Chicago Sports

LAS VEGAS — It’s a good day for Robert Quinn. Better than good, really.

It’s hard to be happier than he is on this chilly Las Vegas morning after wrapping up a light Pro Bowl practice. With palm trees rising on the horizon into a perfectly clear, pale blue sky, he smiles as the sun warms his face. His friends and family are nearby. His buddies from around the NFL are glad he’s here. And he’s back among the league’s elite.

He’s back from his misery, too.

There were a lot of days that felt just the opposite of this one as Quinn trudged through his first season with the Bears in 2020. He usually holds back the details, but it’s easy to grasp what a dark time it must have been.

“Just being honest, there were days I really didn’t want to go into the building,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. “I was just frustrated for a lot of different reasons. But I got to the offseason and talked with some people and got over it.

“I realized it wasn’t as bad as [it seemed]. I had put a lot of pressure on myself and built it up, and when the snowball starts to roll, it can turn into an avalanche. I let that happen for a little bit.”

Quinn won the Jeff Dickerson Award this season for exceptional effort with the media, but he also said it’s his least favorite part of the job because he prefers to keep to himself. It’s understandable. He’s a small-town guy from South Carolina and he’s been chasing a football career, not fame.

Setting aside his aversion to opening up, a look at his situation in 2020 paints at least a partial picture of what affected him.

Quinn was never quite right physically, starting in training camp. He struggled to adjust to playing in a 3-4 defense that shifted him out of his preferred position of defensive end to outside linebacker. And after the Bears signed him to a five-year, $70 million contract to stack up sacks, he wasn’t delivering.

It was the worst season of his decade-long career, and that’s terrible timing at age 30 when any player is at risk of drifting out of the league. Quinn had two sacks in 548 snaps. The conversation turned toward how quickly the Bears could get out of his contract.

Quinn was admittedly a little lost after that season, but those closest to him picked him up.

“Pastors, best friends — a whole bunch of people that were really just making sure I was alright,” he said. “They just reassured me. They could tell by the game film I wasn’t having fun. They said I needed to get back to having fun, and that’s what I did.”

Quinn’s comeback was fun. And remarkable.

He broke Hall of Famer Richard Dent’s franchise record for sacks with 18.5, which is how he booked his spot as an NFC starter in Sunday’s game at Allegiant Stadium. It’ll be his first Pro Bowl since 2014.

The specifics on how Quinn reached that spectacular total make it even more impressive. He was incredibly consistent, recording at least a half-sack in 14 of his 16 games. And remember, the Bears signed him to be Khalil Mack’s wingman. But Mack went down with a season-ending foot injury after just seven games. Quinn did the majority of his work as the lead pass rusher.

Everything clicked. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually — Quinn was back in every way.

“I could do what I was brought in to do,” he said when asked how he felt walking into Halas Hall every day this season. “I’m sure everyone could tell the difference between Year 1 and Year 2 with the Bears. So hopefully nothing changes.”

As usual in life, change is coming. But this should be a good one for Quinn: New coach Matt Eberflus said he’ll remake the defense with a 4-3 base.

“Oh, did he?” Quinn said, genuinely surprised. “That’s the first I’ve heard. I don’t keep up with social media or nothing like that.”

He likes to stay disconnected. He hasn’t talked with Eberflus other than a brief text exchange. But Quinn knows that change will take him back to his home spot at defensive end. No more dropping back in coverage, which isn’t his forte.

He and former coordinator Sean Desai made it work this season, but Quinn has said throughout his career that he’s at his best when he lines up as a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end. He had 40 sacks at that position for the Rams from 2012 through ’14, earning two Pro Bowl trips and an all-pro selection.

So as good as he was this season, Quinn might be even better in the next one.

He’s hoping for the best with Eberflus and defensive coordinator Alan Williams — “I’ve been through many a coaching change, so it sucks to say, but I’m kinda used to it,” he said — and it’s a lot easier for him to be optimistic on a day like this than it was a year ago.

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Rocky Wirtz may consider it “old business,” but the Blackhawks’ sexual assault cover-up will very much also dictate his current and future business.

