Wisch List

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) So, Rosemont wants the Chicago Cubs? Well, sure it does.

After all, it’s about to lose the DePaul Blue Demons.

And that should tell you something.

On Monday afternoon, CSNChicago.com’s David Kaplan broke the story that Rosemont mayor Brad Stephens has offered the Cubs a 25-acre parcel of land in his northwest suburb that could fit a brand new ballpark, scads of parking and “anything else” the Ricketts family would want to be part of a new baseball-themed complex.

“The Chicago Cubs are being held hostage by the neighborhood as they look to run their business,” Stephens told Kaplan, referring to the team’s ongoing battles with the rooftop owners, 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney and City Hall over revenue and proposed renovations.

“We are willing to offer them a tremendous opportunity if they are interested,” Stephens continued. “Bring the bricks and the ivy and we can get a deal done.”

This morning, in other Rosemont-related news, the Chicago Tribune reported that DePaul has ruled out the United Center as a possible home for its men’s basketball team and is now turning its attention toward building a new stadium near McCormick Place.

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

Years ago, I was told a story about a University of Iowa hoops fan who was making travel plans to attend the Big Ten Basketball Tournament in Chicago for the first time.

Having never before been to “The House That Michael Jordan Built” and apparently unfamiliar with the Windy City as a whole, the Hawkeyes diehard is said to have called the front office at the United Center to ask what he considered a perfectly reasonable question.

He wanted to know where outside the stadium he could “power down” his RV.

Unfortunately for that Iowan, the UC isn’t a truck stop. Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the Big Ten Tourney has been held for the past five years, isn’t either. But the surrounding area in downtown Indy is likely a bit more RV-friendly than the West Side of Chicago.

It’s more pedestrian-friendly too. Nevertheless, the Chicago still remains the sweetest home for the Big Ten Tourney. And I’m glad that it’s been back this week.

On Tuesday, I took a midday stroll through the Loop, and as I headed north on sunny State Street from Adams, I admired the banners hanging from the light posts that trumpeted the Big Ten and each of its member schools. A couple of blocks ahead, I heard actual trumpets playing the University of Illinois fight song through a speaker embedded in a sidewalk display. And when I turned west onto Washington, I soon came upon Daley Plaza where the Big Ten’s “Hoops Fest” was being erected in the long-faced shadow of The Picasso.

Continue reading “Chicago still sweetest home for Big Ten Tourney”

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Yes, it’s been 104 years since the Cubs last won a World Series and it’s been 67 years since they even played in a Fall Classic. But it simply isn’t true that the North Siders never snap any streaks at Wrigley Field.

Heck, the Cubs did so just last season – when they failed to draw at least 3 million fans for the first time since 2003.

This summer on the North Side of Chicago, plenty of attention will be placed on the number of wins – and losses – that the Cubs pile up during Year 2 of The Age of Theo. But the attendance figures at the corner of Clark & Addison might be just as interesting to follow.

Perhaps even more so.

Last season, the Cubs drew 2,882,756 fans to Wrigley Field, which was still good for the 10th best attendance in the majors, but also constituted a 4.5 percent drop from the 3,017,966 the came through the turnstiles in 2011. It also was the first time that the attendance had fallen below the 3 million mark since the Cubs first surpassed that milestone in 2004.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Want to stir up an orange-and-blue hornet’s nest?

Write a column about Bruce Weber.

I did that on Wednesday when I took a deeper look at the controversial comments that the former Illini basketball coach made last week on ESPN radio, referring to his tenure at Illinois as “probably one of the best runs, if not the best nine-year run, in the history of the school.”

What my examination mostly wrought was more controversy.

On Facebook, a friend told me, “I dislike Bruce Weber, and have since I first heard of him.” Via Twitter, another lllini fan went so far as to say that Illinois’ former coach is “absolutely a villain. Weber did more damage to the Illini bball program than Bruce Pearl.” Others also vented angrily about Weber (although not quite that outlandishly), while a couple of Illinois fans even unfollowed me on Twitter mainly because I didn’t call for Bruce’s head on a pike.

Hey, now they’re probably out there calling for mine.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Wednesday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Bruce Weber isn’t on the sidelines in Champaign any longer.

But that hardly means the guy can’t still stir up the Illini faithful.

Last Wednesday, the University of Illinois’ former basketball coach was on ESPN radio to talk hoops with hosts Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo. The topic at hand was Weber’s current Kansas State Wildcats, but as the interview unfolded, Van Pelt eventually steered the conversation in a more dicey direction – one that led back to Illinois.

