Richard Roeper Blog

Tim

Tim King

Founder & CEO

Urban Prep Academies

PS  For more information about Aces UP!, please visit www.acesuptourney.com or call or email Ed Briscoe (312-276-0259, ext. 1106; ebriscoe@urbanprep.org).

Some snapshots from Sunday night’s game/celebration at Wrigley Field..

As a lifelong Chicago area resident and a major sports fan, it’s been my privilege to witness some of the greatest moments in Chicago sports history. As a fan and/or a member of the media, I covered the Bulls in the 1990s, I’ve seen about 90 percent of the postseason games involving the Cubs and Sox over the last quarter-century, I’ve witnessed the Bears’ playoff games–and I’ve been in the Stadium and then in the United  Center for a number of Blackhawks games.

The Sox will always be first in my heart, and nothing will ever top the experience of being on the field just before Game 1 of the World Series in 2005, not to mention Jermaine Dye’s homer off Roger Clemens in the first inning of Game 1, Paul Konerko’s grand slam and Scott Podsenik’s game-winning home run in Game 2, Geoff Blum’s homer and Mark Buehrle’s save in Game 3, the 1-0 finale of Game 4…

That said, you can mark the date and the locale: June 13, 2010, Wrigley Field. Even though the Sox and the Cubs are underachieving this year and both squads would kill to hit the .500 mark by the All-Star break, it was one of the most memorable nights in Chicago sports history.

That “team picture” of the Cubs, Sox and Blackhawks was a thing of beauty. Jim Cornelison belting out his operatic version of the National Anthem as 40,000-plus fans roared–chills all around. Ozzie Guillen hoisting the Cup as Cubs fans booed–hilarious.

The game itself was a throwback, with Gavin Floyd and Ted Lilly hooking up in a classic pitchers duel, with neither pitcher giving up a hit through the first two-thirds of the game.

The last time two pitchers had no-hitters going into the seventh was 1997.

Kevin Brown\’s 1997 no-hitter

Finally, Alfonso Soriano cracked a double down the left-field line with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. I figured Ozzie Guillen would bring in a lefty to face Chad Tracy–but nobody was warming up, nobody was coming in, and Tracy singled home Soriano, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Even with raindrops occasionally falling and fans craning their necks to get a glimpse of the Cup up in the booth, even with the madness of the best “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” ever, with Blackhawks players throwing their caps and jerseys into the crowd (thank God that one guy in the first row of the upper deck didn’t take a tumble as he grabbed a jersey), Lilly remained focused on the gem at hand, holding the Sox hitless until the top of the 9th, when pinch-hitter Juan Pierre led off with a clean single up the middle. Eventually Carlos Marmol worked out of a bases loaded jam, and the Cubs avoided the sweep.

Can you imagine if Lilly had thrown a no-hitter against the Sox on the night of the Stanley Cup celebration at Wrigley Field? For Cubs fans, it still wouldn’t be nearly as sweet as a World Series win, but wow. As it was, all who were in attendance Sunday night will be telling stories about it forever.

Lilly\’s gem

The Chicago Blackhawks Ice Crew Girls put some…ice in our drinks.

Here’s the montage I was talking about WLS-AM…

On May 13 former Chicago Bear player Jerry Azumah hosted nearly 400 guests at his Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament and Casino Night Event as a fundraiser for his non-profit organization ASAP (Azumah Student Assistance Program). All proceeds raised from the event went to ASAP’s scholarship program, which serves youth specifically at San Miguel Schools Chicago. Horseshoe Casino served as one of ASAP’s most generous supporters for the Inaugural Event.

During the event, benefactors received an opportunity to intermingle with some of the most well-known celebrities, tastemakers and everyday consumers in a relaxed and casual environment showcasing newly introduced and some of our favorite products and brands. Suites, retreats and exclusive bars were offered to some of our benefactors for private and interactive branding opportunities.