The Hawks chairman refusing to talk about the subject won’t make it go anywhere.

Wirtz’s already-infamous Wednesday meltdown in itself has made the scandal quite present. Videos of his irate reactions to easy-to-anticipate questions — about how the Hawks have improved their culture since 2010, and since last summer — have gone viral, reviving the hockey world’s memory of and anger at the Hawks over the scandal. For no discernible reason, Wirtz manufactured yet another public-relations disaster for his franchise.

Even putting Wednesday aside, though, the fallout from the scandal has continued — and should continue for years — to headline the list of concerns for an organization that sits in shambles on every front.

They have no permanent coach. They have no permanent general manager — directly as a result of the scandal. (And although they might have one soon, Wednesday’s debacle might have lost them a few possible candidates.)

They’re a mess on the ice, with just 16 wins through 46 games — their fewest at this point in a season in 16 years — after suffering a brutal 5-0 home loss against the Wild on Wednesday following Wirtz’s tantrum. Their beloved old core is almost gone; they have little game-changing talent in the prospect pipeline; and they have no first-round pick in the coming draft.

Attendance is lagging, too, with Wednesday marking their second-smallest crowd in 14 years (their smallest came in November). The announced total of 16,373 tickets sold seemed to significantly overstate the number of fans actually in seats. The remaining 19 home games probably won’t be much better; roughly 2,000-3,000 tickets for each were listed on Stubhub as of Thursday, for prices as low as $20.

Based on the mood of the fan base at the moment — with many longtime supporters fed up with either the scandal, the losing, the high ticket prices with little resale value or all three — attendance will be even worse next season. Business president Jaime Faulkner even acknowledged that trend Wednesday (one of many comments Wirtz’s explosion rendered irrelevant by comparison).

“Attendance is definitely not where we’d like it, definitely lower than it was before,” Faulkner said. “Thankfully, we’re very lucky we’ll still have the fifth-highest attendance in the league [this season]. But it hasn’t been easy for our season-ticket holders. If we want to create value for them, the first thing we have to do is put a winning product on the ice. Until we do that, it’s going to be hard.”

It’s also going to be hard to put out that winning product. It’s probably not going to happen soon. And as attendance goes — which, currently, is steadily down — so too go community partnerships, business sponsorships, advertising revenue, television viewership, and so on. Those areas all have to be worrying the Hawks’ business department right now.

Even on the legal front — an issue that, in December, seemed finally resolved — the scandal continues to create more new issues for Wirtz. A Chicago-based lawyer said Thursday he’s planning to file three new lawsuits against the Hawks on behalf of three other people victimized by ex-Hawks video coach Brad Aldrich and the ensuing assault cover-up.

One thing the Hawks did maintain Wednesday is a 0% success rate this century at avoiding embarrassment with town-hall meetings.

Way back in 2000 and 2001, former GM Mike Smith was interrogated by fans — and fought back just as unprofessionally — over the Hawks’ penny-pinching approach of that era.

Two decades later, the Hawks brought back the format, eliminated the opportunity for fans to ask live, unscreened questions and still made Smith’s exchanges look tame. After all, there’s a big difference between defending Boris Mironov’s fitness and defending a culture that enabled sexual assault.

Comically, everything Wirtz said has had the exact opposite effect. The “not going to talk about [it]” line? It’s all anyone is talking about. The “old business” description? It hatched more new business, and not the good kind.

And the “moving on” quip? Even Wirtz himself must either already know, or will quickly learn, he — and his bank account, and the hockey franchise he owns — won’t be able to do that for a long, long time.

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Zach LaVine didn’t exactly enjoy the wait, but the Bulls guard had a pretty strong feeling all along of how it was going to end.

He would get that expected news on Thursday.

Falling short in the voting process to be named an All-Star starter last week, LaVine was named to his second consecutive All-Star Game, picked by the NBA coaches as a reserve before taking the floor in Toronto.

