Chicago Bears: Quarterback moves to make after Nick Foles trade by Ryan Heckman

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The Chicago Blackhawks are not going to the playoffs so there need to be some changes made this summer. These five guys could be traded as a result.

The Chicago Blackhawks had a tough year. They were not as good as some people predicted they might be. That has caused some people to wonder if Stan Bowman or Jeremy Colliton are done in their current roles after this season is over. A lot of strong decisions need to be made because this team is never going anywhere as currently constructed.

They have superstars like Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Keith that have all gotten it done for them in the past. Those guys, however, are all over 30 now which means that the window is closing on them to still be able to carry a team by themselves. In the case of Toews and Kane, they still have a while longer before they really fall off but they need some more help. This is going to be a big summer in determining what these guys need in order to help them.

Obviously, with so many trades that have gone wrong over the past few years, it is fair to wonder if Bowman is the right guy to be pulling the trigger on any of these future trades. He has made so many terrible moves over the past three seasons. You can argue that his lack of success on trades is why they aren’t going to the playoffs for three straight seasons. Some of them were disasters, even. With all of that being said, these are the five players that are the likeliest to be on the trade block once the season is over:

Next: Brandon Saad

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Comedian Cameron Esposito has never shied away from talking about her personal life onstage. In her reflective new memoir Save Yourself (Grand Central Publishing) she dives even deeper, looking back on her childhood in suburban Western Springs and the personal self-discovery that came with recognizing her own sexuality, coming out to her parents, and finding a home in the comedy world. The live stand-up performances at the Den that were set to coincide with the release of the book on March 24 have been cancelled, but lockdown is a good time to indulge in a read that’s both heart-breaking and heart-warming, with a heavy dose of laugh out loud humor.

It seems like your work over the last several years has been getting more and more personal, from Marriage Material to Back to Back to Rape Jokes as well as your show Take My Wife, and now this book. What’s led you down this path of public self-examination and openness?

I think that is a path that actually many comics walk. I started out doing stand-up and I wanted to comment on the stuff around me, and I think over time it just feels less and less helpful to talk about other people and other things and more helpful to talk about yourself. Because the thing that’s universal in stand-up are the feelings, not the experiences. Speaking honestly about your feelings is kind of really what everyone is showing up for, it’s just that sometimes that’s so couched in sarcasm or distance that you don’t even recognize it as that. But that’s really what stand-up is. It’s a bunch of people standing around being like, “I feel this way about this.”

What was the process of writing a book like for you?

Demoralizing in every way. [Laughs.] It’s isolating. It’s incredibly frustrating, because there is no feedback to get. I’m used to a live medium. It feels self-important. It was sometimes extremely harsh to live through some traumas that happened in my life that are included in the book. But also it was pretty amazing to revisit my younger self and find a lot of affection for myself. I don’t know if you liked yourself as a kid but I found myself humiliating, so to go back and meet that kid and realize that I was actually pretty awesome? I knew who I was. I had stuff I was into. I was really doing my own thing with gender nonconforming interests and presentation. And I kind of love that kid actually.

What do you hope people take away from the book?

I think for some straight people marriage equality happened and folks think everything is sorted out and so then they can’t understand when queer folks are talking about ourselves as still a marginalized community. So I hope there are some straight folks who read this and get a better handle on what is happening right now for the queer community. And I also hope that there are queer folks who read this and feel seen in that experience. I also hope people laugh their heads off: I think there’s some really funny stuff in here.

What was the difference in crafting the language for a book versus crafting language for your stand-up?

I think I was, without realizing it, sort of performing the book in my head as I was writing it. And then essentially kind of transcribing. I wasn’t looking for it to be a setup/punchline situation but more so I think I have a particular way of speaking and I wanted the book to sound like it was written by me. So I did sort of talk my way through it. Which might not be how other writers are doing their work, but it was like translating it; doing it first in the performative language and then translating it to the page.

You talk about internalized homophobia in the book–do you have a message for people who are working through that themselves?