Weber was asked about his feelings last March after he was fired following a tailspin during which the Illini lost 9 of their last 10 games to finish the season 17-15 and out of the postseason. Never one to carry his emotions anywhere but on his sleeve, Weber naturally answered.

“It was hard, there’s no doubt,” he said. “You give your heart and soul to [a] school and you’re there for nine years. We did some things no one else had done in the history of the school. We won the first outright Big Ten championship [in] 52 years, never got to the national championship game [before]. I think if you go over it, it’s probably one of the best runs, if not the best nine-year run, in the history of the school. You know, but things happen, and I was very fortunate to get K-State. It’s a good fit. It’s a great opportunity. I hope I can stay here a while and finish my career.”

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

From coast to coast, many American cities take St. Patrick’s Day seriously. But perhaps nowhere does the festive holiday make a splash in quite the same way as it does in Chicago.

And that’s not just because the river is dyed green.

Chicago is Irish to its core. Of the 55 mayors throughout history, 12 of them – more than 20 percent – have been Irish. Back in 1850, one-fifth of the city’s residents were Irish immigrants. And today, with more than 200,000 people of Irish descent, it’s still the city’s largest demographic.

Chicago also seems to boast more “Irish” bars than Starbucks. But not every pub that bills itself as Irish truly is, and if you’re considering celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago next weekend, here are four authentic establishments, where you and eat and drink as if you’re on the Emerald Isle.

Continue reading “Enjoy the best of Emerald Isle in Chicago”

Friday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Is Chief Illiniwek a moot point?

Well, despite more than 12,000 students turning out this week to vote on a referendum about the former University of Illinois symbol, the school seems to be trying to turn their opinions about the Chief into one.

Thanks to something called “Moot Court”.

This past Tuesday and Wednesday, the University of Illinois held its 2013 Campus Student Elections. The ballot included a question asking students if they support Chief Illiniwek as the school’s official symbol.

That referendum about the Chief was a counter initiative organized by Illinois students Josh Good and Matt Paarlberg in response to an online campaign by the student group Campus Spirit Revival (CSR), which in January asked students to vote for a new school mascot intended to succeed Illiniwek.

Under NCAA duress, Chief Illiniwek was retired as the school’s official symbol by university administration in March 2007.

The purpose of Good’s and Paarlberg ’s referendum, billed as “Chief or Nothing,” was not to push for the return of Illiniwek, but rather to demand that he not be replaced by a mascot that very few students or alumni want.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) By the end of that ugly Big Ten basketball tilt in Iowa City on Tuesday night, the only thing more plentiful among the Illini than missed shots was their disappointment.

John Groce was disappointed.

“I’m disappointed in the way we came out both halves, especially with older guys out there. Very disappointed,” the Illinois basketball coach said after his team shot a season-low 28.6 percent and lost 63-55.

Brandon Paul was disappointed.

“It’s really disappointing, but we can’t dwell on it. We can’t get it back. We can’t go back in time. Obviously, we’ve got to figure out what it is we need to do better,” the Illini’s leading scorer added.

And most Illini fans were surely disappointed, too.

But disappointment is far from the dominant feeling that I’m experiencing right now, even if few things can dampen an Illinoisan’s mood more quickly than losing to the Hawkeyes. That’s because, from my vantage point, there are even fewer things that can truly dampen this Illini season – even if Illinois ends up leaving March Madness like a lamb.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

More surprising than Dennis Rodman reading Kim Jong Un's manifesto: Dennis Rodman reading.

— Dave Wischnowsky (@wischlist) March 5, 2013

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) I love Major League Baseball.

But Major League Baseball is wearing me out.

Every time we think the sport has made significant headway in its war against performance-enhancing drugs, a Ryan Braun or an Alex Rodriguez rears his duplicitous head. Again.

And then we’re back to questioning everybody.

So deeply has chemically-enhanced cheating infested our national pastime that New York Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira said last week he thinks there’s nothing that can be done to cure it.

“I don’t think it’ll ever go away,” Teixeira told the New York Post about illegal PED usage, before the Yankees played Baltimore in a spring training game. “It’s just like taxes. The IRS can do everything they can. People are going to cheat on their taxes. The IRS can do everything they can to try to stop it. It’s not going to be 100 percent perfect.”

Maybe not, Mark. But MLB could still try harder first, couldn’t it? It could get 100 percent tough and institute a penalty that’s 100 percent permanent. We could call it the “One Strike, And You’re Out” rule and it could declare that if a MLB player tests positive for PEDs just once, he is immediately suspended from the sport – for life.

If you want to scare baseball straight, that’s how you do it.

Or try to do it, at least.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …