The [Monday] Papers

"Rose's awkward stumble in the lane was the latest bump in a career path that, until this season, had seemed charmed," the Tribune reports.

"Rose won two state titles at Simeon High School, then led the University of Memphis to the national championship game in his first, and only, college season (though the team later forfeited every victory because of a cheating scandal that involved Rose). He was the first player taken in the 2008 NBA draft, then was named Rookie of the Year. Last season, he led the Bulls to the best record in the NBA and was named league MVP."

Rose's cheating continues to be merely a parenthetical.

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The New York Times profiled Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau over the weekend and two things in particular caught my eye, though the entire piece is well worth reading.

First:

"Thibodeau idolized Bob Knight at Indiana. Thibodeau once went to Bloomington to see Knight, but he mistakenly flew to the wrong Bloomington - in Illinois, not Indiana."

Ha ha.

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Second:

"Word arrived from the Bulls' brass: Thibodeau would consent to an interview, but with conditions. One, he did not want team executives or assistants to be interviewed about him. Two, he did not want to address his personality, hobbies, or lack thereof. Three, he wanted to limit the discussion to basketball and coaching."

Tom Thibodeau, you are an excellent coach but a terrible person.

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Is Thibodeau to blame for Rose's season-ending injury? Our very own Jim Coffman presents his view and more in SportsMonday: Derrick Rose Will Never Be The Same.

Clout Bout
"Walsh Construction - a behemoth builder of roads, bridges and buildings with long ties to the Daley family - has paid $6.4 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that accused the contractor of overcharging taxpayers on 11 federally subsidized housing projects, records show," the Sun-Times reports.

"The projects, all in Chicago, involved some of the city's most prominent developers of affordable housing. Among them: Leon D. Finney Jr., Allison Davis and Tony Rezko, the now-imprisoned political fixer.

"President Barack Obama, while an Illinois state senator in 1998, even wrote a letter to city and state officials asking them to help finance one of the developments: the Cottage View Terrace apartments, built for low-income seniors by Rezko, who was an early Obama supporter and one-time campaign fundraiser, and Davis, who was once Obama's boss at a small Chicago law firm."

Mental Madness
"With four more mental health centers slated for closing Monday, clinic users and supporters will seek a 'pardon' from President Obama tomorrow - and highlight psychiatric hospitalizations that have resulted from the closure of two clinics earlier this month," Curtis Black writes for Newstips.

"The Mental Health Movement will march on Obama's campaign headquarters, 130 E. Randolph, at 11 a.m., Monday, April 30, to ask for 'presidential pardon' for the condemned clinics - and for the clinic users they say will die as a result of the closures."

See also: State Budget Devastates Mental Health Care.

Rahm Emanuel and Pat Quinn wouldn't dare close cancer clinics and devastate cancer care but somehow mental health is still something that's not taken seriously, even by Democrats who claim they are enlightened reformers when convenient - like a certain president of ours - but govern just like the conservatives they caricature as boogeymen. The sad result is that dissenting liberals are silenced so as not to "comfort the enemy" by attacks from the left. And the debate over mental health - and civil liberties, drone wars and civilian spying - is taken off the table. One advantage to having Republicans in office is that Democrats would find their voice again.

Pat Quinn's Pants . . .
. . . Are On Fire.

With A Spoon
The city wanted a gag order put on Christina Eilman's family.

Not Elton's Fault?
This guy should pay us for having to hear it.

Little Helpers
Maybe because dullness hurts.

What TV Doesn't Want You To Know
FCC makes right decision with wrong caveats.

Robin's Way
The White Sox finally have a three-oh offense.

The Cub Factor
Marty likes this team!

Programming Note
No, METOO doesn't keep playing that Ellery Queen episode and we don't keep making it our Must-See TV pick of the day. We're still testing solutions to a unique issue regarding our TV and weather boxes so bear with us.

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The Beachwood Tip Line: Bearly.

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