dogs, deep dish and Capone, but I doubt that Chicago’s Opening Ceremony would have actually featured any of those civic stereotypes.

At least I sure hope not.

But what might a Chicago Opening Ceremony have truly involved? Well, here are a few ideas:

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …