Wisch List

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

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

The Chicago Bears are mess.

Or, they simply had a bad week.

The sky is falling at Halas Hall. Or, the media just needed some controversy to fill 10 days of dead air between football games.

Jay Cutler is a jerk and a sorry team leader. Or … well, maybe that one’s not so debatable.

But, no matter where you stand regarding the current condition of the Chicago Bears, I think all fans can agree on one thing about the (would-be) Monsters of the Midway: the team itself isn’t standing quite where we’d like it to be.

And I don’t just mean at 2-0 with a win against Green Bay notched into its belt. I’m talking bigger picture than that.

Now, to be sure, it’s still incredibly early in this young season and the Bears – despite last week’s nationally televised pratfalls – could get on a roll just as quickly as they stumbled up in Wisconsin.

But, like a warm day in February, the Bears also are Chicago’s annual tease. So often it seems that whenever fans’ expectations soar – as they did following the team’s offensive explosion vs. Indianapolis in Week 1 – the Bears so quickly stick a pin in the city’s collective balloon and deflate the excitement.

After all, for what’s been a respectable team the past four-plus seasons – an overall record of 36-30 since 2008 – the Bears seem to have an abnormally high incidence of stunningly embarrassing performances, the latest coming at Lambeau.

And why?

Continue reading “The Bears could benefit from new blood at the very top”

Spent a few minutes yesterday evening on 93.5/95.3 ESPN-CU Radio in Champaign catching up with my buddies Lon Tay and Jeremy Werner on the “Tay & Jay Show.”

We talked Illini basketball recruiting (I like Kendrick Nunn and the direction John Groce has his program pointing and Illini football (I’m sweating the team’s Saturday night game vs. Louisiana Tech). We also discussed the state of the Cubs (100 losses is within reach) and the state of the Bears (the Cutler backlash is a mix of overreaction and legitimate beefs).

To listen to the segment, you can access the podcast right here.

 

Thursday’s column from CBS Chicago …

Ponder this about the championship success – or, you know, total lack thereof – experienced by the Chicago Cubs: The last year in which they won a World Series, the Ottoman Empire still existed.

Yeah, really.

It was via Twitter that I learned that sobering fact today, and it made me imagine fallen Turkish monarchs commiserating in early 20^th century pubs alongside Cubs fans, who saw their World Series dynasty of 1907-08 hit its apex shortly after the Ottomans’ saw theirs tumble into decline.

Come to think of it, Turk Wendell always did seem like a natural fit at Wrigley Field. Now, we know why.

What you might not know, however, is that the Cubs – as historically bad as they may be – have lost 100 games just twice in their checkered history and haven’t turned that trick at all since 1966.

However, they still might during this one.

After losing this afternoon’s game against the Reds at Wrigley Field, the Cubs have a 58-92 record and a .387 winning percentage. That put them on pace to lose exactly 100 games and reach the wrong kind of century mark.

To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …

From the New Yorker … for some reason.

Tuesday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) From Kansas’ Naismith tradition to North Carolina’s Jordanesque pedigree to Duke’s Coach K-fueled dominance, every “basketball” school in the country has something special to sell.

But none of them offer the same opportunity that Illinois does.

Especially to in-state recruits.

“They put forward something that was pretty much legendary, I would say,” Melvin Nunn told Scout.com last week when discussing the presentation that first-year Illini coach John Groce & Co. staged for his son, Kendrick, during their visit to the Chicago Simeon standout’s home.

“It was straight-forward on him being that in-state guy coming to the state school and being not just a basketball player, but someone who leaves a legacy at his state school,” Melvin Nunn continued about the Illini pitch. “It was based on alumni, based on him winning state titles as a high school player, and then continuing that at his home-state school, and starting to get Illinois back rolling like they were in the early 2000s.”

Yes, the opportunity that Illinois has to sell is about all of those things. But it’s about even more than that, too. Because, the Fighting Illini truly do offer something that no other school in the country can. And that’s the chance to finally bring a national title to the best basketball program in the nation to never have won one.

Save me your Purdues, your St. John’s and your Temples, Illinois is hands-down the prettiest of the NCAA’s championship bridesmaids that find themselves perennially standing beside the altar looking up at the likes of Kentucky’s and UCLA’s beaming, ring-laden brides.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

My Sept. 15 Wisch List column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

Chicago politics are dirty. Chicago homicide stats are ugly. And Chicago teacher strikes are messy.

But Chicago itself?

It’s clean.

Or, at least, it long has been. Far more so than New York City, where garbage bags pile up along the alley-less streets, and Los Angeles, where graffiti seems nearly as prevalent as the palm trees.

However, when it comes to the amount of graffiti in Chicago, the city’s reputation of cleanliness – one I’ve long heard compliments about from visitors and taken great pride in – is becoming sullied.

In late August, the Sun-Times reported how budget cuts at Chicago’s City Hall have hit the graffiti-removal program hard, eliminating nearly one third of the workers tasked with canvassing the city to clean public and private property that’s been spray painted by gang-bangers and taggers marking their turf.

As a result, graffiti is spoiling the city’s streetscapes for far longer than ever before.
“It’s absolutely horrible,” said business owner Arnie Wulfstat, who told the Sun-Times on Aug. 23 that he’d been waiting nearly two weeks for the city to remove the graffiti painted on the side of his building at 1259 N. Milwaukee.

