TJ

Tom Izzo is asked by @outkick’s @RealDanZak about media ripping him for being too tough on players and Charles Barkley’s defense of him, gives phenomenal answer on accountability. Watch this:

Congratulations to @STCEathletics Director, Darren Howard, & team on recently receiving the Athletic Department of The Year Innovation Award & being recognized as one of the Top 50+ Athletic Departments in the country. A well deserved honor. #SaintsPride @AeaInstitu67083

Was Chicago high school basketball any good back in the day? Well, let's take a look -- 👀

College basketball team goes nuts after successfully teaching their freshman teammate how to ride a bike. The Fort Scott Community College team in Kansas was seen cheering on Taylor Frost as he successfully rode the bike. Head basketball coach Matt Glover organized the event for a team bonding activity. “He provided the bike and helmet for Taylor and his teammates were able to teach Taylor something I was unsuccessful in doing,” Frost’s mother said. Wholesome.

Big shout out to the parents whose kids don’t get much playing time or spend most of the game on the bench. You still come to every game, cheer for the team, and support every player, even when your own child might not get any minutes. You’re teaching your kids what it means to show up, be part of a team, and put 'we' before 'me.' It takes real dedication and selflessness to be there all the time, and your example is helping your kids become strong and caring people. Thanks for showing what true team spirit looks like! Especially the parents from RMHS!

@PaulVallas Significant socioeconomic difference between the two. Certainly not an apples to apples comparison. Valid points, but not fair

If Catholic schools in the US were a state they’d rank #1 in education. During COVID Catholic schools in Chicago were were so effective with remote learning and by quickly reopening campuses that there was no decline in academic performance nor spike in violence against their students. By comparison public school test scores plummeted and youth violence skyrocketed. During the 2 years the two years in which public schools were closed approximately 78 straight weeks almost 900 public school children were shot and over 100 killed. So how were Catholic school rewarded.     •    The CTU led state teacher unions in pressuring the legislature not to extend the state private school scholarship program that benefited 15,000 overwhelmingly middle and low income Chicaho families.     •    The sane unions are currently pressing the Governor not to participate in new federal scholarship program that provides 100% tax credit for donations to help parents pay for tuition, tutors and other education supports.     •    City gave public schools $1.9 billion more in property tax revenues from annual TIF surplus since 2019 without giving a penny to parochial or private schools who educate 17% of city children.   CTU’s is determined to deny poor families, overwhelmingly Black and Latino, alternatives to their failing CTU member neighborhood schools, despite CTU leader and 30-40% of their teacher members sending children to private schools.

Two presidents. Same SOTU. Worlds apart. YOU CAN’T MISS THIS. 🔥👀🔥

Thank you to coach Jon Scheyer, aka 2006 Mr basketball of Illinois, aka white Mike 😂, for bringing in Duke Men’s basketball for lunch

@EddieBarstool Go back in time and pop into The Hidden Shamrock

What's the best Irish bar in Chicago? I've been to a million of them obviously, but what's in the elite tier?

THREAD: When I coached football at DeKalb, my stipend check arrived every two weeks. For $99. Not per day. Not per practice. Per pay period. One season as a freshman basketball coach brought a grand total of $1,000. For an entire season. Today, as a varsity basketball official, I’ll typically earn $83 for a contest — before taxes, before travel, before the quiet math that reminds you this was never designed to be lucrative. Those numbers aren’t shared as complaints. They’re shared because context matters. Because perspective matters. And because conversations about high school athletics have developed a curious tendency to drift far from the lived realities inside schools. Especially the loud conversations. Especially the viral ones. Especially the ones built for engagement rather than understanding. Because perspective, inconveniently, tends to belong to those who have actually lived inside this world. Because if you’ve never lived inside this space — not observed it, not commented from afar, not tweeted about it — but truly lived it — the conclusions can come easily. If you’ve never been evaluated as a coach by an administrator. Never navigated roster decisions that directly affect teenagers and families. Never balanced classroom responsibilities with practices, film sessions, eligibility compliance, offseason regulations, and the quiet emotional labor coaching demands. Never sacrificed evenings, weekends, holidays, and family time for compensation that looks dramatically different when divided by hours invested. Then yes… The realities are easy to misread. And the narrative circulating online can sound persuasive. “More lazy high school coaches than ever.” It’s a striking claim. It’s also the kind of simplicity that travels exceptionally well online — clean, confident, and ultimately very… dare I say… lazy. 🤨 Because real life inside schools is rarely that tidy. Most high school coaches are teachers or school staff working full days before stepping into a gym or onto a field. They manage lesson plans, grading, meetings, interventions, and student needs long before practice begins. Then comes preparation, planning, communication, compliance, logistics, mentorship, hours of film session on a Sunday morning and countless unseen moments that never make it into social media commentary. All for stipends that, when measured honestly against hours invested, would surprise many of the loudest critics. Most coaches are not getting rich. They’re getting tired. 1/

@dannykanell I 100% agree. However Olympic athletes are elite specimens. Many can likely pick up a ball, learn a skill and become above average quickly. There are so many advantages to being a multi sport athlete. I would love to see injury rates of multi sport athletes v those who specialize

I absolutely LOVE this stat. And yet somehow parents today refuse to pay attention to it. The trend of kids specializing in one sport (even one position!!) from way too young is NOT the way to go.