I do not know a queer person who isn’t struggling with that. I think we deal with it for the rest of our lives. When you’re inside of a system that marginalizes you on a daily basis across all vectors it’s impossible to not be a part of that system. That’s really where Pride comes from is expression, trying to do whatever small thing we can to balance that system just a little bit and remember that we can love ourselves. But for queer people I would say if you are not sure if you look okay, if you don’t know what to wear to a fancy event, if you don’t know how to deal with the fact that your parents aren’t responding exactly the way you want them to, or you don’t feel like you fit in the queer community because there’s a certain expectation about how your hair should look or how your body should look, that’s all of us. There’s nothing wrong with having those feelings of self-hatred. You’re meant to. We are all bred to. And realizing that can help you put them away, even just in the moment. It doesn’t mean you’re overcoming them, it means identifying them as they happen. So if I walk down the street and a dude says a shitty thing to me and I feel shame, that’s what’s supposed to happen. Like that’s the system at work and so it’s just about identifying, “Oh, I feel shame because I was taught to feel shame.” And I don’t have to feel bad about that.

You talk about your relationship with your parents in the book–both past and present–and how coming out affected your relationship with them. What can parents do to let their kids know that they’re supported?

I think the biggest thing that friends or family can do is not center themselves in somebody else’s queer or coming out experience. So if you’re a parent: asking questions, listening. It’s not necessarily about what’s the thing that you say that’s the perfect thing. I think it’s about taking your feelings–if you have them–about somebody’s finding themselves and dealing with that elsewhere. Not making your kid or your family member be the one who helps you process your feelings. Because they’re doing enough work finding themselves.

In the book you talk about the world of comedy being more accepting than the world of religion in your experience. Do you think that stand-up comedy–where everyone gathers to hear someone speak–kind of offers a secular version of the kind of community that organized religion offers people?

One hundred percent. When I talk about the fact that I used to want to be a priest and now I became a comic, to me that seems like such a direct through line. It literally feels like, “Oh, I ended up doing the same job!” because it really is about a group of people trying to figure out what is the most important thing. Like what are important things on the planet? The thing about religion is that most religions are corporations. That’s what the Catholic church is and so it creates corruption, self-interest and all the other things that happen when ideas are delivered by humans who are trying to preserve wealth and power.

What does the Chicago comedy scene mean to you in terms of your career and your style of comedy and how it evolved?

I do think that there’s a specific sort of talk-joking that is a part of my generation of comics and also some of the generation of comics ahead of me–like Kyle Kinane or Pete Holmes or Kumail Nanjiani–the way that those folks operated as stand-ups. That’s who I watched and I think influenced my style a bunch. A sort of super dry but powerfully delivered screaming your cultural criticism from a position of being shat on because you are from Chicago. That feels like it’s still very much a part of my style as a comic. v

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I’m in a great position going into indefinite isolation, because I get to read jokes, like this one from Malic White (@malicwhite), on Twitter all day, every day: “Any queer who makes it through quarantine without giving themself a weird haircut wins 9 lives.” While some people are avoiding social media altogether to keep themselves from having a panic attack, over the past handful of years I have surrounded myself with comedians on every platform. And let me tell you, even in the midst of a pandemic these comics are WORKING. Lauren Harsh has been hosting a weekly virtual open mic called Cabin Fever. Scott Duff has been hosting his own cooking show daily on Facebook. Podcasts are recording remotely, talk show hosts are monologuing to empty audiences, and the hilarious tweets and Facebook statuses have been multiplying like bunnies. But in these unusual times, is it even OK to be joking? How can you determine if something is “too soon” when you’re living in it every day? I reached out to some comics (virtually!) to get their jokes and thoughts.

Tessa Orzech
@tessa_saysrelax
“Interesting to learn that a global pandemic was the only thing that could cure my FOMO.”

I definitely think jokes are appropriate, to keep us sane and laughing, but I really hate all the jokes that skew too dark. Like the doomsday ones, it’s like, alright this is too scary to make me laugh. We can joke about the way it’s affecting everyone’s lives, but it has to be funny, not just sad or scary. It’s like you can joke about the fact that you won’t see your friends for a month, but you can’t joke about the fact that one of them might be really sick. If you do go too dark during this climate, the joke actually has the opposite intention and it adds to the collective fear and paranoia. I think times like these separate smart comics from people who just want attention for their ideas. The whole point of comedy is to relieve the tension.

Andrew Tavin
@andrewtavin
“I think it’s weird that everyone was calling it coronavirus and then suddenly some people started calling it the Chinese Virus. It’s like if I woke up one day and people were just calling bagels ‘Jew Bread,’ but when I asked about it they got mad at me for not focusing on what’s really important: saving all the people being killed by bagels. Like, oh, sorry, I’ll go back to my job researching bagel vaccines instead of wasting my time on Facebook.” (Don’t know if that’s any good, but I don’t really have a place to try out new material right now . . .)

