Category Archives: Immortality

With the 2010s coming to an end, now's a great time for a retrospective examination of the decade that was. There has been plenty to take in across the hockey world over the past 10 years -- including a dynasty, another lockout and some generational talents achieving greatness. And, of course, there was plenty of immortality etched on the Stanley Cup.

Before we turn the page on the 2010s, we thought it'd be a fun exercise to take a look back at the 10 teams that won the Stanley Cup this decade and rank them. Those rankings take into account the team's regulation season success as well as their playoff run, while also considering in a certain memorability factor. Who are the championship teams and what are the championship moments you'll most remember from the last 10 years? It's fun to think about.

It's important to remember that every team on this list was great -- one needs to be hoist the most difficult trophy to win in sports -- but not all greatness is created equal. It's also important to remember that lists like these are subjective and the only thing that truly matters is whether you're on the list to begin with.

Record: 40-27-15 (95 points, 3rd in Pacific)Goal Differential: +15Playoff record: 16-4

It's not every day you see a team rank 29th out of 30 teams in goal scoring and they still qualify for playoffs. Not only did the 2011-2012 Kings accomplish that feat, they also went on to win the whole damn thing. Relying on their great defense and the strong goaltending of 26-year-old Jonathan Quick, the Kings entered the playoffs as an eight-seed and lost just two games through the first three rounds of the playoffs before meeting the Devils in the Cup Final. Six games later they sealed the deal and the Cup belonged to the Kings for the first time in franchise history.

The Kings weren't a fluke champion, as they proved a few years later, but they weren't exactly a sexy champion, either. They were simply great at suffocating teams into submission, allowing just 1.50 goals per game over the course of their whole playoff run. That's the only way you win a Cup with an offense that average.

Record: 45-28-9 (99 points, 3rd in Central)Goal Differential: +24Playoff record: 16-10

The Blues may not be the most outright impressive championship team of the decade but they are undoubtedly the most improbable. St. Louis got off to a dreadful start to the season and fired their coach in November. Things didn't turn around immediately and the team was dead-last in the standings come early January.

But then the switch clicked and they found an insane second-half run aided largely by the emergence of rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington. They got into the playoffs as a three-seed in the Metro before outlasting some quality opposition in the Jets and Stars. The Dallas series needed double-OT in Game 7 to declare a victor. The hometown kid Pat Maroon came through.

The Blues were considered significant underdogs against the Sharks and Bruins in the conference and Cup finals, respectively. They weren't the most skilled or star-studded team but they were tough -- both mentally and physically -- and they played smashmouth hockey to wear down teams that were perceived as superior. For their final test, they went into Boston for a winner-take-all Game 7 of the Cup Final and shut down the Bruins to secure the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Nails.

Record: 46-28-8 (100 points, 3rd in Pacific)Goal Differential: +32Playoff record: 16-10

Much like the 2012 Kings, the 2014 team made its name off defense and goaltending. The offense was slightly better this time around, with the Kings ranked 26th in goal scoring during the regular season. And while they still didn't play the most exciting brand of hockey, this Cup run had more fireworks and fortitude than the previous one.

Los Angeles fell into a 3-0 hole against one of their biggest rivals, the San Jose Sharks. Miraculously, the Kings rallied to win four straight -- including Game 7 on the road -- to deliver pure, stunning heartbreak to the Sharks. After winning two more seven-game series against the Ducks and Blackhawks, the Kings made quick work of the Rangers in the Cup Final. Los Angeles clinched the Cup with a dramatic Game 5 double OT-winner from Alec Martinez.

Record: 48-28-6 (106 points, 3rd in Central)Goal Differential: +40Playoff record: 16-7

The final championship from the 2010s Blackhawks dynasty came in 2015 and was the least impressive of the three, though it was still a damn good team. They may have lost a step offensively (finished 17th in the league in goal scoring during the regular season) but the 'Hawks still had a tremendous back end that carried them when needed.