Considering his numbers for a first-place team, LaVine only wished there was a more consistent narrative to the process. Last season, he made the team as a reserve under the shadow of where the Bulls were in the standings, despite his ridiculous stats. This time around, his numbers were a bit down, but the Bulls sure weren’t.

“I wasn’t in that same position [this season] or the narrative wasn’t the same, but it is what it is,” LaVine said of the process. “Keep my head down, keep on working. … Either way we’re going to enjoy the weekend.”

And he won’t be alone.

DeMar DeRozan already made the team as a starter, Ayo Dosunmu was named to the rookie team in the Rising Stars Game, and Billy Donovan was still in position to be named an All-Star coach.

What a difference one season makes, when the Bulls were falling all over themselves by just getting LaVine into the league’s showcase weekend.

“I think it’s great,” Donovan said of the difference in one season. “Anytime you’re in a position where you’re very, very competitive and you’re in the thick of things, I think players get rewarded from that. I think Zach last year, even with where our record was, I know it didn’t happen until the last week or two of the regular season that we knew it was going to be really difficult to make the play-in game, but at this point and time we were still fighting for that, and I think Zach’s respect across the league by players of his ability and his talent is really incredible.”

LaVine entered the game with the Raptors 13th in the league with 24.9 points per game, and was obviously second to DeRozan in that category for the team lead. He was also averaging 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists, while shooting 48.4% from the field.

What the basic stats fail to recognize about LaVine this season? The effort and improvement he’s made on the defensive end. That’s what opened up eyes around the league, demonstrated over the summer.

“As they were selecting the USA Team, Pop [Gregg Popovich], [USA Director] Sean Ford, had called me, as they were piecing together the team, a lot of the players that were on that team had gone to Pop and Sean Ford and people in USA, really endorsing Zach as a player,” Donovan said. “That speaks to him. He’s really evolved and he’s gotten better.

“I’ve been with him, this is not even two years, but just watching him grow and develop last year, and then watching him come into this season, the work that he put into this summer to try and get better … I’ve said this before about players, sometimes guys evolve and grow at different times and different paces and speeds, but I think Zach continues to get better and better. He’s a huge, huge part of what we’ve done so far at this point and time.”

Minute men

The Bulls started a run of four games in five nights and seven games in 10 nights on Thursday, and better believe Donovan will keep a close eye on his starters and the possibility of resting them a game if need be.

“It will definitely be a physical toll on these guys and we’ll have to monitor that closely,” Donovan said.

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Please send scores and corrections to [email protected].

Thursday, February 3, 2022

BIG NORTHERN

Byron at Genoa-Kingston, 7:00

CENTRAL SUBURBAN – SOUTH

Niles West at Glenbrook South, 7:00

CHICAGO PREP

Holy Trinity at Walther Christian, 7:00

Hope Academy at Rochelle Zell, 7:00

METRO PREP

Islamic Foundation at CPSA, 6:30

NIC – 10

Freeport at Rockford East, 7:00

UPSTATE EIGHT

Glenbard South at Glenbard East, 7:45

NON CONFERENCE

Alden-Hebron at Schaumburg Christian, 7:00

Christian Life at Galena, 7:00

Elgin Academy at Harvest Christian, 7:30

Fieldcrest at Dwight, 7:00

Lowpoint-Washburn at Calvary (Normal), 6:00

Morgan Park Academy at Intrinsic-Downtown, 6:00

Muchin at Steinmetz, 5:15

South Beloit at Aquin, 7:30

Yorkville Christian at Westminster Christian, 7:00

LITTLE TEN TOURNAMENT

at Somonauk

DePue vs. Earlville, 5:30

Indian Creek vs. IMSA, CNL

Somonauk vs. Serena, 5:30

Hinckley-Big Rock vs. Newark, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

Mather at Young, 5:00

Prosser at Phillips, 5:00

Marshall at North Lawndale, 5:00

Dyett at Hyde Park, 6:30

Hubbard at Kenwood, 5:00

Lindblom at Lincoln Park, 6:30

Corliss at Brooks, 5:00

Austin at Orr, 5:00

Agricultural Science at Simeon, 5:00

Perspectives-Lead at Farragut, 6:00

Bogan at Morgan Park, 5:00

Taft at Westinghouse, 5:00

Payton at Clark, 6:30

Perspective-MSA at Longwood, 5:00

Schurz at Lane, 5:00

Dunbar at Curie, 5:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS – BLUE

Goode at Washington, 6:00

Alcott at Bowen, 6:00

North Grand at DuSable, 6:00

Juarez at Gage Park, 6:00

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NBCUniversal caused a stir this week when it revealed it would offer its regional sports networks, including NBC Sports Chicago, on a direct-to-consumer platform later this year.