I think we can–it’s a pretty universal thing we’re all going through even though it’s obviously not going to hit everyone equally. I know people who are either confirmed to have it or probably do. I haven’t been writing about it too much but I am going to be doing a livestream show. The technical issues are the big problem. Like, I’ve been on shows where the mic doesn’t work before and it sucks, but [if] worse comes to worst you can do a cappella. I tried to join an Instagram live mic yesterday, and it wouldn’t show my video and kept kicking me out. I wanted to do this show on Twitter, but I absolutely couldn’t get Twitter livestream to work. Obviously finding an audience when there’s already a glut of content is also going to be an issue. But I’ve done bar shows for three people plenty of times, so, you know, better than literally talking to myself.

Julie Merica
@jmerica
“If all of these ‘Social Distancing: Day One’ meltdown posts don’t encourage at least a few of y’all to foster a cat or dog over the next few weeks I am gonna be so dang disappointed.”

I think jokes about traumatic events are unavoidable. Making light of heavy things is how many people cope, including myself. In any happening that tries my emotions, my automatic response is to lighten that mood any way possible. That said, after some life experience, I learned that there is a time and a place for joking about tragedy and the like. The only way you and your “audience” is going to walk away feeling good is if your reaction also incorporates a little empathy towards those at the heartbeat of the trauma. If you remember that there are real people being dramatically affected, consider that, and still think your joke is worthy, shoot your shot. Making people laugh in a time of sorrow is a magical gift. Not everyone has that power. But wield it carefully and tactfully. My thinking is, if you are being a helper in some way, feel free to make jokes that ease the pain. If you’re making a joke that is not from a place of love, support, and empathy? Well, it better be fucking good.

Jamie Shriner Biddle
@jamieshrinerbiddle
“I ran a red light and the camera clicked, and I said out loud ‘I guess that’s what I get for trying to escape corona!’ THANKS CORONA.” (Not great for print.)

I think not only can we joke about it, we HAVE to joke about it while also taking precautions to take it seriously. I mean, this is upending the world as we know it. We are gonna be the grandparents with pandemic stories. It’s a terrifying thing, and the jokes keep us from losing hope that although things are gonna get a lot worse first, they will eventually get better. I am working on some videos of new songs to post–they feel silly ’cause I almost feel like your content HAS to be corona related. I think knowing I’m not gonna get to get up and hear laughs right away is making it harder to put my songs out there. Like what if I post something that isn’t actually all that funny? I’m only seeing corona jokes and bits and quarantine life, so I’m like, ‘Oh maybe this rap about how messy my car is isn’t really what the people need right now?’

Katie Baker
@katiebcomedy
“As a lifelong hypochondriac, watching everyone freak out over coronavirus makes me feel so seen.”

We’re coming off of a long period in which a lot of people felt like they couldn’t joke about things anymore. To me, it’s like the universe said, “Everybody is doing way too much right now. This is gonna level the playing field and give everyone the same thing to be upset about.” As devastating as this has been for humankind on a global scale, I feel like in this horrifying moment, we’re almost unified as a species.

Ryan P. C. Trimble
@ryntern
“Sex with me is like COVID-19: it happened in Europe long before it happened here.”

Mainly, as always in comedy, you CAN joke about COVID-19, as long as you’re not punching down. Like, am I going to joke about people suffering, or food shortages? No. I’ve already seen the community band together and do like, Skype open mics or stream canceled shows from an empty theater. I’m part of an improv group called Frogprov, which improvises in French and English, and we were supposed to have a show at iO at the end of the month. We’re now discussing the possibility of doing the show but streaming it live from someone’s living room after we’ve all quarantined for two weeks and know we won’t spread it to each other. Like, COVID-19 isn’t a person. It can’t hear our words. That we know of!

