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“If there’s one quality that this team has had since Day 1, once we started the season, was playing with the guys that we have, not that we don’t have,” La Russa said. “We lost Tim for 10 days before, we managed to scrape together some wins. But it’s not to disrespect him, because he is a real force when he plays, whether it’s offense, defense.

Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, right, greets the Loyola basketball team as the Ramblers return with the NCAA championship trophy at O’Hare Airport on March 25, 1963. From left are Vic Rouse (in hat), coach George Ireland, Chuck Wood, Jerry Harkness (with trophy), Rich Rochelle, Les Hunter, Jack Egan and Ron Miller (behind Daley). (Chicago Tribune)

“It probably affected some of that, with making sure that that fine line that you don’t reinjure somebody — especially the soft tissue stuff,” he said. “That’s the stuff that scares me and I know it scares a lot of people. You get that soft-tissue (injury), then you’re talking two, three, four weeks. That’s where there’s a balance.”

Ixhelt Gonzalez, 17, of Chicago, who was first named to the U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball team in 2018 when she was just 13, will again represent the team, which won gold in Rio in 2016. She’ll be joined by Zoe Voris, whose hometown is also listed as Chicago on Team USA’s website. And at 16, swimmer Keegan Knott of Lake Villa is one of the youngest U.S. athletes, according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Built in 2003, the mansion also has 5½ baths, tray ceilings, two fireplaces, a grand foyer, an updated kitchen, two primary bedroom suites including one on the first floor, a movie theater that seats eight, a wine cellar, a large rec room and an eight-car garage. In addition to the pool, the 2.73-acre property also has a spa and a patio.

“Big picture when we talked about this from the very start we said whoever is going to be best for the Chicago Bears and that’s going to obviously deal with production and wins, right?” Nagy said. “So when you look at this thing you want to make sure we all support each other with one common goal to win, and offensively to score touchdowns. And Andy knows that. Andy is well aware of that. Andy’s excited for the opportunity to show what he can do with these starters and in this offense. And then every day we have to evaluate, and we have to see where we’re at every single day.”

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the conferences had not authorized anyone to speak publicly about the alliance before the formal announcement. The person said Tuesday’s announcement will be light on details and more of a commitment from the three relatively new commissioners — Kevin Warren of the Big Ten, Jim Phillips of the ACC and George Kliavkoff of the Pac-12 — that the conferences will work together on shared goals.

“It’s been really tough just coming here every day, especially not winning many games, not winning games at home,” Ortega said. “It’s something that weighs on you coming in every day, knowing that you might not be able to win. We have a lot of young players, but we have a good coaching staff here, our manager in our team meetings, we’re all picking ourselves up. We’re all trying to help each other out. If it’s a veteran or if it’s a younger player, and all we’re trying to do is just go out there, do the best that we can, be prepared and try to get a win.”

“Kade McClure is a starter that has been impressive at Double-A (2-4, 3.82 ERA, 77 strikeouts), now getting a taste of Triple-A,” Getz said. “Jason Bilous is another starter that has been impressive along the way (3-7, 5.19 ERA, 95 strikeouts at Winston-Salem and Birmingham). Davis Martin (3-6, 5.23 ERA, 83 strikeouts at Winston-Salem and Birmingham), we’ve got McKinley Moore (1-2, 4.68 ERA, 51 strikeouts at Kannapolis and Winston-Salem). Tanner McDougal (seven strikeouts in three innings for the Arizona Rookie League White Sox) is a high school draft pick we took in the draft this past year. He’s up to 96 mph. He’s got 3,000 RPMs on a breaking ball. He’s a guy that I feel like has a chance to really jump.

