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Sports

Connecticut Sun star Jasmine Thomas out for remainder of 2022 season with torn ACL

The Connecticut Sun will be without their starting point guard for the remainder of the 2022 season.Jasmine Thomas tore the ACL in her right knee and won’t play again this year, the team announced on Tuesday. The Sun star guard suffered the injury in the first quarter of a 92-70 victory over the Indiana Fever on Sunday.AdvertisementThomas will have reconstructive surgery and the team hasn’t provided a timetable for the surgery or her rehab process.“Of course, I’m sad that I won’t be able to continue playing on the court with this special team,” Thomas said in a release. “Everyone has been supportive and uplifting, and I’m just preparing mentally and emotionally to attack my recovery. I will continue to be a vocal leader and support my team from the sidelines. They’re incredible and I’m excited about what they’re going to achieve.”AdvertisementThomas, who is 32 years old, has been a staple for the Sun since joining the team from the Atlanta Dream in 2015. She was averaging 7.5 points, 3.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds through four games this season prior to Sunday’s contest and was undoubtedly one of the team’s leaders, especially on defense. Thomas is fifth in Connecticut Sun all-time franchise history and first amongst active players with 222 games played for the team. Throughout her 12-year WNBA career Thomas has played in 358 games, only missing seven games due to overseas responsibilities, rest and a family commitment.“Saddened and disappointed for Jas,” Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller said. “She has been the epitome of an ironwoman throughout her career. We will support her throughout her recovery and continue to lean on her leadership lens from the sideline. We look forward to having her back on the court in the future.”Thomas’ injury is a big blow to the Sun, who are 4-1 and have their sights on capturing the WNBA championship that has eluded them in recent years. Courtney Williams had been starting games for Connecticut at the two-spot, while Natisha Hiedeman had established herself as the top point guard off the bench. Both will now be relied on more heavily with Thomas out. Other guards with ball-handling experience on the roster include rookies Nia Clouden and Yvonne Anderson.The Sun face the Dallas Wings at Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Sports

Ravens agree to 1-year deal with CB Kyle Fuller, a Baltimore native and 2-time Pro Bowl pick

The Ravens have agreed to a one-year deal with cornerback Kyle Fuller, adding a Baltimore native with playmaking pedigree who could help stabilize their secondary. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Fuller, 30, should compete for playing time immediately on a Ravens defense looking to return to health and bounce back from a historically bad 2021. The Mount Saint Joseph product has started 94 games over his eight-year NFL career and hasn’t missed a game because of injury since 2016, when knee surgery sidelined him.AdvertisementFuller, a first-round pick of the Bears in 2014, earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2018 with Chicago after leading the NFL with seven interceptions. He made the Pro Bowl a second time in 2019, his fifth straight year with at least two picks.Kyle Fuller, pictured with the Denver Broncos last season, should compete for playing time immediately in a Ravens defense looking to return to health and bounce back from a historically bad 2021. (Jack Dempsey/AP)Fuller’s past few seasons, however, have been more erratic. The Bears released him after the 2020 season in a cost-cutting move, and Fuller signed a one-year, $9.5 million contract with the Denver Broncos in March 2021. He struggled at times in Denver last season, playing just four defensive snaps over a three-game span in October, including a Week 7 benching, and nine snaps over a two-game span in December. He also finished the year without an interception for the first time in his career.AdvertisementFuller’s up-and-down season led to significant snaps in the slot, where he’d lined up only occasionally in Chicago. After playing just 63 coverage snaps inside over Denver’s first eight weeks, according to Sports Info Solutions, he played 218 snaps there over the next nine weeks. As a slot cornerback, he allowed 17 completions on 31 targets for 193 yards and two touchdowns (95.2 passer rating in coverage); as an outside cornerback, he gave up 13 completions on 21 targets for 256 yards and two touchdowns (116.4 passer rating).“He never got down on himself,” then-Broncos coach Vic Fangio said of Fuller after a Week 9 win that marked the start of his transition inside. “He was frustrated.“But [if] you keep sawing wood, you’ll be ready when your number’s called. And he was ready.”Fuller’s versatility and experience should fit in well in Baltimore. After finishing last in the NFL in pass defense last year, the Ravens released cornerback Tavon Young and did not re-sign cornerbacks Anthony Averett or Chris Westry. In the draft, they took safety Kyle Hamilton, who has experience defending slot receivers, and cornerbacks Jalyn Armour-Davis and Damarion “Pepe” Williams. Team officials are also hopeful that starters Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters will be back to full strength after suffering season-ending injuries last season.Fuller, who starred in football and track and field for the Gaels before a standout career at Virginia Tech, has played at M&T Bank Stadium just once in his NFL career: a 2017 win over the Ravens with Chicago. He told The Baltimore Sun before the game that season that he was “very excited” about his homecoming.“It’s something I’ve dreamed about when I was growing up,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”