Daniella Mazzio
@daniellamazzio
“Kevin Costner is a dad who is ALL WORK and NO PLAY whose kid gets sick a lot and whose wife passed away five years ago from a *vague illness* but when a new virus is sweeping the nation, his high-paying important job doing BUSINESS goes REMOTE quarantined with his son who he’s been estranged from since his wife’s passing and the nanny who can’t go home because of lockdown kevin costner’s first concern is making sure his BUSINESS stays in BUSINESS but as the days in quarantine go on, this makeshift family won’t just find new ways to pass the time… they’ll find each other
–Quarantine Quality Time (2021), dir. by Steven Spielberg”

I think like anything, it’s not a matter of “too soon,” it’s a matter of “what’s the why?” Because a lot of people are out there making jokes about it because they don’t think it’s serious, and they think the people taking it seriously are idiots. Using humor to put down folks–especially ones at risk, ones who are scared or who were already disenfranchised and are seeing that magnified times a thousand–what’s the point of that? Comedy doesn’t need to be a noble cause, but it’s gonna be a damaging one right now when it aims to isolate (“This is why I’m right and all of you are stupid,” “I would never do this and that,” “It’s funny that you’re upset”) rather than connect our experiences (“Have you noticed?” “Wow, this is just like,” “Taking a shit during a quarantine–we’re all doing it!”) I think a lot about comedy around Trump back during the 2016 election, and a lot of it wasn’t about our collective witnessing of a nightmare, but it was isolating him as something so absurd, so improbable, it couldn’t be taken seriously–then it had to be. It just isn’t safe to deny our reality right now, but we can connect on what’s totally, hilariously, unworldly about it.

Kendall Klitzke
@kendallklitzke
“If only we had just called #MeToo ‘#SocialDistancing’ maybe it wouldn’t have gotten as much pushback.”

I think we definitely can. The best stuff I have seen is just making fun of anyone not taking this seriously at all, which I suppose people would assume to be an uncommon stance for a stereotypical comic to take. Also it’s mostly just comics making fun of other comics’ reaction to the pandemic, which is kind of a snake eating its own tail, but if you have a news feed that is entirely comics, it’s really evident. My only public joke on the matter was a tweet that went: “Customer touches me at work Him: Oh wow. I guess I shouldn’t have touched you with all of the virus stuff happening. Oh yes, the virus. THAT’S why you shouldn’t have touched me.”

Jess Martinez
@have_youmetjess
“Coronavirus is right though, I really do need to stay in and save money.”

Things like a pandemic mean that everyone is going through a wide range of emotions all at the same time, and progress through a crisis is not linear–the same person can feel really good and hopeful one minute and drop to total despair the next. While I understand that some people aren’t ready to laugh or don’t think it’s appropriate to laugh, there are still people out there who are desperate for a release, and that’s my audience. I make jokes when I’m at my worst to keep myself from spiraling. It’s a coping mechanism I developed after years of being devastatingly single and not having that one person to run to with everything that ails me. (That’s what a relationship is for right? Please advise.) A lot of people are having a really hard time right now and I’m here for them if they need a laugh. I have nothing else to offer in trying times . . . or ever. So, cry, laugh, yell–do you, boo! Just be aware that everyone manages stress differently and many of us haven’t experienced anything like this, so even our feelings are like “Wait . . . back up, what’s going on?”

Tori Kilkenny
@torikilkenny
“A friend of mine asked what I thought of The Irishman. Let me tell you–too long, hard to finish, and required way too much focus than I anticipated. From now on I’m stickin to Scots and Englishmen.”

I think joking about the matter was fun in the beginning, but like all joke fodder, it can get old fast. I feel so inundated with information and opinions on COVID-19. Right now I want comedy to be my escape. On a very real parallel, it feels like joking about Trump. It was funny when it still felt like a joke. Now we’re just all living in hell on earth, and I don’t want to constantly be reminded of it. And for that reason, I don’t have any jokes about it! I “write” as I’m ruminating on something, and I haven’t wanted to devote a ton of time to overthinking this current apocalypse.

Liz Stockwell
@lizb0t1
“Ah fuck, now I gotta actually clean with all these wipes I got?”

I think it’s really important that we joke about this, especially due to the social isolation factor of this pandemic. People need jokes, they don’t all need to be about coronavirus but even those I appreciate. Especially for me. I live alone, so I’m feeling especially isolated and love that people still have the will to create right now. I hope any little joke I make now about any topic will help someone else feel connected too.

Amber Autry
@amberautrycomedy
“My boyfriend has been casually teaching me Jiu jitsu and now is scheduling ‘classes’ daily. I bought all these brownies for the lockdown and I’m being forced to exercise.”