After getting through the Predators, Wild and Ducks, the Blackhawks' defense (ranked second in the league during the regular season) faced their toughest test in the Stanley Cup Final when they were tasked with slowing down a Tampa Bay Lightning team that finished with the top-ranked offense that season. Chicago responded by holding Tampa to three total goals over Chicago's four wins in the six-game series. That'll work.

Record: 50-21-11 (111 points, 2nd in Metro)Goal Differential: +48Playoff record: 16-9

It was more of the same for the Penguins the following year, though they were a tighter ship with a little more stability during the regular season this time around. Pittsburgh finished with the league's top-ranked offense. The biggest difference came in the playoffs, when it was Marc-Andre Fleury's turn to admirably man the net -- at least for the first two-and-a-half rounds. Fleury helped the Penguins get past the Blue Jackets and Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals but eventually lost the job to Murray in the third round. However, the Penguins carrying two quality goaltenders had major significance in both of their title runs.

The Penguins just managed to squeak by the Ottawa Senators with a double-OT victory in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals before going on to beat the Nashville Predators in six games to clinch back-to-back Cups.

Record: 48-26-8 (104 points, 2nd in Metro)Goal Differential: +42Playoff record: 16-8

It was very clear that the Penguins were intent on making a deep playoff run in 2016 when they went out and traded forPhil Kesselbefore the season, then fired head coach Mike Johnston after a lackluster but not downright awful 15-10-3 start. Mike Sullivan took over behind the bench and the Pens took off. Their offense was explosive and dangerous with Kessel added to the likes ofSidney CrosbyandEvgeni Malkinand they stormed into the playoffs with a purpose.

The emergence of the HBK Line -- the Penguins' lethal third line featuringCarl Hagelin,Nick Boninoand Kessel -- helped put Pittsburgh over the top. That line presented major headaches for opposing teams as they continuously outmatched their bottom-six counterparts.

That playoff run was aided greatly by the goaltending of not-even-offiically-yet-a-rookieMatt Murray, who was forced to step in as the starter for an injuredMarc-Andre Fleuryat the start of the postseason. The 21-year-old Murray seized the opportunity and held onto the job, helping lead the Penguins past the Rangers (who had eliminated the Pens in each of the prior to seasons), theCapitalsand the Lightning en route to the Cup Final.

In a battle of two elite offenses, the Pens took on the Sharks in a series that had star power and a little bit of nasty. Ultimately, the Pens prevailed in six games and the addition of Kessel proved to make a world of difference for Pittsburgh. He finished as the team's leading scorer in the playoffs, tallying 10 goals and 12 assists in 24 games.

Record: 49-26-7 (105 points, 1st in Metro)Goal Differential: +20Playoff record: 16-8

When the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway, the Capitals were considered perennial postseason choke artists. They were coming off back-to-back seasons in which they were eliminated by the Penguins in the second round of the playoffs despite winning the Presidents' Trophy as regular season champs. They had never made it past the second round in the Alex Ovechkinera.

As a result, Washington's expectations were lowered a bit in 2018. The Caps lost a couple of key names in free agency and took a minor step back during the regular season, finally relinquishing the Presidents' Trophy. They opened their postseason run with two straight losses to the Columbus Blue Jackets on home ice and it looked like another massive disappointment might be in store.

But then the Capitals gave the starting goaltending job back to Braden Holtby, showed resolve and didn't look back. Faced with another second-round matchup against the Penguins, Washington finally expelled their demons and got past Pittsburgh in six games. After surviving a seven-game Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning, the Caps stared down a Vegas Golden Knights team that somehow rode black magic all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season. Not even that black magic could stop Ovechkin and the Capitals as they cruised to a five-game SCF win -- the first in franchise history.

Washington's win resulted in one of the most cathartic and satisfying Cup raises in the history of the league as an emotional Ovechkin, the Conn Smythe winner, shed years of criticism and anguish off his shoulders with the hoist.