Aside from having some of the most fantastic, versatile and well-known guests, benefactors and supporters, the event was just fun. The ASAP Foundation wanted to provide our guests with an excellently executed and intimate event in which attendees were able to leave their cares behind so we could share the ASAP mission and goals and have an enjoyable time with the most influential people in the city. Guests walked away with prizes from some of the best retailers in the city as well as Super Bowl Tickets, trips to Las Vegas provided by Horseshoe Casino, condos in both Vail, Colorado and Miami as well as TVs and trips to our favorite getaways in the surrounding states. The process of creating awareness of the ASAP Foundation and the San Miguel Schools Chicago appeared to be trouble-free and simple because of the support and passion on which the event was built. With the help of our guests, supporters and benefactors as well as potential partners and additional attendees, we at the ASAP Foundation look forward to being able to produce this event and raising money for young impressionable minds for years to come. For more info and updates, visit www.asapfoundation.com or call 312.842.1042. Thank you to everyone who supported the ASAP Foundation’s Inaugural Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament!

To check out photos of the event, go to the ASAP Foundation website, and click “Fund raiser Event.”

Additional benefactors and supporters included: Gold Coast Bentley, the Gorman family, Impact 365, Skybox on Sheffield, Holm Audio, Gibson’s Restaurant’s, Custom Companies, Inc., David Barton Gym, PLP Studios and Solemates Chicago.

Celebrity attendees included: Antoine Walker (NBA Champion), Adewale Ogunleye (Pro Bowler and Chicago Bear), Richard Dent (former Chicago Bear and Super Bowl MVP), Bobby Simmons (NBA Player), Malik Yusef (Poet/Artist), Tom Thayer (Super Bowl Champion/Sports Analyst), David Kaplan (CTL Host), Israel Idonije (Chicago Bear), Rashied Davis (Chicago Bear), Ryan Baker (CBS Sports), Jenn Patterson (Comcast Personality), Richard Roeper (Chicago Sun Times Columnist), Robin Robinson (Fox News Chicago), Natalie Martinez (NBC Personality), Lance Briggs (Chicago Bear), Tiffany (Reality TV Star), Kelli Zink (CelebTV.com), Susanna Homan (Editor in Chief, Michigan Avenue Magazine), Tone and Shag (Power 92 Personalities), Nawledge (Emcee).

About Jerry Azumah
Jerry Azumah – Born to West African immigrant parents and raised in Worcester, Mass., Jerry Azumah has had a fortunate life attributing it to the support he has received throughout his life, especially in his younger academic years. In 1991, Azumah enrolled at St. Peter Marian High School, a private school in Worcester where he began to fulfill his classroom and athletic potential. Without the assistance of a local Worcester donor, he would not have been able to attend the prestigious institution. Equipped with a remarkable early education, a BA from University of New Hampshire and a successful and admirable 7-year football career with the Chicago Bears (going All Pro in 2004), Jerry has been able to retire, maintain a healthy lifestyle and embark on new endeavors, all by the age of 30. In addition to his philanthropic and entrepreneurial happenings, he joined Cellular Bears Post Game Live for his first season as studio analyst for Comcast SportsNet in 2007.

About ASAP Foundation
ASAP (Azumah Student Assistance Program) Foundation.  With an inception in 2004, ASAP’s (License Number: Processing) primary goal is to provide scholarships for disadvantaged students in Massachusetts, Illinois and beyond. The Foundation’s first fundraising event, a golf outing, took place in Massachusetts and received remarkable attention and encouragement. The generous support Azumah received early in his life tailored his choices and outlook, his community, and his charitable activities. This support also serves as his founding inspiration to utilize his own personal and professional accomplishments to students in need. This year’s ASAP event is being used to support to San Miguel Schools, Chicago. More information on ASAP can be found at www.asapfoundation.com.

Ellen DeGeneres and Denis Leary have been booked for quite some time for the second annual Chicago Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, now Mike Ditka has been scheduled for an appearance as well.  He will be alongside the former “Saturday Night Live” Super Fans at the festival.  The show will be called, “Da Bears Movie Dat Wasn’t” and will feature Ditka, George Wendt, Joe Mantegna, Robert Smigel, Bob Odenkirk, and Richard Roeper. Tickets for the show go on sale on Saturday.