@TrustTrost While I think this is a solid thought, most high schools are predominantly located in residential areas. Not a chance in hell a bubble gets through zoning let alone a single town hall. It would be a great revenue driver though.

Why haven’t high school districts in #Illinois put a bubble around their turf fields from Nov. 1 to April 1? It would help on cold days, rain days, winter days and if left up long enough, it would help on heat days, too. Think of a school like Hinsdale South, Hinsdale Central, Downers North or Reavis in the Chicago region for example that has a free-standing turf field that isn’t able to be used unless the weather cooperates. All these turf companies are stealing money from districts getting them to buy new turf and then the turf is only used half a year. Tell me what other part of a school building has millions invested in it, and it’s only able to be used half a year by a school district? You don’t think that turf would last longer - more years - if it was in a controlled environment half the year? A bubble would help all high school sports programs, the band, local middle school programs, local JROTC and most of all - PE classes during the day. Think about PE alone, as it’s the one high school course jammed more than any subject half of the school year in Illinois. Unlike classrooms, PE needs a good deal of space. You have that outside space when the weather is good, but not in the winter or wet spring and fall. A bubble costs a little more than $2 million and can done at no-additional cost to taxpayers for public schools, as it pays for itself over a 6-7 year window through rentals and an even shorter period of time if corporate naming rights are figured in. You’re looking at needing to average $1,500-$2,000 in daily rentals during that 150-day stretch each year and a basic corporate naming-rights deal to have the bubble paid off in 7 years to then turn it into a revenue driver for the district so it can help enhance other facilities or programs within the district at no additional cost to taxpayers. High school districts need to add true marketing leaders to their staff to realize they’re leaving opportunities on the table. As the youth sports world continues to make deals with local communities and state officials to build facilities that they then gabble up and drive tax revenue, high school districts have valuable pieces of property that they’re misusing half the year because people are not seeing past the tree to see the forest of opportunity. #MoreThanJUSTGames #IHSA

This chart is fun studying if you watched any TV show in the last 25 years. It also shows how rare it is what Breaking Bad pulled off. The show improved its rankings each season. Usually shows get worse (The Simpsons and even Yellowstone). Source: #lightbox" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">reddit.com/r/dataisbeauti…

That time Morgan Freeman left Mike Wallace speechless on 60 minutes when asked about Black History Month, Freeman called it ridiculous

Gotta get to bed since we'll be up at 3 am to do another mission into #Melissa right before landfall in Jamaica tomorrow. Here's a video I took today going through the NE eyewall into the eye. I had to tilt the phone up to get a view of the eye because it was so cylindrical (not the classic stadium effect). Reminded me a lot of Hurricane Michael in 2018.

This footage from inside the eye of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa might be the most jaw-dropping video ever captured of a hurricane’s eye, showcasing the infamous “stadium effect."

Dale "Murph" Murphy's legacy isn't just defined by his Hall of Fame numbers - it's also built on integrity, humanity, and love of the game. It's time! #murphytothehall Thank you @Jason_Aldean and Wright Thompson #mlb #dalemurphy #baseball #halloffame #cooperstown #braves #atl

Parents who sit alone aren’t avoiding people. They are avoiding negativity, drama, and complaining. They just want to watch their kid play… without the noise.

I Like Me (2025) This beautiful montage, set to Dan Aykroyd's eulogy at John Candy's funeral, opens the film. It’s a visual cue to prepare yourself. I did, and still cried four times.

The end of the @Phillies and @Dodgers game yesterday was hard to watch obviously because of how it ended. I woke up this morning still devastated for Orion Kerkering. But I’ll tell you what I did see: In a moment of total disbelief and heartbreak that their season ended so abruptly, catcher JT Realmuto consoling Orion. Nick Castellanos running in from right field to put his arms around Orion. Manager Rob Thomson waiting at the top step for his pitcher to hug him and remind him that he was loved. Sometimes we think so much about outcomes and performances that we forget that these are just people. With real emotions. And in that moment Orion had his team loving all over him because when you play with somebody for 162, plus spring training, plus playoffs… you become family. Were they sad they lost? Of course. But their heartbreak for Orion and support for him was clear and great to witness. In a moment of defeat and total shock , the Phillies showed true class and support for their young player who made a mistake. Well done Phillies. And congrats Dodgers. @MLB @MLBONFOX @MLBNetwork