

Lincoln Hall presents the second installment of its oddly promoted The 3-Penny Was Here screening series, whose titles the venue advertises only through back channels due to licensing issues.
This time it's the 1977 George Roy Hill-directed, Paul Newman-starring hockey drama Slap Shot.

Along with Hoop Dreams director Steve James's No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson, the Gene Siskel Film Center screens two more films from local documentary powerhouse Kartemquin Films this week in its "Stranger than Fiction" series.
Justine Nagan, who was named Kartemquin's executive director last year, directs Typeface—a documentary about Two Rivers, Wisconsin's Hamilton Wood Type Museum, the endangered art of letterpress typography, and the resurgence of craft printing—which has its Chicago premiere in a week long run starting Friday 1/29.
Breaking: Brad Childress-coached, Favre/Peterson led team takes self out of contention due to backbreaking turnovers, costly too-man-men-in-the-huddle penalty.
People want to see the crashes and the story line. I need more drivers who throw helmets and have fits. We're in the era of reality TV. I need to go into their homes, where their wives are saying, 'You bought two new tires for that demo car when that baby has no shoes.
You've likely heard about the passing of former Santa Fe Speedway announcer Jan C. Gabriel - and if you haven't, you've likely heard his famous phrase.
What you might not know about is the indigenous Chicago art of team demolition derby and Gabriel's dream to make it a nationwide pastime - think demolition derby mixed with Tour de France strategies. In 2003, Mike Sula wrote about Gabriel, the Tournament of Destruction, and Team Havoc.
Here's Bob Sirott with Gabriel:
The sportswriters of America have been striking blows for decency right and left. Last week they admitted a marginal candidate, Andre Dawson, to baseball’s Hall of Fame because he was a gentleman, while blowing off suspected steroid user Mark McGwire and teaching Roberto Alomar one of life’s hard lessons — which is that no one who spits at an umpire belongs in the Hall on his first try.
Bears first order of business—get Randy Moss
1. Chicago is a difficult place to play for hotheads.
2. Randy Moss is operatically unhappy unless he is playing with a great quarterback in a well-run offense.
3. Randy Moss + Jay Cutler x Chicago media = total apocalypse. The sports pages would just turn into the Eye of Sauron or something.
Sorry, some weeks I can't help myself. When it gets cold, I get cabin fever, and I can't sleep, and I start thinkin'.

[I was arguing about why people care over at one of my favorite blogs, so I thought I'd cross-post this for prosperity/recycling, since I think it makes a neglected point.]
I don't think you can discount the circumstances. The development of the story was more suspenseful than your typical sordid famous-person meltdown. If it had started with TMZ EXCLUSIVE PARTY GIRL TOTALLY DID IT WITH TIGER, I don't think it would have the same legs. But it started as a mystery, and then got racy, and then got weird, and then got almost self-parodically excessive in its sordid details. This is an extremely underrated aspect of the reach of public scandals - they develop along their own lines, and the development is its own narrative. This is part of why they say "it's not the crime, it's the cover-up"; cover-ups practically guarantee a mystery/thriller-like narrative. And this story was practically symphonic in its development.
Image of retrospectively entertaining Accenture ad via atis547.
Jay Mariotti has decided to say nothing to me on the record defending himself in the Matter of the Unattributed Quotes, described on this blog a few hours ago. But he did open up to Ed Sherman of Crain's Chicago Business.
Regarding Mr. Morrissey's replacement, the process is in its early stages, Mr. Kellams said. Don't be surprised if the Tribune considers Jason Whitlock. The long-time columnist for the Kansas City Star has attracted national attention for his stance on many hot-button issues.