With the Cubs on a downward plunge with no end in sight and White Sox manager Tony La Russa making more controversial decisions, it’s a great time to debate the baseball season. As the dog days of summer wind down, here is the latest from another interesting week in Chicago sports media. Advertisement 1. The Cubs haven’t revealed the voting committee for their new Hall of Fame, but I received a preliminary list of voters. I asked a few of them Sunday where they stood on the burning question of Sammy Sosa’s candidacy. Only one voter said they would vote unequivocally for Sosa’s enshrinement. Two others answered “no” without hesitation or explanation. One said yes, noting the criteria for entrance aren’t as stringent as getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Another said yes, but only if Sosa admits to having used performance-enhancing drugs and shows remorse. It was an unscientific poll, and I told the voters I wouldn’t use their names. But it looks as though Sosa faces an uphill battle if he gets on the Cubs ballot. I can’t really see Sosa showing remorse for something he won’t admit to doing in the first place, so maybe he’ll never get in. But at least the decision will be out of the Rickettses’ hands. Advertisement 2. The big series between the White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays fizzled out when La Russa rested Tim Anderson for the final two games, saying his ‘dogs are barking.’ The message from La Russa was the physically fit, 28-year-old spark plug of the Sox lineup wasn’t injured but had sore legs. And Anderson could’ve played if it were October, La Russa said. It’s still August and the Sox have a huge lead in the American League Central. So no big deal? Maybe home-field advantage in October isn’t as important to the Sox as it is to their fans. Still, resting one of your key players for two games against the team you might be fighting with for home-field advantage in a potential postseason matchup doesn’t make a lot of sense. The Sox lost both games without Anderson, who was out of the lineup again Monday night in Toronto. La Russa also confounded fans by removing Craig Kimbrel during the eighth inning Friday and then apologizing for it afterward. They talked it over, and Kimbrel insisted his feelings weren’t hurt. It would help matters if Kimbrel pitched better. At least La Russa kept Sox Twitter busy, which is all that matters. 3. The Cubs lost their record 13th consecutive home game Sunday, setting a franchise record at Wrigley Field, where the team has played for 105 years. But if you clicked on the Marquee Sports Network website Monday under the section marked “Cubs news,” there was no mention of the fact the Cubs had set a club record for futility. It was mentioned in all of the newspapers, TV and radio sportscasts and on cubs.com. Marquee is co-owned by the Cubs, so it’s not surprising when bad things are downplayed. But if the Rickettses want their network to gain credibility in Chicago, they at least need to address the obvious stuff on their website, even if it’s a maddening home losing streak. No one expects Marquee to be overly critical, but completely ignoring reality is a bad look — especially in a sports-crazed town like this one. The broadcasters haven’t been shy about it. Analyst Rick Sutcliffe joked about the losing streak Monday, saying one of the keys for the Cubs was to “find the ‘W’ flag … and dust it off.” Ed O’Bradovich, Doug Buffone and Norm Van Lier set the tone in this city, proving an athlete can love his former team and still offer valid criticism when merited. NBC Sports Chicago has two such duos — Ozzie Guillen and Frank Thomas on the White Sox and Will Perdue and Kendall Gill on the Bulls — who never shy away from saying what needs to be said about the state of the team or management. NBC Sports Chicago also has a website that doesn’t pull punches. Maybe Marquee needs to watch the competition and take notes. 4. Kudos to WMVP-AM 1000′s Fred Huebner. Huebner brought up the touchy subject of tipping concessionaires at ballparks for handing you premade food and beverages. With most stadiums going to all credit and debit cards for payment, fans are asked to push a button to add a tip or not. It puts them in the tough position of either letting the concessionaire know they don’t think a tip is deserved or giving a 10% to 15% tip — or more — on an already overpriced item. And with fans waiting in line behind them, there is no time to ponder the decision. I’m not sure of the etiquette on tipping concessionaires, so maybe Huebner better Ask Amy. 5. Watching the Little League World Series games on ESPN reminds me of how fun it was to cover the Jackie Robinson West team that won the US title in 2014. The title was later stripped after allegations of administrators skirting boundary rules to get players on the team. Last spring, Little League International acknowledged that JRW players were “not aware of administrators’ decisions to change the team’s boundaries,” according to a Block Club Chicago report. Advertisement Their U.S. championship was not reinstated, but seven years later, the memories of watching those kids on the field, and the sportsmanship they exhibited, lingers on — bad ending or not. 6. Comparing the 2021 Cubs losing streak to the 1994 one. According to a 1994 Chicago Tribune story by former Cubs beat writer Joseph A. Reaves, on the day the 1994 Cubs snapped their 12-game home losing streak at Wrigley Field, media relations director Sharon Pannozzo “broke out a Voodoo doll that she brought from vacation in Jamaica and carefully followed the instructions that called, among other things, for her to read the words of the 23rd psalm. (’The Lord is my shepherd …’).” Unfortunately, the 2021 Cubs don’t have the resources to purchase a Voodoo doll from Jamaica. Tough times. 7. Former Cubs pitcher Steve Trout informed me the age-old story of him getting injured falling off an exercise bike is incorrect. I repeated the story in an article on candidates for the new Cubs Hall of Fame, and it has been mentioned over the years in various articles involving freak baseball injuries. Trout said the injury came from a fall off a real bike. Mea culpa. Not sure how it all started, but I first heard it 36 years ago and it has been repeated often. Apologies to Trout for perpetuating an apparent Cubs myth.