News

Southern spells

A good play, suggests Tony Kushner in his 1995 anthology Thinking About the Longstanding Problems of Virtue, “should be overstuffed.” Memorably comparing well-constructed theater to lasagna,…

Sports

Column: Criticize the Chicago Cubs? Not on Marquee Sports Network’s ‘The Reporters’ show.

When the Chicago Cubs announced they were leaving their old TV home to start their own network, it was viewed by some as a prudent business decision that would create another vital revenue stream.With more revenue streams, the Cubs theoretically would be contenders for years.AdvertisementThat of course, hasn’t happened.The Cubs are in the early stages of a rebuild of undetermined length. In the middle of the first full season of Marquee Sports Network in 2021, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer came to the conclusion he could not sign his three biggest stars and executed a massive sell-off to restock the farm system, beginning the next phase of Cubs history.Advertisement[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Cubs exploring a streaming option for 2023 — plus updates on the Wrigley Field sportsbook and Hall of Famers’ statues ]But instead of stating the obvious, Hoyer declined to refer to the plan as a rebuild and even questioned why a reporter needed to put a label on it. Ten months later, the Cubs are well below .500 and looking to prospects such as Christopher Morel, Justin Steele and Keegan Thompson.The Cubs still refuse to concede the team is in rebuilding mode, which is their prerogative. No one has to take the word of Cubs management to know what they’re seeing with their own eyes, and no matter what it’s called it’s often unwatchable.Still, there are games to be telecast and a station to provide fans with Cubs-related news and information. For those who can’t get enough of the team, Marquee Sports Network — owned by the the Cubs and Sinclair — provides that content. It has hour-long pre- and postgame shows, documentaries and events like last Friday’s unveiling of the Fergie Jenkins statue. The network also carries Chicago Sky games and other sports.But there is plenty of airtime and not enough live sports to fill in the blanks. So the network created a Sunday morning talk show called “The Reporters,” a nod to “The Sportswriters on TV,” the classic cable talk show that aired during the 1980s and ’90s. That show featured a former PR man named Ben Bentley, who spoke Chicagoese and served as moderator, and old school sportswriters Bill Gleason, Bill Jauss and Rick Telander, who technically was young but had already developed an old sports writer’s persona.For those in sports media, the announcement of the Marquee show was welcome news. There hasn’t been a local sports debate show since the summer of 2020, when NBC Sports Chicago canceled David Kaplan’s show, “SportsTalk Live.”[ [Don’t miss] As the Chicago Cubs move past the quarter-mark of the season, many big-picture questions remain: ‘Got to let guys continue to develop’ ]But some wondered how much candor reporters could exercise on Cubs-related topics while on a station run by the Cubs and Sinclair. Would a reporter be allowed to criticize the spending of Chairman Tom Ricketts? Could anyone say manager David Ross was an issue? Would the Cubs run interference to make sure top executives weren’t ripped?One of those questions was answered Sunday. No, the network would not let a reporter criticize upper management — specifically Hoyer.Sunday’s show featured three veteran reporters — WSCR-AM 670′s David Haugh, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Maddie Lee and former sports anchor Peggy Kusinski. They were joined by WGN-AM 720 personality Bob Sirott, who was the moderator.AdvertisementSources said a segment on the Cubs’ unknown trade deadline plans was going smoothly until Haugh, a former Tribune columnist, and Kusinki, who has a weekly show on WMVP-AM-1000, discussed the rebuild.Haugh said Hoyer’s transparency was “lacking,” comparing it unfavorably to the job former President Theo Epstein did in explaining his game plan. Haugh wondered aloud if Hoyer was “tethered to reality” and asked for some clarity from the Cubs president. Kusinski agreed and called for honesty.But the taping was abruptly halted shortly thereafter for what reporters were told was a technical difficulty. They were then informed they’d have to start the segment over.[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Cubs President Jed Hoyer is confident his long-term game plan is working: ‘We’re on the right track’ ]No one was too alarmed by the timing, but before they began taping again, reporters were told not to mention the “transparency” angle in the new segment. The subject was avoided and the original segment was edited out when it aired Sunday morning.Haugh and Kusinksi declined to comment. Lee could not be reached for comment.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.A Marquee spokesman did not immediately return a message.AdvertisementAs someone who has appeared in dozens of these types of panel shows, from CLTV to WBBM-Ch. 2 to Comcast Sports Net to WTTW-Ch. 11, I don’t recall ever having a show stopped and redone to remove a comment. I can confirm the Cubs complained to CSN often about my criticism of team executives made during “Chicago Tribune Live” telecasts, but the station never edited them out or asked me to stop mentioning them on the show.The Marquee Sports Network booth during a Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Aug. 16, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Kusinski formerly had a panel show on CLTV, owned by Tribune Co. — which at the time owned the Cubs — in which we both took shots at Cubs management without fear of censorship.The point of an opinion show is to voice your opinion. Some people get it. Marquee apparently does not.Marquee doesn’t have to air opinions about the Cubs that the team or station does not agree with. It’s the Cubs’ station, after all, and it’s the network’s show. But reporters at least should know their opinions might be edited out if they don’t line up with the Cubs’ messaging.And certainly viewers looking for objective analysis on the Cubs should be aware the opinions on “The Reporters” are subject to censorship.The Cubs are free to dispense their message any way they want. But if the owners want any credibility they need to let reporters speak freely on the network.