The news was included in a release about an executive promotion. But it turns out it was premature.

“In a personnel-related announcement issued by NBCUniversal Local on Jan. 31, a reference to the NBC Sports Regional Networks’ direct-to-consumer (DTC) plans was inadvertently included and was misleading,” a spokesperson said.

“At this stage in the process, our DTC strategy is evolving as we assess options in each of the unique sports markets we serve. At this time, we don’t have any further details about launch plans including timing or markets. More information will be announced when available.”

That realization likely frustrates some cord-cutters, but the fact remains NBCU has been exploring a DTC service for years and it likely will come to fruition. It’ll take some time, though, because of many moving parts. NBCU needs to reach agreements with the leagues (the NBA, NHL and MLB) and cable providers, who figure to balk at a service that essentially cuts them out.

But those providers are the lifeblood of RSNs, who have multiyear deals with the distributors to carry their games. Most of the money RSNs make comes from cable subscriptions, not advertising. So the RSNs will have to walk a fine line to keep their subscription revenue coming while not jeopardizing it with a DTC service.

NBCU also is working on the product itself, such as whether it will be for anyone or solely for in-market viewers and whether it will be offered for each channel, team, game or another way.

Remote patrol

Fill-in Cubs TV announcer Beth Mowins will be part of ESPN’s first NBA game announced and directed by all women. For the Warriors-Jazz game Wednesday, Mowins will be joined by analyst Doris Burke and reporter Lisa Salters. In addition, 33 other women will handle production roles at the game in Salt Lake City and in the ESPN control room in Bristol, Connecticut.
ESPN 1000 morning-show hosts David Kaplan and Jonathan Hood will call the Clash of Champions high school basketball games Saturday at Wintrust Arena on ESPN+. Glenbrook South plays Curie at 6 p.m., followed by Sierra Canyon (California), featuring LeBron James’ son Bronny, facing Sun-Times No. 1 Glenbard West at 8.
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The Blackhawks’ legal problems in the fallout of Kyle Beach’s sexual assault scandal may be far from over.

Three people affected by the 2010 cover-up — former Hawks skating coach Paul Vincent, a former Hawks black aces player and a former Miami (Ohio) University student — are all now planning to file lawsuits against the Hawks.

Christopher Cortese, a Chicago-based defense attorney for Hurley McKenna & Mertz who represents all three, told the Sun-Times on Thursday he and his clients are gathering information and doing the due diligence necessary to be prepared to file lawsuits.

That is, if the complaints aren’t first resolved out of court — and Cortese and Hawks lawyers have been in communication. Those talks started last summer regarding the former Miami student identified anonymously as “John Doe 3” and in the fall regarding “Black Ace 1” and Vincent, Cortese said.

The Hawks did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. The timing of Thursday’s news seems coincidental to Hawks chairman Rocky Wirtz’s Wednesday explosion over questions about the Hawks’ present-day response to the scandal.

All three people’s involvement in the scandal, which revolves around former Hawks video coach Brad Aldrich allegedly assaulting Beach during the 2010 Stanley Cup run, has already been known and widely discussed.

“Doe 3” was allegedly sexually assaulted by Aldrich in fall 2012 while spending the night on Aldrich’s couch, per a Barnes & Thornburg report released in September following an investigation into Aldrich’s time as Miami’s director of hockey operations.

Cortese said Thursday the Hawks’ decision to not only not report Aldrich’s alleged assault to police, but to also give him Stanley Cup memorabilia and recognition even after he left the team, helped him gain the trust of “Doe 3” and other future victims, including the former Houghton (Michigan) High School student whose lawsuit against the Hawks existed alongside Beach’s last year.