It’s weird, I’m getting more opportunity to write, which I wanted but I asked myself today, “If I don’t want to write about coronavirus, what else do I wanna write about? Is anything goofy funny right now?” As of now I’m going to continue to write and trust myself. Laughter always prevails! v

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The federal government’s getting ready to unleash a flood of coronavirus relief cash, much of which will, as usual, end up in big corporate coffers.

The Trump administration has asked for a trillion dollars so far, reportedly including $50 billion for the airline industry and $150 billion for businesses like cruise ships, casinos, and shopping malls.

Americans for the Arts thinks some of this windfall should go to nonprofit arts organizations which, they estimate, have already lost $3.2 billion to social distancing and shutdowns.

According to their own survey of 3,000 organizations, 91 percent have had to cancel events and a third expect to lay off staff — and that’s just the beginning. “Given that losses documented in the survey have occurred only in the last two months, Americans for the Arts anticipates additional billions in potential revenue losses for the nonprofit arts and culture field,” they say.

They’re asking us to contact our congresspeople now, to tell them to earmark at least $4 billion for the arts (to be distributed by the National Endowment for the Arts), and to expand eligibility for business interruption relief programs so that artists and small arts businesses can participate. They’ve made it easy to do from their website. v

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MESA, Ariz. – At a time of eerie quiet and somber contemplation even in the sports world, a rare, potentially upbeat, story walked from the parking lot toward the Cubs’ spring practice facility Thursday in Arizona.

Emphasis on walked.

“There’s lots of benefits for me in this actually,” Cubs reliever Brandon Morrow said.

Morrow and teammates are still trying to grasp the larger, sobering reality of the COVID-19 pandemic that has shut down much of the country’s normal business operations, including professional baseball. They wait in limbo for the next update on when they might play again, or even if they will in 2020.

For now, Morrow doesn’t hesitate when asked if he believes there will be a major-league season this year.

“Yeah,” he said through a fence keeping a lone media straggler locked out of the complex (along with anyone else who doesn’t work for the team).

“It’s going to be shortened, obviously. I don’t know how many games they’ll try to fit in,” he said. “Everything’s up in the air.”

But if there is one baseball certainty in the already lengthy delay to the start of a potential 2020 season, it comes in the form of guys like Morrow.

The once-dominant closer trying to bounce back from an elbow injury that cost him his 2019 season was last seen limping around the Cubs clubhouse because of a badly strained calf the last time spring training operated on a normal schedule.

That setback came on the heels of a chest strain, the two issues conspiring to assure a far later start to his season than originally anticipated – even with his elbow giving him no trouble since rehabbing from a relatively minor September surgery.

“The good news is my elbow feels good,” he deadpanned after the chest injury.

Within the strict confines of the non-real world of sports, if conditions become safe enough to start an abbreviated season at some point in June, or even July, teams with injury cases and depth issues could be among the bigger beneficiaries.

Say hello to the Cubs pitching staff.

“I’m good right now. I feel better,” said Morrow, who played catch Tuesday and again Thursday this week as he keeps his arm ready for bullpen work assuming a new spring training starts up. “Obviously, the extra time is good for me to get healthy.

“And then there’s lots of rumors floating around about how the season will shake out. I think that benefits me as well,” he added. “Less games, more pressure to win. I don’t know what they’re going to do about salaries, but mine’s down anyway. So it’s easier to keep somebody like that around, I think. And if they expand the rosters maybe, that would be another thing.”

The Cubs had little veteran bullpen depth coming into camp – and most of that had question marks attached to guys coming off down years in Craig Kimbrel, Morrow and Jeremy Jeffress.

Morrow was considered little more than a dice roll on a minor-league contract ($1 million for full big-league season). He offered the Cubs first right of refusal on the flyer after pitching only half a season on his two-year, $21 million deal that ended last year.

If he’s ready and strong by the time a restart were to happen, managing his health during a shortened season won’t be nearly as challenging as navigating a full six months, especially without the cold start of April.

An aging Cubs rotation might also benefit from a shorter season compared to some younger, deeper staffs around the league.

But even the optimistic Morrow knows that’s just something to dream on for now – as he makes the short commute every other day from his place in Arizona and exercises social distancing and other safe practices even in the sparsely populated Cubs complex.

“It’s weird that we have to [do this],” he said, gesturing to the oddity of conducting an interview with a beat writer through a fence at a 6-foot distance. “I don’t think people know what to think. It’s kind of day-to-day. It’s weird.”

