NCAA vetoes ‘death penalty,’ votes for working people

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

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

Central Illinois doesn’t have a Grand Central Station.

But if you were looking for a prairieland comparison, the Texas Roadhouse in Champaign on an Illini football game day could fit the bill.

It’s that busy.

And, I assume, it’s also that lucrative for the owners of the restaurant where hundreds of people pour inside to feast on steaks and smothered chicken after they’ve feasted (or starved) on football at Memorial Stadium.

However, if the NCAA this week had instituted the “death penalty” and canceled Penn State’s 2012 football season, Texas Roadhouse likely would have looked more like a Texas Ghost Town on Saturday, Sept. 29.

That’s the day when the Nittany Lions are scheduled to visit Champaign for the schools’ Big Ten opener. And that’s the thing about what happens with the football team at Penn State – it doesn’t just affect the football team at Penn State.

It also affects the hot dog vendors at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa. And it affects restaurateurs and bar owners in Champaign. It also affects countless business owners and workers in Lincoln, Iowa City and West Lafayette, where PSU will travel for conference road games.

Yes, Penn State football affects a lot of people, many of whom could hardly have had less to do with the stomach-churning child sex abuse scandal and shameful cover up that has infested Happy Valley.

Continue reading “NCAA vetoes ‘death penalty,’ votes for working people”

Illinois’ Beckman Mishandled Penn State ‘Recruiting’ Trip

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) On Tuesday, I wrote that the ineligibility of Penn State and Ohio State for this season’s Big Ten Championship Game opened a door in the Leaders Division for new Illinois football coach Tim Beckman.

On Wednesday, however, he walked through a different one. And it wasn’t the door I was hoping that Beckman would choose.

At Big Ten Media Days this week, much discussion swirled around the controversial topic of recruiting current Penn State players, who were who were essentially declared “free agents” by NCAA president Mark Emmert as part of PSU’s sweeping sanctions.

And Beckman found himself as the focal point of that controversy when it was revealed that on Wednesday he sent an armada of eight Illini coaches to State College to supposedly chat up just two Nittany Lions who had expressed interest in transferring to Champaign.

So, was eight enough?

Well, by my count, it was far too many.

To continue reading, visit CBSChicago.com …

Why Baseball’s Hall of Fame Needs Its Own ‘Death Penalty’

Thursday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) With a slew of all-time greats in their first year of eligibility for Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame, the summer of 2013 should be a banner one for Cooperstown.

But, because of steroids, it won’t be. And if I had my way, the summer of 2013 wouldn’t even exist in Cooperstown. At all.

This week, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and shameful cover-up, Penn State avoided the “death penalty” of having its storied football program shut down for a full season. But baseball’s Hall of Fame shouldn’t avoid that fate.

In fact, as a nod to the integrity of our national pastime – or what’s left of it, at least – when HOF ballots are distributed to writers this November, I’d like to see them impose a one-year ban on all inductions.

Now let me explain why.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Sanctions Open The Door For Illini’s Beckman

Tuesday’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) With an empty resume, the jury is still out for Tim Beckman.

But thanks to the foibles and failures of two of his conference rivals, Illinois’ first-year football coach could have a big “in” for 2012.

And, perhaps, well beyond.

The Fighting Illini, of course, compete in the Big Ten’s woefully misnamed “Leaders” division, which includes the likes of Ohio State and Penn State, neither of which are eligible for this December’s conference championship game due to NCAA sanctions.

Yes, “Leaders,” indeed.

That bad news for the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions fans, however, brings good tidings next month to the training camps at Illinois, Wisconsin and Purdue. I’d include Indiana on that list too, but until further notice, the Hoosiers are, you know, still the Hoosiers – and not championship material.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Where Uncle Lou’s meets the Mother Road

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

The WISCH LIST

By Dave Wischnowsky

Like Jack Kerouac, I’ve always had a thing for road trips.

Growing up, my family would pile into our station wagon every summer and make the 1,000-mile haul from Bourbonnais to Colorado to visit family. When I was in my 20s, I drove more than some truckers while covering games as a sports writer. And two years ago, I spent four days cruising around 900 miles of Montana’s incredible “Big Sky Country.”

If some people consider themselves “foodies,” then I suppose I’m something of a “roadie” – minus the touring band and heavy lifting. And in my logbook, nothing says summer quite like “road trip.”

Meanwhile, in Illinois, nothing says “road trip” quite like Route 66. And in Chicago, nothing says “Route 66” quite like Lou Mitchell’s, the legendary diner where that legendary highway actually begins.

This past Monday, with a hankering for lunch and a history lesson, I visited the West Loop institution where three presidents (Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter) and countless others had dined before me.

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Big Ten Makes Right Call On Limiting Delany’s Power

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Thank you, Big Ten.

You took a deep breath. You slowed your roll. And you appear to have kept your wits about you in regards to the criminal, ethical and administrative debacle that continues to infest Penn State.

For that, I tip my hat. On this day, at least.

I hope I can continue to say the same in the future.

To be sure, the gut-wrenching scandal at Penn State is the biggest mess that we’ve ever seen in college athletics. But the last thing that anyone needs is for it to become something even bigger.

And ultimately make a different mess at other schools.

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …

Rapper Young MC Invites Jay Cutler To Bust A Move

Today’s column from CBS Chicago …

(CBS) Most of us haven’t stood inside the Wrigley Field press box, stared out at an expectant crowd and butchered “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” like Bears QB Jay Cutler did last Saturday afternoon.

But, hey, in a sense, we’ve all been there.

“I do all sorts of different things,” said Bill Yohnka, 36, who wears many hats in Kankakee, including one as the city’s Director of Economic Development. “And I know that sometimes after I’ve given a presentation at work or whatever else, I think to myself, ‘Ya know, I didn’t quite nail that one,’ So, I know how it can feel.”

With his mumbling and monotone rendition at Wrigley, Cutler clearly didn’t nail his tune during the seventh-inning stretch last Saturday. As a singer, the guy makes one heck of a quarterback.

But Yohnka, the city of Kankakee and hip-hop icon Young MC – yes, Young MC – want to give Cutler a second chance at singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” when the Bears’ off-key QB rolls into nearby Bourbonnais for training camp later this month.

“If Jay is anything like me,” Yohnka said on Wednesday afternoon, “then he’d want another opportunity to really nail it.”

Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …