T.J. Brown

OK, now for something different. As the Cubs celebrate 150 years, I put together 15 All-Decade teams, one for each 10-year stretch in franchise history. Each decade runs from a year ending in 6: 1876–1885, 1886–1895, and so on. Here’s how I did it: • One player at each position • 5 starters (at least one RH and one LH) • 5 relievers (same deal) • Utility player • Pinch hitter • Bench: 2 IF, 2 OF, 1 C A player can only appear once. Once I used someone, he was off the board. The only exception is manager because some of the Cubs' best managers were also great players. I tried to base everything on performance in that decade. A lot of guys straddle two decades, so there are some judgment calls. And yes, some not-great but memorable Cubs made it. That’s part of the fun and we know some of those decades were thin. I’ll post one a day for the next couple of weeks. I had to research a lot for the first three decades, so I’m guessing there won’t be much pushback there. But tell me where I’m wrong.

My favorite “high speed rail” train. It’s called a plane. Faster. Cheaper. Requires way less infrastructure. And has far fewer pedestrian, auto, and suicide-related collisions. Other than that, basically the same thing.

@Ann1384401 @DarrenBaileyIL What's the assessed value of your home? If it's $600,000, a 1% cap means your taxes cannot go above $6000. In my area, a $600k assessment gives you a tax bill north of $10,000.00, so that would be a 40 percent cut.

@tjbrown @DarrenBaileyIL If that's the case Darren explain the reduction simple and clear in his statement on property taxes i can't be the only one that couldn't calculate the savings how about stating reducing property taxes by 25%? Make it simple so everyone understand 😉

JB Pritzker laughs and shrugs while Illinois families get taxed out of their homes. This is my plan to tackle Illinois’ property tax nightmare.

@Maestermagoo Willow Hill Golf Course in Northbrook is built on capped biowaste. chicagotribune.com/1998/10/01/tra…

While the Tribune made it sound like biosolid use at the Hammond golf course is gross/weird, almost every golf course, public park, athletic field, and new landscaping uses it. Specificly, it's used at Winnemac, Horner, Maggie Daley Parks- the 606 trail- almost any golf course.

@Ann1384401 @DarrenBaileyIL A 1% cap effectively cuts them. It would cut mine more than 25%.

@DarrenBaileyIL Darren please rethink this why would you freeze property taxes we can't afford you need to reduce them immediately then come up with a plan to cut them in half follow the toll money teachers pensions and cut our property taxes in half you won't win on your freeze message

Lou Malnati's and Pizano's are the successors to Uno and Due. Rudy Malnati Sr. invented deep dish at Uno, son Lou opened his eponymous restaurant in Lincolnwood and Rudy's younger son Rudy Jr. opened Pizano's on State and Chestnut many years later. Very similar to each other. I would rank Pizano's and Lou's over Uno and Due. As to Pequod's, that was Burt Katz's second restaurant. His first is Gulliver's. His last restaurant is the Bourdain-acclaimed Burt's Place in Morton Grove. All three live on, but they're essentially the same pie.

@Imakatt Uno's or Due for deep dish. Same owners, same pizza, and just one block apart in River North. Or Pequod's if you want a more local, less touristy spot. Vito & Nick's for tavern-style.

I’m going to Chicago in two weeks and I need everyone to be real with me; is Giordano’s pizza worth the hype because I need to eat a deep dish at least one of the days I’m there

Here is the resort where Big Ten folks have gathered this week to discuss "unsustainable" spending.

@JeanneIves The magazine's publisher's notes brag that the photographer aimed to make J.B. look like a "regular guy." I hope Chicago Mag/Tribune Publishing filled out an in-kind form for campaign disclosure compliance.

Is this a Joke? His fight against authoritarianism? He defines the word.

Universities had 17 years of warning. They responded by doing the opposite of what the math demanded. In 2008, American birth rates fell off a cliff. The Great Recession made people stop having kids. Those never-born children would be turning 18 right now. The number of U.S. high school graduates peaked at roughly 3.9 million in 2025. By 2029, that number drops 15%. By 2041, it drops by nearly half a million students per year. Every school in this tweet had access to the same Census data. They all saw the same curve. Administrative positions at U.S. colleges grew 60% between 1993 and 2009, ten times the rate of tenured faculty growth. Non-instructional spending (student services, administration) grew 29% from 2010 to 2018. Instructional spending grew 17%. Average tuition at public four-year schools went from $3,500 in 2000 to $10,560 in 2023. Yale now has more administrators than undergraduate students. 5,460 administrators for fewer than 5,000 undergrads. They built the cost structure of a growth company on top of a customer base that was mathematically guaranteed to shrink. The split in this data tells you everything. Clemson, Syracuse, Duke, UNC, and Indiana are all cutting because the model broke. Alabama, Ole Miss, and the University of Florida are turning away more applicants than ever. Harvard gets five applications for every spot. The middle is where the cliff hits. Elite schools absorb demand. Everyone between elite and community college fights over a shrinking pool. The Fed published a study in December 2024 predicting 80 colleges will close in the next five years. Since 2016, over 100 already have. In 2024 alone, 28 shut down. One per week. These program cuts and layoffs are a decade late. The birth rate data was sitting in Census spreadsheets the entire time. Everyone in higher education administration saw the enrollment cliff coming. They hired more administrators anyway.