Record: 46-25-11 (103 points, 1st in Northeast)Goal Differential: +51Playoff record: 16-9

The Bruins had a top-five offense in 2010-2011 but their identity was largely shaped by their tough, physical and effective defensive style of play that was aided by incredible goaltending from Tim Thomas. Not only did the 36-year-old Thomas win the Vezina that season with a .938 save percentage over 57 games, but he went on to have an incredibly dominant postseason run that earned him the Conn Smythe as playoffs MVP. The Bruins don't win the Cup if it weren't for Thomas' insane play.

Boston had no shortage of dramatic moments during that run, either. It's easy to forget that they were a goal away from being ousted in the first round but found a Game 7 overtime winner off the stick of Nathan Horton to beat the Canadiens. They survived two more Game 7s as well, including a nearly perfect 1-0 win over the Lightning in the ECF. The Bruins then pounded the Canucks in Game 7 of the Cup Final in Vancouver.

Record: 52-22-8 (112 points, 1st in Central)Goal Differential: +62Playoff record: 16-6

This Blackhawks team was our first introduction to the Chicago dynasty that won three Stanley Cups during the decade. Led by a pair of 21-year-olds named Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks finished the regular season ranked third in offense and fifth in defense. They finished second in the Western Conference standings, just one point behind the San Jose Sharks.

They left no doubt that they were the league's best team when they cruised through their competition in the playoffs, never taking a series beyond six games. They swept the Sharks in the West Final before moving on to face the Flyers in the Cup Final, where they won in six games and had one of the most bizarre clinching goals you'll ever see.

Record: 36-7-5 (77 points, 1st in Central)Goal Differential: +53Playoff record: 16-7

In a lockout-shortened season, the Blackhawks were a thoroughly dominant team. They had a great mix of skill and toughness in their lineup and finished the regular season ranked second in scoring and first in defense. They won the Presidents' Trophy and were the only team to give up less than 100 goals (97) over the course of the 48-game regular season.

Just three years removed from a championship season with a largely similar roster, nobody was taking the Blackhawks lightly during the playoffs and the 'Hawks proved once again that they were a force to be reckoned with. They lost just five games through the first three rounds and clinched another Stanley Cup Final appearance, meeting a Bruins team that also possessed championship pedigree and had lost just four games through the first three rounds.

The Cup Final lived up to the hype, with three of the first four games going to overtime. With Chicago holding a 3-2 series lead but trailing with just over a minute left of Game 6 in Boston, the Blackhawks scored two goals in 17 seconds to stun the Bruins and clinch the Cup on enemy ice.

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Ranking the 10 Stanley Cup championship teams of the 2010s: Blackhawks dynasty, Ovechkin's Caps and more - CBS Sports

Photography by Chris Filippini.

Following the release of Sleeveless, author Natasha Stagg joins Kate Durbin to discuss the Kardashians quest for immortality, it girls, and maintaining identity in the content economy.

During the Victorian fin de sicle, the closing of an era inspired a literary and artistic climate of decadence, malaise, and fashionable despair. This phenomenon took another form in the Y2K scare at the turn of the millennium, when panic at the prospect of a calendar glitch escalated to the point of apocalyptic mania. Natasha Stagg captures a similar state of anticipatory ennui with her second book Sleeveless, a series of essays and stories on fashion, art, and culture in the New York of the 2010s recently released with Semiotext(e). Staggs image of the city is rife with conflicting desires: the self-commodification of the attention economy and the hunger for authenticity, the autonomy provided by new media coupled with the neurosis of increased surveillance, and extreme material wealth and the spiritual emptiness of late capitalism.

In dispatches spanning the anthropological history of thong underwear to the mechanics of the Kardashians identity marketing to the role of synthetic influencers, Stagg deftly chronicles the intersection of capital and identity. Divided into categories (Public Relations, Fashion, Celebrity, and Engagement), the main thrust of her critical analysis focuses on the cultural impact and social mechanics of new media such as Instagram and Twitter, where concepts of selfhood have become increasingly conflated with late capitalist values of improvement and production. Her frank analysis of New York media is made possible by an intimate knowledge of its strategies: having worked as both a writer and copywriter, she is both participant and critic, creator and consumer, the influencer and influenced. With a voice that is in turns cynical, witty, and tremendously personal, Stagg renders the image of a future that appears as both an apocalyptic prophecy and the indelible product of its past.

