By Steve Rhodes
“This can only end with maximum pain,” Grant Bisbee writes for SBNation.
Posted on November 2, 2016
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“Aggressively closing or replacing failing schools was a major goal of the Cleveland Plan, but one that has been scaled far back from what the Plan first called for,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
The original version of the district-wide improvement plan in 2012 said that the district would “target the lowest 10-15 percent of these (failing) schools for immediate and dramatic action” each year including closure, starting new schools in their place or turning operations over to a charter school.
That aggression was scaled back as the plan developed, and the eventual legislation for the Plan left out any closure requirements.
The major effort with “failing” schools named 23 of them – nearly 1/4 of the district – as “Investment Schools” and put them on an improvement plan, instead of targeting them for closure. We’ll have a roundup of how that has gone later today.
But the district has taken stronger action with some schools.
Links theirs!
Posted on November 1, 2016
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“There isn’t going to be room for us bums.” – Bill Veeck
“Last night, the Cubs won Game 5 of the World Series, and will return to Cleveland on Tuesday. Over the last three games at Wrigley Field, tens of thousands of people descended on the Lakeview neighborhood, many of them for the first time,” MediaBurn notes.
“In this clip, bleacher regular Bill Veeck, who probably went to more than forty games in 1984, pokes fun at the fancy newcomers who showed up only for the postseason.”
Posted on October 31, 2016
The [Friday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
Here’s a couple of World Series-related offerings. I’m taking the rest of the day off to explore the inner workings of Old Style – and the game, of course.
Posted on October 28, 2016
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“If you’re going to lose a World Series game, you might as well let the bottom fall out,” Zack Meisel writes for Cleveland.com.
“Go for broke. Throw every bad habit, every baseball malady out there. Get the Trevor Bauer inefficiency, the Bryan Shaw nibbling, the Danny Salazar rust-shaking, the dormant lumber and the groan-inducing defense all out of the way in one fell swoop.
“This wasn’t the type of World Series loss that leaves a fan base with a stinging sensation, like the one Tribe fans suffered on Oct. 26, 1997. This Oct. 26, 2016 defeat was more of the dull ache variety, only fans in attendance couldn’t feel it because the bone-chilling temperatures numbed every finger and toe in the venue.
“Little went right for the Indians in Game 2, and now Terry Francona’s bunch will venture west for three games at Wrigley Field, with the World Series knotted at one game apiece.”
It’s like the Cubs had nothing to do with any of it!
Posted on October 27, 2016
The [Wednesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
I like checking out the way sporting events are written up in the opposition media just to get a sense of how the other side sees things, as well as a reminder to my own readers of the way sports coverage is delivered through a hometown prism not unlike the partisan prism that people tend to interpret politics through. So here’s what the Cleveland Plain Dealer had to say about Tuesday night’s World Series opener:
Regular season, postseason, it doesn’t matter. The Kluber Express continues to roll.
And it always helps to have Andrew Miller in the bullpen and Roberto Perez squatting behind the plate.
Kluber threw six scoreless innings Tuesday night and Perez hit two homers as the Indians beat the Cubs, 6-0, in Game 1 of the World Series at Progressive Field. The win made manager Terry Francona 9-0 in World Series games and gave the Indians an 8-1 record in this postseason.
In four starts this postseason, Kluber is 3-1 with a 0.74 ERA. In his last 22 starts, he’s 15-3.
Wow, it’s as if the Cubs don’t even exist!
Posted on October 26, 2016
The [Tuesday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“People who tell small, self-serving lies are likely to progress to bigger falsehoods, and over time, the brain appears to adapt to the dishonesty, according to a new study,” the New York Times reports.
“The finding, the researchers said, provides evidence for the ‘slippery slope’ sometimes described by wayward politicians, corrupt financiers, unfaithful spouses and others in explaining their misconduct.”
Posted on October 25, 2016
The [Monday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“Aldermen can no longer take advantage of the Chicago Cubs’ offer to buy playoff tickets at face value, city ethics officials ruled Friday,” DNAinfo Chicago reports.
“The offer constitutes a ‘prohibited gift’ under the city’s ethics rules because the tickets are available to the public at a much higher price, according to the revised policy issued Friday by William Conlon, chairman of the Chicago Board of Ethics.”
It’s not just the reduced cost that is the issue – it’s the availability of a ticket without going through normal channels in the first place.
But the ever keen-eyed Tim Willette spotted something in this article even more interesting to our eyes:
The new policy would only allow aldermen to buy the tickets at face value if they performed a “ceremonial duty” such as throwing out the first pitch, marching onto the field with other officials or making a speech.
Asks Tim:
Do first-pitch throwers ordinarily have to buy a ticket if they want to watch the game? What about the national anthem singer? I kind of assumed they got to stick around gratis.
Really! You get invited to throw out the first pitch but you gotta buy your own ticket?! C’mon, Cubs!
Posted on October 24, 2016
The Weekend Desk Report
By Steve Rhodes
“Sluggers World Class Sports Bar and Grill, a cavernous Wrigleyville watering hole, used to spend $20,000 a year on ballpark advertising,” the Tribune reports.
“But several years after the Ricketts family bought the Cubs in 2009, that relationship ended.
“All of a sudden, they didn’t want our money anymore,” said Zach Strauss, co-owner of the 32-year-old family business. “They only want the million-dollar deals.”
“Don’t get him wrong. Strauss is grateful to the Ricketts family for keeping the Cubs at Wrigley and building a winning team. But there’s a lingering wariness.”
Sluggers, a Wrigleyville icon that helped build the neighborhood’s value, is too downscale for Rickettsville. The already-gentrified neighborhood is getting gentrified again. Call it meta- (or mega-)gentrification.
And who will benefit most from changes underway? The Ricketts family.
Posted on October 22, 2016
The [Thursday] Papers
By Steve Rhodes
“Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago on Wednesday defended his 60-day suspension of a lieutenant who refused to send underlings into an area where they might be exposed to Ebola but said the city will accept an arbitrator’s ruling overturning the suspension,” the Sun-Times reports.
What area in Chicago could expose someone to Ebola? The article doesn’t say.
Really.
I mean, I read it four times. Am I missing something? Am I currently sitting in the Ebola area? Is it someone’s house? Was it on fire?
Posted on October 20, 2016