For entertainment reasons, if nothing else, you gotta be rooting for Scott Lee Cohen to gather the 25,000 signatures he’ll need by June 21 to gain a spot on the ballot in the race for governor of Illinois.

Cohen, disgraced into withdrawing as a lieutenant governor candidate, recently announced his intentions to run for governor at a “rally” attended by a crowd that was more like a gathering than a crowd. Perhaps he looked at the track records of recent Illinois governors and figured the bar was lower than it is for lieutenant guv.

After soliciting resumes for a running mate as if he were looking for someone to handle the night shift at a White Castle, Cohen says Baxter Swilley will be his lieutenant governor candidate.

Baxter Swilley! Fantastic name. Tell me that doesn’t sound like a character from one of those old screwball comedies where everyone swills martinis and talks in fast, clipped tones. “Dexter, when are you going to get over the fact that I was once engaged to Baxter Swilley? He doesn’t mean anything to me now, darling!”

I’m not saying Scott Lee Cohen deserves to be the next governor of Illinois, but at the very least he deserves his own reality show on cable access in Chicago.

You know you’d watch.

Hazing Arizona

Like millions of other American citizens who abhor the idea of racial profiling, I believe Arizona’s immigration law is a wrongheaded and simpleminded non-solution to an admittedly serious problem.

But you’ve got to raise an eyebrow at some of the more overwrought and ridiculous reactions to the new law as well.

Protesters with picket signs outside Wrigley Field when the Arizona Diamondbacks were in town? Calls for the White Sox to move their spring training facility out of Arizona? A movement to get the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star game moved from Phoenix? Good intentions, wrong targets.

Not to mention the Twitterers, Facebookers and bloggers who called for a boycott of Arizona Iced Tea — which is brewed in New York. In the immortal words of Otter from Delta House, “I think this situation absolutely requires a futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part.” It’d be difficult to come up with something more futile and stupid than boycotting a New York-brewed iced tea because it has the name “Arizona” on the can.

Now comes word Highland Park’s girls basketball team isn’t going to a tournament in Arizona because the trip “would not be aligned with our beliefs and values,” according to a District 113 official quoted in a Tribune story.

Seems unfair to plunge the girls into the middle of this controversy after they’d spent months raising funds for the trip. It’s a slippery slope when school officials start injecting their political beliefs into extracurricular activities such as this. I wouldn’t go so far as to call I “stupid and futile,” but it seems misguided and unfair.

Meanwhile, I will be deleting the 1969 Mark Lindsay single “Arizona” from my iPod and throwing out my copy of the Coen brothers’ “Raising Arizona.”

It’s the least I can do. The very least.

Straight talk about gay actors

When I read Newsweek writer Ramin Setoodeh’s essay in which he asked why we accept straight actors in gay roles much more readily than gay actors in straight roles, I thought, uh-oh. It would have been an upset if Setoodeh hadn’t come under fire for his comments.

Actress Kristin Chenoweth and blogger Perez Hilton ripped into Setoodeh, and “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy called for a boycott of Newsweek until Setoodeh apologizes. (Again with the boycotts.)

In a follow-up piece, Setoodeh — who is openly gay — told of receiving nasty e-mails, anonymous phone calls and “a creepy letter” sent to his home. Nothing like combatting perceived bigotry with personal attacks and hatred.

Thing is, Setoodeh’s main point was valid — that audiences will buy the likes of Jake Gyllenhaall, Sean Penn, Robin Williams, et al., playing gay, but “if an actor the stature of George Clooney came out of the closet today, would we still accept him as a heterosexual leading man?”

Odds are at least one or two of the world’s most macho, hetero-appearing leading men are closeted gays. (We know that was the case with Rock Hudson, among others.) But any action star or romantic hero entertaining the notion of coming out would be met with a wall of opposition from agents, managers, handlers, etc., that would tell him he’s committing career suicide.

Can a gay man have a career as a romantic lead? Sure. As long as we don’t know the truth about him.

Richard Roeper will be signing copies of his book Bet the House at the Hammond Horseshoe at 9 tonight and at the Barnes and Noble at 1441 W. Webster Place at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

I think this was more about a heavyset cop running out of breath than a fan posing any real danger to the players…