Lifestyle

To combat gentrification in Pilsen and keep Latinos in the area, a co-op has ‘regular people’ creating their own affordable housing

For 25 years, the Leon family’s mariachi music has enlivened thousands of family reunions, community events and festivals in the Pilsen neighborhood. It is part of the Mexican cultural heritage that adorns the Lower West Side of Chicago and has attracted people from all over the city.But the Leon family members risked losing their longtime connection to Pilsen in 2018, when they lost their home, a small two-bedroom apartment fit for their budget. Karen and Enrique Leon, and their three adult children were told that they could no longer rent there.Advertisement“What we saw happened to many other families in Pilsen was happening to us,” said Karen Leon, adding that the community helped grow her family’s livelihood after arriving in Chicago in the late ‘90s from Estado de Mexico, Mexico.Karen Leon, right, enters a communal garden at her home in the Pilsen neighborhood on May 20, 2022. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)Over the last two decades, thousands of residents have left the predominantly Mexican immigrant neighborhood due to the rising cost of rent, a result of higher property taxes and new developments.Advertisement“We had to find a new place to live, but we couldn’t afford anything (comfortable) for our family in the area anymore,” said Leon, who added that medical bills for one of their children and college costs for the other two increased their financial struggle. Determined to stay in the area though, the family of five secured a one-bedroom apartment for about a year.Then in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Chicago, the Leon family became one of the first six families to become homeowners of an apartment complex bought under the Pilsen Housing Cooperative, the neighborhood’s first and only limited-equity, scattered-site housing cooperative for longtime residents of Pilsen.“I couldn’t believe it,” said Leon, who became a shareholder. “Not only can we afford it, but we are saving this money instead of giving it away in rent. It has given us peace of mind and the opportunity to focus on our family and allow our children to grow.”Leon came across the co-op while searching online for affordable apartments in Pilsen. She reached out and was told that families needed only a downpayment and that if they didn’t have it, the co-op could help them raise the funds. The collective purchase under the cooperative also meant that all the money payed into the mortgage for their share — including the downpayment — would be theirs upon the sale of their unit.Steve Miller decided to sell the Wolcott building to the cooperative because he wanted his building of 20 years to remain in the hands of the community. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)Leon and her husband only dreamed of becoming homeowners. Though their mariachi band, Mariachi Mexico Vivo, has become a local favorite, their income is often in flux, and saving up had been difficult, she said.“The cooperative has been a blessing,” she said.The co-op, which aims to challenge gentrification, was born out of a conversation among residents and creatives one evening while they were sipping homemade apple cider wine at muralist Hector Duarte’s Pilsen studio nearly five years ago. As of February, the cooperative now owns two buildings and will be home to a total of 12 families. A third six-unit building is under contract.For Linda Lutton, Duarte’s wife, and a resident in the area for nearly 30 years, helping to erect the project became something personal after seeing her neighbors forced out of their homes and unable to afford rent after their landlords sold their buildings to developers.Advertisement“It was heartbreaking,” said Lutton, a Chicago journalist who is on sabbatical from her job as an education reporter at WBEZ. Lutton served as a researcher for the cooperative and is working as project manager, hoping to expand the co-op thanks to a $30,000 grant from the Field Foundation.To get started, the Pilsen co-op sought guidance from the Logan Square Cooperative and other sources, including the University of Chicago Law School’s Housing Initiative Clinic.The first building, where the Leon family lives on Wolcott Avenue, is near Harrison Park and the National Museum of Mexican Art. The second six-unit building, located on Morgan Street, just a few blocks from the first, was obtained in February. Co-op member families will start moving into the Morgan Street building in July.Steve Miller, who is a co-op member, decided to sell the Wolcott Avenue building to the cooperative because he wanted his building of 20 years to remain in the hands of the community, he said.Jonah Bondurant and his wife, Raquel Garcia, with their 14-year-old daughter, Sofia, stand in their home’s communal garden with their dog, Annie, at the Pilsen Housing Cooperative building on Wolcott Avenue. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)Aside from some small fundraisers and donations from several other nonprofit organizations, the purchases have been made without public funding, according to Lutton. Collectively, the members must raise 10% of the total project cost. Down payments vary by unit owner.The Wolcott Avenue building costs totaled $727,630, minus $6,000 in subsidies from a community fundraiser, which made the average cost per unit $120,272, according to project data from Lutton. The Morgan Street building totaled a little over $1 million with $240,380 in subsidies, which kept the average cost per unit at $130,000. A downpayment of $5,000 is listed for a $120,406 one-bedroom unit in the Morgan Street building on the co-op’s website.AdvertisementMembers must live in the building and cannot rent their unit. When selling, the members essentially take what they put in.Co-op members make decisions together and pay a monthly housing charge that covers the cost of the mortgage, property taxes, maintenance and any other operating costs, according to the bylaws of the cooperative.“This is regular people creating affordable housing, that’s a public good,” said Lutton. Though the cooperative aims to fight displacement, its lens is focused on helping artists and longtime immigrant Pilsen families, such as the Leon family.When the Leon family members applied, their savings were minimal, recalls Karen Leon. They had spent most of it looking for other apartments and paying application fees. The cooperative then hosted a fundraiser to help them pay a larger down payment to lower their mortgage.“At first I was kind of ashamed to admit that we needed that help,” said Leon. “But it has taught me the meaning of community and of equal housing opportunities, now I want to help other families reach their dreams.”AdvertisementKaren and Enrique Leon stand in front of a mural in the communal garden of their home in Pilsen. The couple is part of the Pilsen Housing Cooperative, which has afforded the family its first opportunity for homeownership. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)The Leons’ mariachi band often participates in fundraisers and other co-op events. On a recent Saturday, the band performed at a community cookout in celebration of the purchase of the Morgan Street building and the inauguration of a mural painted on the wall of the Wolcott Avenue building that pays homage to their “Fight To Stay.”Muralists Duarte and Gabriel Villa painted the new mural and also recreated a part of an original mural that was on the wall, “Peace,” which was painted by Mario Castillo in 1968.In August, the Leons’ mariachi band will be performing at the Quinceañera of one of the daughters of a co-op member. “We support each other to ensure we succeed and help others do the same, like family,” Karen Leon said.Raquel Garcia, co-president of the cooperative, said that “though the pandemic brought challenge,” it is exciting to see more longtime Pilsen residents stay in the neighborhood they helped to create.Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, said he supports the co-op and is encouraging the city’s housing department to create legislative changes so that housing cooperatives can be funded on a larger scale to help foster their growth and create more affordable housing.The cooperative is currently hosting info sessions for those interested in learning more.AdvertisementBut since the purchase of the first complex, home prices have gone up drastically. The third building, located on Oakley Avenue, is expected to cost nearly $1.3 million, almost twice as much as the first one.Co-op members hope to receive more donations to ensure that prices are kept affordable and that they are able to continue expanding their mission: Quedarse en Pilsen.To stay in Pilsen.larodriguez@chicagotribune.com