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With the COVID-19 outbreak, it’s no doubt the constant influx of news is becoming stressful. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends supporting your mental health through this time by taking regular breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. It’s time to step away from this series of unfortunate events and dive into another series that’s a bit less intense. Welcome to the golden world of Reality TV.

Shark Tank

The ABC show Shark Tank brings “as seen on TV” to a whole new level. Shark Tank takes everyday entrepreneurs that have created cool new products and gives them a chance to expand their company so they can offer their goods and services to the world. Root for the success of your favorite entrepreneur! Let’s hope they make it out of the shark tank alive.

Real Housewives

Real Housewives has been around for a minute and it’s not stopping now. Dedicated fans know every detail about these reality stars and tend to feel like part of the family. Binging any of the Real Housewives seasons will give you not only a glance into the lavish life of money but access to an elite community of Real Obsessors. Memes will be shared, friendships will be built. Find it On Demand.

Love Is Blind

Very quickly, the Netflix show Love Is Blind swept the charts. Singles had the chance to build relationships from the comfort of their own “pods” without seeing the person they’re talking to. For a short period of time, they have no communication through cell phones or access to the outside world. Can their new love last? Love Is Blind gives fans the opportunity to consider what it would be like to blindly fall in love and see where it goes!

Glow Up

While it didn’t receive the same hype that total strangers blindly proposing to each other did, this Netflix reality competition series is a must-see for artists, fashion fanatics, Instagrammers, and makeup-lovers alike. The various and brilliant talent paired with the extreme pressure and chaos makes for a season of fist-clenching anticipation and jaw-dropping awe. Not to mention some great make-up inspiration for when you finally leave the house!

Cheer

For anyone that’s still claiming cheerleading isn’t a sport, this one’s for you. This Netflix docuseries follows the Navarro College Cheer Squad from Corsicana, Texas, as they work their way towards the season’s National Cheerleading Championship. As you spend days in the life of a team made up of boys and girls, and all of them misfits, you’ll experience the laughs, love, pain, hardships, and successes that define the sport. Through the trials and tribulations, what begins as their team is soon to be your team.

Just because we can’t live our normal routine doesn’t mean we can vicariously live through another’s. Grab the snacks, dim the lights, and hit the couch — happy binging!

At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.

Tell us what you think matters in your neighborhood and what we should write about next in the comments below!

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Working from home and not being able to really leave our homes is definitely tough, but to get through it and keep us entertained we bring you a list of the top 10 Hulu must-see shows.

American Horror Story

You can catch all nine seasons of this horror series where every season has its own storyline. You won’t want to miss out on this spectacular and unique show, especially if you love horror.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

If you haven’t already seen this show, it’s about time to catch up. This hilarious sitcom stars Danny DeVito and follows friends and family who run a bar in Philadelphia.

The Handmaid’s Tale

One of Hulu’s best original series, The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the book by Margaret Atwood, follows a dystopian society where the only fertile women left are completely stripped of their rights.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

While we’re all stuck at home, you can live vicariously through Anthony Bourdain in his travel show, No Reservations. Follow along while he explores the culture and food of some exotic and unique places.

Atlanta

Donald Glover stars in this comedy-drama where he becomes the manager to his cousin Paper Boi, who has begun to start seeing success as a rapper.

PEN15

This hilarious coming of age story follows two best friends as they navigate their way through middle school. The actors who play these main characters are actually adults which allows them to go deeper into some of the taboo topics discussed.

Chopped

It’s time to get on the Chopped train. This Food Network show will keep you entertained for hours as 4 chefs compete to be the last man standing using a collection of wild and sometimes repulsive ingredients to create delicious meals.

Broad City

Broad City follows two twenty-somethings making their way through life in New York City. The two balance each other out perfectly and you’ll find yourself laughing out loud at the antics they get themselves into.

Vikings

A dramatized version of a notorious Scandinavian lore, Vikings has earned some Emmy nominations and is just the historical show you need.

Killing Eve

Killing Eve follows a female assassin and the woman trying to catch her. The unique relationship they develop over the series is one to watch and will keep you on your toes the whole time.

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In conjunction with following the CDC’s guidelines for preventing the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), you should also keep up with some prime memes. Here’s an Internet-sourced compilation of memes to lighten the mood.

We went to work with the best of intentions…

As coronavirus started spreading, we started protecting ourselves with toilet paper (regardless of the facts).

As a form of prevention, some folks listened to CDC and public health officials.