John Wilkes Booth's brother saved Abraham Lincoln's son's life.

If every Republican gets behind a 1% property tax cap, Bailey will win vs. Pritzker. Republicans will make huge gains in the legislature.

@dustopian They still have a team?

@tjbrown Sox radio, I believe.

Oh yeah, Len Kasper. Is he still in the broadcasting business?

I put a prompt injection into my LinkedIn bio and recruiters are messaging me in Old English and calling me Lord.

“If you object to CCP spies running your cities, you’re a racist.”

@PrazMaster They fired Green because he wanted John Vukovich to manage the team and Tribune Co. CEO Charles Madigan said no. Then, Green said he would manage in '88. Madigan scotched that. So Green resigned.

Though Frey was more toxic as a GM. Firing Dallas Green for not getting along with the “Citizens United by Baseball in Sunshine” Lakeview neighborhood group that tried to block lights at Wrigley and promoting Frey to GM was one of the dumbest things that the Cubs have ever done.

Both these guys can kick rocks, but an iconic commercial.

“Doofenschmiertz Evil Incorporaaaateeeed.”

Anne, nobody said Illinois has zero investment. A state the size of Illinois will always attract some major projects because of our geography, infrastructure, workforce and Chicago itself. The issue is whether we are maximizing our potential, or underperforming because of bad policy. You listed a handful of subsidized or politically celebrated projects. I’m talking about the broader trend line: • Illinois has lost population for years. • We consistently rank near the bottom in business climate surveys. • Property taxes are among the highest in America. • Pension liabilities remain among the worst in the nation. • Major employers and high-net-worth taxpayers continue leaving at alarming rates. That matters more than curated press releases. And let’s unpack some of your examples: Rivian received massive taxpayer-backed incentives because Illinois has to increasingly pay companies to stay competitive. Gotion is heavily subsidy-driven and still politically controversial. Film tax credits are temporary incentive economics, not structural economic reform. Meanwhile: Citadel left. Boeing left. Caterpillar left. Tyson Foods left. Scores of smaller manufacturers and family businesses quietly relocate every year without headlines. You cite Illinois reaching a $1 trillion economy as though JB Pritzker personally invented commerce. Illinois benefits from being the 5th largest state with Chicago, one of the world’s great economic hubs despite state government dysfunction, not because of it. Imagine how strong Illinois could be with competitive taxes, pension reform, regulatory stability, strong foundation of public safety and policies that stop driving away productive residents and employers. Wanting Illinois to improve isn’t “negativity.” Pretending chronic structural problems are successes because you can assemble a list of subsidized ribbon cuttings is political spin. And no Anne, people criticizing failed policy don’t need to “move to Indiana.” That’s exactly the arrogant attitude that pushed people and businesses out in the first place.

@Shannon_A_IL That's a shame. Still here!

@tjbrown Anne and co don’t want you here. Or me 🤣

The Chief of Staff to JB Pritzker believes that if you are critical of Illinois's policy or economy or fiscal situation, you are "dissing" the state. Perhaps the Baghdad Bob strategy works to get votes but it's not reducing the number of people I know who want to leave the state or have left because of lack of opportunity or higher cost of living. My grandparents moved to Chicago in 1933 with a young daughter with cerebral palsy and a toddler son (my Dad came later). They found opportunity not available in Minneapolis or Wisconsin, started a business later in life that not only provided for their descendants but provided for a lot of employees from Illinois. My grandparents had 8 grandchildren. Four still live in Illinois, but two might be moving out in the near future due to opportunity and cost of living. My grandparents have 19 great grandchildren and the only three to live in Illinois are minors. Two are in high school. One is finishing junior year and looking at colleges out of state. Another is finishing sophomore year and sees opportunity out of here. THAT IS HEARTBREAKING TO ME. Illinois is home. I lived in Indiana for a couple years post college, and I like the state. I love many areas of the country, including @anacaprana's Pennsylvania. But Illinois, and specifically the Chicago area, is home. And we celebrate tax-paying people moving out? Is that your position @JBPritzker? THAT is dissing our state, pissing on it and insulting it. The Illinois we have known is in peril and Pollyanna (oops sorry, PollyANNE) Caprana wants a state full of people ignorant or apathetic about it. Leave our state alone.

@BigKen472 Did you go to school in Illinois? I'd want my money back.

@tjbrown Look at that hit dog holla yet another Maga who spends weeks on end trashing the entire state of Illinois to make points against Pritzker and then when called out about wants to recite how they have Illinois friends" or relationships lol