“I’ve called the city,” Wulfstat added. “They used to come out within a week. Instead of cutting back, they should add to it.”

Say what you will about Richard M. Daley’s leadership, but the former mayor’s “graffiti blasters” program – one of his pet projects designed to beautify Chicago by providing free graffiti removal – was a boon to the city’s image, both for residents and tourists. It worked quickly and it worked well.

However, with new mayor Rahm Emanuel facing a $600 million deficit, he has slashed the “graffiti blasters” program’s budget by 25 percent, down to $4.1 million, and cut its workforce from 72 employees down to 49.

Continue reading “The price of tagging: Graffiti hitting Chicago harder”

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Its Leaders are lagging. And its Legends?

Well, they look like anything but.

But, hey, the Big Ten still has a full slate of football games to play Saturday. So, aren’t you just teeming with excitement?

If not, and instead you’re thinking, gee, I sure seem down in the dumps about the state of the Big Ten a whole lot sooner than normal – usually that takes until bowl season – well, it turns out that you have darn good reason.

Because, right now, with a 16-8 record overall and only five unbeaten teams – a pair of them being, ahem, Indiana and Minnesota – after just two weeks of games, the Big Ten is indeed off to its worst start in quite a while. And by the looks of it, the season could fizzle out before the conference games even begin next Saturday.

On Wednesday, Steve Greenberg of the Sporting News weighed in with his weekly assessment of the Big Ten and wrote that the part of the league that’s currently “Falling” is, “the league’s reputation. Again.”

Greenberg went on to explain, “This race we all looked forward to in the Legends Division? Well, it may still go down to the wire, but it’s not going to capture the imaginations of college football fans around the country, that’s for sure. Michigan – which struggled to beat Air Force a week after being pummeled by Alabama – clearly isn’t an elite team, nor is Nebraska (lost at UCLA) or Iowa (lost at home vs. Iowa State). Wisconsin’s loss at Oregon State was no less disappointing. Just how big of a dud will the Big Ten title game be?”

To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …

My Sept. 13 column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) It passed on the Big Ten’s TV millions. It passed on aligning itself with the familiarity of many of its most traditional rivals. And it passed on the region where its campus is based – although some Fighting Irish fans might tell you that, you know, Notre Dame doesn’t really reside here in the Midwest.

It levitates above it.

But with Fighting Irish football finally – and finally – passing on any chance of membership in the Big Ten Conference with the school’s decision to kinda, sorta join the ACC instead, what will that pass on to Jim Delany’s favorite league?

For many folks, it’s probably a sense of relief as the Big Ten’s honchos, schools and fans no longer have to play the “will-they-or-won’t-they” guessing game about the Fighting Irish linking up with the league. Clearly, the answer now is: They won’t. Ever.

In my playbook, though, Notre Dame’s choice to look eastward for a stable home rather than show respect to the proud conference its own backyard is a disappointment.

To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …

My Sept. 11 column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) When it comes to Illinois football, I’m not hitting the panic button just yet – even though the Illini themselves apparently were this past Saturday night.

“Guys were panicking, everybody yelling, trying to get the (play) call,” Illinois junior defensive tackle Akeem Spence told the Associated Press on Monday as he recalled the confusion that reigned during the Illini’s 45-14 disaster in the desert at Arizona State.

“I had to ask guys what the call was, you know, and they’re yelling all over the place,” Spence continued. “We can’t do that as a defense. I mean, we’re supposed to be the strength of the team.”

Yeah, that’s what the rest of us thought, too.

However, while getting roasted by the Sun Devils out in Tempe, the Illini – without injured QB Nathan Scheelhaase – didn’t really show any strengths at all, only weaknesses. So, while I’m not hitting that orange-and-blue panic button just yet, my finger is twitching atop it for a variety of reasons, which I’ll explain.

On Monday, though, I was wondering what Illini Nation was feeling and decided to check its pulse via Twitter by asking just how concerned Illinois fans were about the team after the ASU debacle.

To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …

My Sept. 9 Wisch List column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

Boasting popular breweries such as Goose Island, Revolution and Half Acre, Chicago is known far and wide for its beer offerings.

But for its wine? Well, not so much.

That, however, could change thanks to City Winery, the latest addition to Chicago’s thriving culinary scene along Randolph Street in the West Loop. Although, having visited City Winery shortly after its mid-August opening, it may be wise to let the place settle in a bit before making a vist.

Nevertheless, with 179 years of history under its belt and more than 2.7 million residents capable of generating ideas, it’s pretty difficult to come up with a truly novel concept in Chicago these days. And restaurateur Michael Dorf has indeed accomplished that with his new creation.

Located inside a sprawling, 30,000-square-foot renovated warehouse at 1200 W. Randolph situated across the street from Oprah Winfrey’s HARPO studios, Dorf’s brainchild bills itself as Chicago’s first operational winery.

Trendy, but not stuffy, the wine-and-food spot is actually a spinoff of the original City Winery incarnation in New York City. And at its website, citywinery.com/chicago, Dorf writes, “CW Chicago is our 2.0. We learned a lot in NY and have improved the physical layout, the operational logistics, taken the best of our menu, programming, and put together an all-star management team.”

Continue reading “At City Winery, it’s Crush Hour in Chicago”