Others disobeyed and still opted for face masks…

Regardless, it became abundantly clear we were going to need to work from home… for an indefinite amount of time.

This is when turmoil inspired ingenuity, such as “Conference Call Bingo.”

Or having a TV network, such as Bravo, in the background to remind us of our office environment…

While a lot of extroverts struggled with the new protocols, introverts around the world rejoiced (from home).

Of course, Being at home for every waking (and sleeping) hour has its difficulties though. For one, food is scarce in your fridge…

And food options at the store aren’t ideal.

In short, this pandemic hasn’t exactly inspired the most responsible of actions…

But how else do we cope? I mean, restaurants and gyms are temporarily closing… what does the future hold?

In all honesty, though, 2020 has been full of surprises. Does anybody have any ideas?

If that doesn’t work, remember the following:

Also, be sure to support (if you are able) your local restaurants’ GoFundMe pages and order pickup or delivery to keep them running!

At UrbanMatter, U Matter. And we think this matters.

Tell us what you think matters and what we should write about next in the comments below!

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Chicago Bears News: 4 positives from Nick Foles trade by Ryan Heckman

Chicago Bulls helping United Center staff amidst COVID-19 pandemic by Ryan Heckman

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(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The Chicago Blackhawks have had some great players come through the organization. Some of them left at weird times or joined at weird times.

The Chicago Blackhawks and the rest of the NHL are on pause right now. With that, the biggest news in sports right now that doesn’t relate to a global pandemic is the fact that Tom Brady is leaving the New England Patriots. While playing for the Patriots, Tom developed into the greatest football player who ever lived. He is a legendary player that played for that team for 20 years. He won the Super Bowl six times in nine total appearances. He basically played in the Super Bowl every other year on average.

Tom’s record was a remarkable 219-64 as a starter, threw for 74,571 yards, and won the NFL’s MVP three times. He is going to walk into the Hall of Fame one day but he isn’t done playing yet. He is going to suit up for another team which is going to be incredibly weird. Football fans have to go back two decades to remember a time where Tom Brady wasn’t the New England Patriots QB1 going into the season.

Of course, that gets the brain thinking. Who are some Chicago Blackhawks players that either played for them late in their careers or left them late in their careers? There are some good names out there and a few legends. Of course, sports are a business first so this often happens but there are some players that just look strange in colors other than the ones they became legends in. These are the five times in Blackhawks history that they have been involved in a situation like this Tom Brady one:

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Chicago Bulls (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)

Chicago Blackhawks: Players who ended in weird spots like Tom Brady by Vincent Parise

Chicago Bears Rumors: Mitchell Trubisky is on the trade block by Frank Grizzly

Add the Chicago Bulls to the list of teams which are helping out their game-day staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is an unusual “new normal” we are all having to get used to. Between the social distancing or full-on self-quarantining, the world has become a very different place thanks to the spread of COVID-19. Fortunately, the Chicago Bulls organization is going to reach out a hand and help.

For game-day workers, the next few months were set to become a hellish nightmare after both the NBA and NHL suspended play. Those who make a living preparing fans’ nachos, scanning tickets and ensuring the United Center is a safe place are living in uncertain times.

Between both Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz, the 1,200 employees who make up the United Center staff are going to be taken care of. The owners have pledged approximately $3.3 million to pay these employees through what would have been the remainder of the regular season.

This comes at such a beautiful time for those folks who may have wondered whether they could even find a second or temporary job, as people in most major cities in the country are recommended to stay inside. Restaurants are closing dine-in service, of course, so maybe one of the only options out there is for someone to try and pick up work delivering food.

Still, that might be a little scary being in close proximity to so many people every day.

Currently, no one knows whether or not the NBA or NHL regular seasons will re-open play. Beyond that, even, the postseason has to be in question as well.

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The Bulls and Blackhawks each had seven remaining home games left to play at the United Center before the suspensions were implemented. Only the Blackhawks had an outside shot at entering the playoffs, but chances were slim for both teams.

Besides these Chicago owners, plenty of other folks around the sports world have gone out of their way to help those in need. Whether it’s guys like Russell Wilson and Stephen Curry pledging millions of meals to kids who have to stay home from school, or players like Kevin Love and Zion Williamson donating their financial gifts to stadium workers, this has brought out the good in so many people.

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Stay safe, Chicago, and hopefully we have our teams, health and “normal” back sooner rather than later.

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