Wisch List

Nothing makes my Tuesday evening quite like hearing the Tay & Jay Show’s ridiculous(ly amusing) “Dave Wischnowsky” theme song that they play when I join the guys on the air on ESPN 93.5-FM in Champaign.

So this Tuesday was a fun one, as I took the time to chat with Jeremy Werner and Mike Carpenter about Illini basketball at the end of a successful season, Northwestern basketball coaching at the beginning of what the Wildcats hope will be a successful era, and Chicago Cubs ballpark news in the midst of a tiring drama between the team, rooftop owners and politicians.

To listen to my radio segment, you can download the podcast by clicking here.

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) On Monday, Mother Nature blew 30-degree wind chills down the spines of White Sox fans at U.S. Cellular Field. Out in Pittsburgh, she dropped 35-degree game time temps on the Cubs and Pirates. And up in Minneapolis, Tigers ace Justin Verlander wasn’t the only thing freezing batters during Minnesota’s coldest home opener in 50 years.

Yes, on Opening Day it was more bundle up than batter up in some of baseball’s northern cities. And that begs the question, should we even be playing games in chilly locales during the first week of the season?

Or should MLB just give those cities the cold shoulder?

“No one likes playing in the cold,” Twins second baseman Brian Dozier said before Monday’s game at Target Field, where 17 mph gusts dropped game-time wind chills into the low 20s.

Heck, even the Vikings don’t play in that weather.

Like Dozier said, no one really likes playing baseball in the cold. And no one likes watching in the cold, either – except, I suppose, those shirtless yahoos that show up at Soldier Field each season. But they’re probably still hospitalized from frostbite by the time baseball season rolls around.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

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

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

I’ve had A&W. I’ve had Mug. I’ve had Dad’s.

And I’ve had Jaenicke’s.

But never before have I had a root beer like the one that I drank – in moderation – in Chicago this week. Because, as of this month, the Windy City is now selling alcoholic root beer (yes, that’s right), and if you thought that Barq’s had bite, well, you haven’t tasted anything yet.

Root beer was invented during the 1870s when Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires discovered a recipe for a delicious herbal tea that he mixed with roots, berries and carbonated water. But it isn’t beer, of course. It’s soda, and always has been – no matter its ingredients – ever since Hires introduced his inaugural version of root beer during the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.

But now, the popular soft drink has gone hard.

This past Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye newspaper reported that two new local brews had bubbled up in the city. Sprecher Brewing Company of Milwaukee and Small Town Brewery of Wauconda both have developed alcoholic root beers that are anywhere from 5 to nearly 20 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) which, as RedEye pointed out, “are hefty even by traditional beer standards.”

Continue reading “Alcoholic root beer bubbles up in Chicago bars”

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) When the Tribune Company initially put the Chicago Cubs on the auction block back in 2007, I recall telling a friend how I was leery about someone as unpredictable as Mark Cuban ending up with the winning bid for the franchise.

“Who knows what he might do,” I said about the Dallas Mavericks’ mercurial owner. “He might put up a roller coaster in the Wrigley bleachers, or something.”

Well, it turns out that the Ricketts family – those so-called “fan owners” who ended up buying the Cubs instead of Cuban – want to end up doing that anyway.

On Friday, CBSChicago.com reported that a jumbo-sized sticking point has emerged in the negotiations over the rehab of 99-year-old Wrigley Field with the Cubs wanting to erect a giant video screen beyond the bleachers that would measure 6,000 square feet.

That’s about three times the size of the iconic centerfield scoreboard – or probably about as big as a roller coaster.

And at least as gaudy.

CBSChicago.com reported that city officials have suggested a video screen about half that size, but the Cubs have said no, with team spokesman Julian Green telling the Chicago Tribune, “We are exploring adding a video board at Wrigley Field as part of opportunities to increase revenues for the baseball club. One of the points at issue is the size.”

And with that statement, I say to the Ricketts family: Enough.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Friday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Northwestern and Illinois have always been in-state rivals.

But they’ve never really been big rivals.

In December 2011, Fighting Illini football coach Tim Beckman tried to make some noise in that regard when during his introductory press conference in Champaign, he announced that he would only call Northwestern “that team up north.”

He ended up sounding more tone-deaf than anything, however.

In both football – where NU and Illinois never seem to be up at the same time – and basketball, the schools’ Big Ten rivalry is tepid, at best.

Heck, their dueling marketing campaigns probably inflame fans’ passions more than their actual games.

But that could all be changing on the hardwood now that Northwestern has hired Chris Collins as its new head basketball coach. The key to intensifying a Wildcats-Illini rivalry is getting Illinois fans – who might outnumber NU ones by 100 to 1 in – worked up enough about “Chicago’s Big Ten Team” to intensely care about defending “Our State. Our Team.”

