What Do Olympic Heroes Do After They Retire?

Tuesday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Some mornings – like this one, for example – I feel as if I’m ready for retirement. But considering I’m just 36 years old, that’s not happening. Not any time soon, at least.

Alas, if only I was an Olympic hero.

Those guys retire early. The girls, even earlier.

Take Michael Phelps, for example. Now that he’s done making a splash in London, the 18-time gold medalist says he’s hanging up his Speedos for good at the ripe old age of 27. Meanwhile, according to U.S. News & World Report, most elite gymnasts are retired by 19. That means America’s new sweetheart, 16-year-old gold medalist Gabby Douglas, may already be an Olympic AARP member when the Rio Olympics rolls around in 2016.

Say that Phelps does stay retired following the London Games and that Douglas ends up following his lead into the “Old Athletes Home.” If so, what will America’s premier golden boy and golden girl – who would be considered youngsters in any profession besides Olympic sports – do with the rest of their lives?

After all, you can’t just pitch Subway sandwiches forever.

Can you?

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

August of fun blows through Chicago this month

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

By Dave Wischnowsky

The WISCH LIST

June is gone. July has passed. And Lollapalooza will be over on Sunday. But just in case you were starting to worry that the summer has somehow passed you by, you can stop stressing.

There’s still plenty of it left up in the Windy City.

In fact, August is filled with some of Chicago’s best summertime events. And to be sure you don’t miss your opportunities to enjoy the city this month, here are a few of suggestions.

Aug. 4-18: Grant Park Music Festival at Millennium Park

In 1935, the Grant Park Music Festival – the nation’s only free, outdoor classical music series – debuted in Chicago’s “front yard” and soon established itself as one of the city’s finest cultural ornaments.

Featuring the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus along with an array of guest artists, the Festival now actually performs in Millennium Park, making for its somewhat clunky name. But its music is divine.

At 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening inside Millennium Park’s Harris Theater, the festival featured “The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires,” billed as a tango twist on the Vivaldi masterpiece.

You might want to wait until after Lollapalooza, however, to attend the Festival. On Wednesday, it returns to its customary outdoor venue, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, with Brahms’ Double Concerto and offers other shows through Aug. 18.

Visit grantparkmusicfestival.com for more information.

Continue reading “August of fun blows through Chicago this month”

Why Penn State Hasn’t Avoided ‘The Death Penalty’ Yet

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) With eight reported transfers thus far and more likely on the way, the bolts are already starting to pop out from Penn State’s football jalopy.

But PSU’s deep-pocketed boosters – part of a group that donated a near-record $208.7 million to the scandal-plagued school during the past fiscal year – had best be very careful about how they attempt to hold their sputtering program together.

Because, while NCAA president Mark Emmert may have spared Penn State from the “death penalty” when he announced its sweeping scandal-induced sanctions last month, the Nittany Lions aren’t out of the woods yet.

Their wheels can still come off. And their program can still be shut down.

To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …

What You Didn’t Know About The Cubs’ 47-Year Hit Streak

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) It’s been 104 years since the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series and, just as remarkably, 67 years since they’ve even been to one. But, hey, it’s also been nearly 47 years since the last time the Cubs were unable to scratch out a hit.

So, you know, at least they’ve got that going for them.

(In Wrigleyville these days, you take what you can get.)

On Tuesday night, 35-year-old Pirates hurler A.J. Burnett – who tossed a no-hitter for Florida in 2001 – held the Cubs hitless into the eighth inning at Wrigley Field before rookie pinch-hitter Adrian Cardenas lashed a one-out single to avoid the no-no bid.

And to keep one of sports’ more remarkable streaks alive.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Bring Baseball Back To The Olympics

Wednesday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Since the Olympics kicked off last Friday with its “Lord of the Dance meets Lord of the Rings” extravaganza, I’ve watched my fair share of these Tape-Delay Games.

And, thus far, I’ve seen archers and badminton players. I’ve seen athletes (athletes?) playing ping-pong and jaunting about on horses. I’ve even seen this curious phenomenon that is synchronized diving.

But I haven’t seen anyone playing baseball. Or softball.

And I won’t. And that’s a shame.

On July 7, 2005, the International Olympic Committee – boasting a heavy European influence – voted baseball out of the London Games, making the sport the first to be banished from the Olympics since polo in 1936.

Although it’s never been officially declared, the prevailing belief is that the IOC decided to bench baseball because of the sport’s sluggishness in adopting a drug-testing program – something that is now in place. And, unfortunately, because of its apparent similarities to baseball – nine players, three strikes and whatnot – softball also found itself on the outside looking into the 2012 Games.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

What If YOU Were Traded?

My third installment for ChicagoSide …

By Dave Wischnowsky

ChicagoSide

When Ryan Dempster vetoed a proposed trade to the Braves last week, some Cubs fans complained: What’s wrong with the guy? Why is he getting in the way of the team’s rebuilding plan?

My brother, a Cubs fan himself, didn’t look at it quite the same way, though. He had some empathy for Dempster.

“It really is weird that players are able to just be traded to some random city they have no desire to live,” said my brother, who lives in Chicago and works as a consultant. “I mean, it doesn’t really happen in any other profession, right? KPMG can’t trade me to Deloitte …”

But what if KPMG could?

What would it be like to go through what Dempster, Alfonso Soriano, and others are going through this week, sweating today’s trade deadline? How would you prepare? What would you need to know? And how could a trade affect you, both professionally and personally?

Athletes are people, after all. Well-compensated people who work on a public stage, to be sure. But people, nonetheless. So, to get a sense of what they go through when they’re traded, I reached out to Darren S. Weiner, managing member of Antigen Realty LLC, a Miami Beach-based agency that bills itself as the leading provider of premium real estate services for the sports and entertainment industry.

Continue reading at ChicagoSideSports.com …