Following the recent release of Sleeveless, author Natasha Stagg joins writer and digital artist Kate Durbin in conversation for Document.

Kate Durbin: Sleeveless spans nearly a decade of your time in New York City working as a magazine editor and consultant. Over that time, media changed drastically, print magazines devolved, and we all became complicit in and self-aware of our own branded online identities. When you were putting the book together, what organizational strategies guided you? What discoveries did you make when putting all these pieces in an order?

Natasha Stagg: Its hard not to get really meta or stuck in a loop of questioning when youre trying to write about language and media, as Im sure you know. That Im adding to the discourse which Im ostensibly critiquing definitely have me pause me a few times, which is why I end up pivoting back to my own experiences so often. While talking with other people about my first novel Surveys and now Sleeveless, Ive learned something we all know to an extent: that everyone is seeing the world through a tailored feed of ads, and therefore our worlds have become very distinct from one another. I was surprised to find out just how different these worlds are, even between myself and other 30-something writers living in New York.

Kate: Can you talk about the relationship between this book and your first book, Surveys? While reading Sleeveless, I sometimes felt that the narrator in Surveys was the same person reporting to me in the essays and autofictions, as if this was her inevitable future. It also fits somehow with the meta-moment we live in, on and between platforms.

Natasha: Even when Im writing so-called non-fiction, I always put on this semi-sarcastic voice, which might be a defense mechanism, but I see it more as an appropriate tone for the times. I was sort of developing it when I wrote for DIS magazine (some of the essays in Sleeveless started as articles commissioned by them). I had an advice column there, and it was premised on finding a language for the art they were producing, so it was a little facetious, reaching for academic and also fashion-savvy, but landing on sort of intentionally clueless. We were discussing topics that were so new, in their developmental stages, and so a self-serious all-knowing voice would make no sense. I would include too-long quotes from whatever text I happened to be reading at the time and force an answer out of them. I found out later that my sense of humor was maybe not coming through and that the column was being read as sincere advice, which I loved.

Kate: I loved your essay on the Kardashians and found it very beautiful. You end your essay talking about how Kims legacy will be her entire life, which I think speaks to the Kardashian project as a quest for immortality. You also talk about Kims goal as being one of omnipresence. In this way they are something like gods of our new media age. Can you talk a little bit about the Kardashians? What do you find most interesting about them, and what do they exemplify about our cultural moment? About all of us?

There are so many versions of this in our individual lives now: if you are not participating in the mediado you even exist? Natasha Stagg

Natasha: Thank you so much, it means a lot coming from you. This piece came from a publication requesting I write about Kim and my reaction being, Why? Shes never not relevant, so far, but shes been written about so much, Kardashian think pieces have sort of become their own genre. So I was trying to figure out why that is, why shes so transfixing to culture writers in particular (which has also been done). I have watched every episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and I dont even think its a good show, really. But my interest is in the show more than it is in the real lives: the narrative of a famous family who is now living at the mercy of their audience. To rise to fame in such a contemporary and unpopular way, and then to become more talked about than anyone else, suffering through scandal and heartbreak so publicly: in some cases the suffering being caused by the public-ness of their personas: maybe they are the first living proof that not all publicity is good publicity.

Kate: Im curious to hear you talk about Kylie Jenner, a millennial who is the latest kind of influencer, one who claims to crave privacy and has agoraphobia as a result of growing up on social media with its surveillance. (She also grew up in a famous family.) You talk about how Kylies identity is branded as shy or resisting of fame, and how that this is part of her appeal: that she supposedly wants to be left alone even as she is constantly online, and this is something her young fans relate to as they also grew up online with its attendant anxieties. You also talk about other influencers, other young women who barely leave their houses and how this might relate to the trauma that comes with constant attention. Can you talk a bit about the relationship between this youngest generation of influencers and the Internet? It seems very fraught, even as the fraught-ness is still something to be performed.