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.

And one year ago, the Illinois basketball program, from its dismal regular-season performances to its disruptive postseason coaching search, wasn’t good.

But, it turned out that the Illini – and, most significantly, athletic director Mike Thomas – were indeed lucky. And in the end, that was good.

Very good, if you ask me.

On March 29 of last year, the University of Illinois announced John Groce as the 17th men’s basketball coach in school history. For the occasion at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Groce’s wife, Allison, showed up clad in an orange dress that she had coincidentally purchased six weeks before. When asked why she’d bought it, Allison simply said, “I love orange.”

Following Groce’s impressive introductory presser, I wrote, “There’s a great chance that Illini Nation will also come to love John Groce. He’s a good hire. With the right staff, he could be a very good one. In time, the man tied with Penn State’s Patrick Chambers as the youngest coach in the Big Ten (age: 40) could even become a great one. Who knows. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

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

I’ve long considered it to be summer’s favorite city, but these days Chicago and the season aren’t getting along in quite the same way that they used to.

Whether that’s a bad or good thing is up for debate.

What’s inarguable, however, is that the face of summertime along Lake Michigan has changed dramatically over the past few years. And due to continuing budget constraints, both locally and nationally, the alterations don’t appear likely to stop anytime soon.

Chicago’s summer facelift began subtly enough in 2009 when the city announced that it was nipping Venetian Night, a late-July staple at Monroe Harbor for 52 years that drew big crowds by mixing a parade of brightly colored boats with an even more brightly colored fireworks display.

Two years later in 2011, the summertime celebrations fizzled further when Chicago got out of the Independence Day fireworks business by announcing it would have no July 3 or July 4 show – not even a scaled-down version, which the city opted for in 2010.

The purpose of the fireworks cuts was to help reverse the $7 million in losses that the Taste of Chicago had suffered over the previous three years. But it didn’t work very well. Last week, in regards to the Taste, Alderman Bob Fioretti (2nd) proposed non-binding legislation in Chicago City Council for hearings to “question the sagacity of what is fast becoming a losing proposition.”

Continue reading “Budget cuts slashing the face of Chicago’s summer”

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Since 1920, Northwestern has had just one basketball coach who actually was able to leave Evanston with a winning record – and probably his sanity – intact.

Between 1927 and 1950, Arthur “Dutch” Lonborg went 236-203-1 (and 1?) for the Wildcats, capturing two conference titles along the way. But even old Dutch, with all his roundball success, wasn’t able to skip town with an overall winning record in the Big Ten.

He went just 138-141 in conference during his 23 seasons.

Such is life at Northwestern, where finding true basketball success is about as easy as finding sunbathers along the lake in February.

Earlier this month, when NU coach Bill Carmody was fired after spending 13 years at Welsh-Ryan Arena without qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, the Associated Press reported in a telling line that, “Carmody ranks among the most successful coaches at Northwestern with a 192-210 record.”

Hey, I’m surprised he didn’t get a parade.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) The last time Illinois and Colorado squared off in a game that truly meant something, the Fighting Illini fell far behind, staged a furious comeback and escaped with a dramatic one-point victory.

On the football field.

On Sept. 15, 1990, the 9th-ranked Buffaloes invaded Memorial Stadium and stampeded to a 17-3 lead before quarterback Jason Verduzco rallied the No. 21 Illini with a game-winning 63-yard drive capped off by Howard Griffith’s 1-yard TD dive with just 1:18 left.

Final score: Illinois 23, Colorado 22.

Check that, final score: Illinois 23, eventual national champion Colorado 22.

Come Friday afternoon, the stakes will be both bigger – and smaller – for the teams when 7th-seeded Illinois (22-12) and 10th-seeded Colorado (21-11) meet in the teams’ NCAA Tourney opener.

Pundits nationwide seem split on whether the inconsistent Illini can beat the upstart Buffs, but I’m guessing that most Illinois fans would be just fine with the team pulling off another one-point victory over CU.

Although that rallying-from-14-points-down might be a bit stressful.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Bright and early this morning, I got the chance to on the air once again with my buddy Josh Houchins, morning show host of WGEM SportsCenter on ESPN 1440 down in Quincy, Ill.

We talked about Rosemont’s offer off free land to the Cubs in order to get the franchise to leave Wrigley Field for the quiet life in the suburbs. And we talked about the Fighting Illini’s chances on Friday in their NCAA Tournament opener vs. Colorado.

And perhaps beyond.

To listen to a podcast of the segment, simply click here.