“Ace 1,” meanwhile, was allegedly sexually harassed by Aldrich in spring 2010, with Aldrich sending him a text about oral sex and another text with a picture of his penis, per the Jenner & Block report released in October. “Ace 1” claimed in the report he and Aldrich never had any physical contact, but he was still bullied about the situation for years afterward.

Vincent was the Hawks coach Beach first told about the assault, prompting Vincent to push the information up the ladder and initiate the infamous meeting of top Hawks leadership in which his request to inform police was rejected, per the Jenner & Block report.

But even though all three individuals aren’t previously unknown people in the scandal, their potential legal actions against the Hawks would nonetheless make waves.

“Doe 3” and “Ace 1” would likely file negligence lawsuits, similar to those filed — and ultimately settled in December — by Beach and “Doe 2.”

Vincent, conversely, is planning to file a retaliatory discharge lawsuit, Cortese said. He claims his contract was not renewed by the Hawks following the 2010 season and he was instead only offered a much lower-paying, lower-status job with the Hawks’ AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.

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A Pilsen man admitted Thursday that he set fire to a Chicago police vehicle downtown while wearing a Joker mask during the widespread rioting and looting in the city in May 2020.

The case against Timothy O’Donnell, 32, became among the most high-profile to result from the rioting and looting here in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Its notoriety is due in large part to the jarring images — captured by the Sun-Times and others — of a man in a clown mask amid the chaos that day.

O’Donnell previously denied he set fire to the police vehicle in the 200 block of North State Street on May 30, 2020. During a police interview, O’Donnell told authorities, “I do not stand for the exploitation of me and using me as a puppet to create an image,” according to court records.

But he pleaded guilty Thursday to obstructing law enforcement amid a civil disorder and admitted he used a lighter to ignite a piece of cloth that he put in the vehicle’s gas tank. His plea agreement acknowledges he owes $58,125 in restitution to the Chicago Police Department. A prosecutor said O’Donnell faces a likely prison sentence of around three or four years. His sentencing is set for June 14.

After O’Donnell’s arrest, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Fuentes found that video of the incident “is indeed quite damning,” in part prompting him to rule that O’Donnell should be held in custody while awaiting trial. Fuentes noted that, in addition to wearing a “Joker” mask, O’Donnell “self-reported that he has gone by the name ‘The Riddler’ in the past.”

A man in a clown mask walks past a burning Chicago Police Department SUV near State and Lake in the Loop on May 30, 2020, as thousands of protesters in Chicago joined national outrage over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

However, O’Donnell’s lawyers scored a partial victory last summer. U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood found that O’Donnell had invoked his right to counsel when authorities tried to get him to identify himself as the person wearing the mask during the riots. At one point, O’Donnell said, “I’m in fear. I’m not going to say anything further on that matter without a lawyer present.”

Woods’ ruling suppressed any statements O’Donnell made about whether he wore the mask after he made that comment.

Federal prosecutors charged O’Donnell on June 2, 2020, after investigators tied him to the incident through a “PRETTY” tattoo seen on the neck of the person wearing the mask. Video provided by a witness showed O’Donnell wearing the mask, holding a lit object and placing it in the gas tank of the CPD vehicle. Authorities said the vehicle burst into flames.

A photograph taken by a witness also showed O’Donnell handling the gas tank, according to the feds. In another, O’Donnell appeared to be sitting on the ground, wearing the Joker mask while the vehicle burned.

A third photograph apparently showed O’Donnell posing in the Joker mask in front of the burning car. In that one, a tattoo that says “PRETTY” can be seen on the neck of the person wearing the mask. A CPD photo of O’Donnell revealed the same tattoo.

Timothy O’DonnellU.S. District Court records

A family member told law enforcement that O’Donnell lived in a room in an apartment in the 700 block of 19th Place. Authorities obtained a search warrant and searched the apartment. The feds say they found a Joker mask in a bedroom.

