Sports Columns
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Chicago Cubs 2026 top 20 prospects: Kevin Alcántara, Moisés Ballesteros lead the wayFeb 04, 2026 2:16 pm - The Chicago Cubs have traded away and graduated quite a bit of prospect depth in the last year-plus, with Matt Shaw and Cade Horton in the majors and two more prospects now in Miami after the Edward Cabrera trade, leaving them with a system that doesn’t have a ton of depth and that is extremely hitter-heavy.
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Sarley: A good way to break into ice fishingFeb 04, 2026 1:55 pm - Thank goodness for the break in the weather. No matter how rough-and-tumble some ice fishermen like to act like, it has been just too frigid to be out there on the ice. The current moderate temps (for Northern Illinois, of course) make it much more comfortable to spend a little time on frozen water.
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O’Donnell: Are Bears and others tracking Seattle-New England blueprints to SB 60?Feb 03, 2026 10:00 am - WAS IT PAUL BROWN, BILL BELICHICK OR CHER AT THE 2026 GRAMMYS who said: “There are 10,000 ways not to get to a Super Bowl and only a few ways to win one?” Full truthiness...
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Who had the area’s top prep basketball performances last week?Feb 02, 2026 6:14 pm - This edition of the High Five honors the top prep basketball performances from last week.
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Dietz: Keep in mind steep learning curve when evaluating Hawks’ LevshunovFeb 01, 2026 4:22 pm - John Dietz: It's important to understand how steep the learning curve is for current Hawks defenseman Artyom Levshunov.
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‘Edgy’ Tim: Hersey’s Nawrot seeing recruiting stock soarFeb 01, 2026 4:03 pm - “Edgy” Tim O’Halloran: Hersey junior quarterback Jake Nawrot continued to see his recruiting stock soar during the just completed NCAA open recruiting period.
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College Achievers: Aurora Central grad maintains fast times at WisconsinFeb 01, 2026 3:38 pm - College Achievers: On Jan. 28, the Big Ten Conference highlighted Aurora Central Catholic graduate Patrick Hilby as one of its men’s indoor track and field athletes of the week.
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Lincicome: For the greatest of athletes, it’s so hard to say goodbyeJan 31, 2026 10:00 am - The winged chariot at LeBron James’ back sputters, awaiting only James’ nod to get up to speed. Still gifted with indecision, James will leave when he leaves, unpushed an...
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O’Donnell: Four years after Duchossois, Chicago racing needs a miracle — Bears tooJan 31, 2026 10:00 am - DICK DUCHOSSOIS DIED FOUR YEARS AGO this week at age 100. It wasn't a foregone conclusion that he'd take Arlington Park with him. But he did. The frozen, empty acres at E...
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Could Artyom Levshunov benefit developmentally from a stint in the AHL?Jan 30, 2026 11:07 am - The reasons for the Chicago Blackhawks to send Artyom Levshunov to the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL for a development stint are beginning to outnumber the reasons not to.