When it comes time for O’Donnell to be sentenced, his lawyers will likely point to the separate case of Jacob Fagundo, A School of the Art Institute student who also set fire to a Chicago police vehicle during the May 2020 riots downtown. U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman gave Fagundo three years of probation, compared to the year-and-a-half O’Donnell has already spent behind bars.

Fagundo surrendered to Chicago police when he realized he was wanted by authorities, and a prosecutor described him as “genuinely remorseful.” Gettleman agreed at sentencing that the crime appeared to be an aberration in Fagundo’s behavior.

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MOBILE, Ala. — A week after accepting the Bears’ head coaching job, Matt Eberflus found someone to mentor Justin Fields as his position coach. Vikings assistant Andrew Janocko is expected to be named the team’s new quarterbacks coach, a source confirmed Thursday.

Janocko, who turns 34 in April, connects to the Bears through new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Getsy was a graduate assistant at Pitt in 2010 when Janocko was a backup quarterback as a redshirt junior. Both played high school football in Pennsylvania and attended Pitt, though Getsy transferred to Akron for his final two seasons.

Janocko spent last season as the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach; Kirk Cousins won half his 16 starts, completed two-thirds of his passes and threw 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions. While Cousins might be an uninspiring case study for Bears fans, consider this: he has thrown for at least 4,000 yards in six of the last seven years. The Bears have never had a quarterback eclipse Erik Kramer’s 3,838 from 1995.

Janocko — whose name is pronounced juh-NO-co — has spent most of his NFL career coaching something other than quarterbacks. Since joining the Vikings in 2015, he served as an offensive quality control coach, assistant offensive line coach and, in 2020, receivers coach. In 2018, he and former Bears tight ends coach Clancy Barone teamed up as the Vikings’ co-offensive line coaches after Tony Sparano died days before the start of training camp.

Like the Bears, the Vikings are replacing both their coach and general manager. They named Kwesi Adofo-Mensah their GM last week. Reports on Wednesday said they’ll hire Rams quarterbacks coach Kevin O’Connell as head coach after the Super Bowl.

Janocko was a grad assistant at Rutgers in 2011 and spent the next two years as a Buccaneers offensive assistant after Scarlet Knights coach Greg Schiano took the NFL job. He spent 2014 as the quarterbacks coach at Div. II Mercyhurst.

The Bears’ offensive coaching staff is almost complete. Eberflus has already hired Getsy, Janocko, offensive line coach Chris Morgan and, per NFL Network, receivers coach/pass game coordinator Tyke Tolbert.

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Over 100 firefighters worked overnight to extinguish a fire at a boat storage facility in Waukegan.

Firefighters responded to an automatic alarm around 8 p.m. Wednesday at 3 E. Madison St., the Waukegan Fire Department said.

Battalion Chief Mark Pietraszak upgraded the fire to a fourth alarm because of freezing temperatures and difficulties getting around inside the facility, which stored about 70 large boats, fire officials said.

Fire crews were able to put out the fire around 2:30 a.m., officials said. No injuries were reported.

“The crews did an exceptional job in very extreme conditions,” Fire Marshal Todd Zupec said. “The nature of the boat storage is difficult to navigate in smoke and fire conditions. The multiple alarms allowed command to rotate crews to keep them.”

The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.

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Over 100 firefighters worked overnight Wednesday to extinguish a fire at a boat storage facility in Waukegan.

About 8 p.m., firefighters responded to an automatic alarm that was set off and found flames inside a boat storage facility, 3 E. Madison St., the Waukegan Fire Department said.

Battalion Chief Mark Pietraszak upgraded the fire to a fourth alarm due the freezing temperatures and difficulties navigating through the facility, which stored about 70 large boats, fire officials said.

Fire crews were able to put out the fire about 2:30 a.m., fire officials said. No injuries were reported.

“The crews did an exceptional job in very extreme conditions. The nature of the boat storage is difficult to navigate in smoke and fire conditions. The multiple alarms allowed Command to rotate crews to keep them safe during a difficult fire,” fire marshal Todd Zupec said.

The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.

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