Natasha: I love the examples that the Kardashian family provides us. Kylie is the shy one, and yet, Rob is so shy he has opted out of the show. There are so many versions of this in our individual lives now: if you are not participating in the media (social media, etc), do you even exist? How do you leverage a certain trait to be more entertaining or monetizable, if all brands are personal and all personalities are brands? Is it better to be coy in your selfies, or would it be more coy to not post any selfies at all?

Kate: You write about how Influencers have become more basic: this interesting distinction you draw between the It Girl of the 90s, who like Chloe Sevigny was a kind of muse and counterculture icon and party girl, and todays influencer, who is, as you say, the popular vanilla girl from high school who is now on The Bachelor, a blonde with a toned body and a perfect, bland, successful life. Im still thinking of Kylie, too, who posts these very brief videos that are almost nothing: like, just her turning around or dropping the camera: the more brief, the more enticing somehow. It feels like influencing is heading into the voidinto nothingness. Is this just the eventual demise of capitalism or this form of advertising? Is it something else? I hate asking future prediction questions, but I am curious where you feel influencing is heading.

Natasha: I really dont know where its heading, but there have been a lot of signs that consumers can easily see through influencer marketing and therefore arent as convinced by it lately. On my last flight, there was an option to watch some thrown-together educational series about the influencer, so you know its kind of over already, and yet it was always around, in its general concept, since the first celebrity endorsements. Influencers are really just celebrities who are only popular with a certain crowd, which is every celebrity, I guess.

It feels like influencing is heading into the voidinto nothingness. Kate Durbin

Kate: I loved the Fashion section. It seems in fashion you locate a site to explore your anthropological impulse, a physical article of clothing to circle around. Your scope expands, for example, in your essay on the thong: where you look as far back as the history of the loincloth, tracing it to 90s Thong Song. You call it a hidden object, both decorative and invisible, that is misunderstood. What interests you most in writing about fashion? Are there things you feel it reveals that are unique to it, since we wear fashion on the body?

Natasha: Fashion is a game, and I feel like I understand it, so I cant stop being fascinated by it. I dont understand sports or money or politics but I understand fashion. Its a type of art that is aware of its industry. It responds to the states of corporations and consumers instead of attempting to work against them. Im also usually at a loss with art, since it so often seems anti-capitalist and working within a capitalist system, or blatantly acting out some other hypocrisy.

Kate: You write about an artist, Ally, whose artwork consisted of her body, primarily exhibited on Instagram. Ally made me think of other Instagram and Tumblr artists, people like Molly Soda, Leah Shrager, and Amalia Ulman, whose Excellences and Perfections Instagram bait-and-switch performance of a fake sugar baby is now a museum-held artwork. In its early days, social media seemed such an interesting site for young women to explore and perform the body, sex, and narcissism: all these very human things. But I wonder if you feel that that time has passed for Instagram as an interesting platform for art? Especially now that so many have done it?

Natasha: I think well see who the more rigorous artists are once a few of them prove they cant make anything outside of social media, since social media will have to become irrelevant eventually. But the It Girl phenomenon will continue, maybe, and at least well always have an interest in who was interacting with the media in the most avant-garde or effective ways at certain times throughout history.

Kate: How would like to see our current media culture change, or would you?

Natasha: It seems fine the way it is, in that it is always changing.

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'Influencing is heading into the void': Natasha Stagg and Kate Durbin on the future of social media - Document Journal

Gaming studio CD Projekt Red has announced the artists on the official in-game soundtrack for its much-anticipated game Cyberpunk 2077, and the roster is packed with star power.

As revealed via a behind-the-scenes video, Grimes, A$AP Rocky and Run The Jewels are set to light up Cyberpunk 2077s fictional world of Night City, along with Refused, Nina Kraviz, Gazelle Twin, Ilan Rubin, Richard Devine, Deadly Hunta, Rat Boy and Tina Guo. Each act on the soundtrack has created a song specifically for the game, and each will have a fictional name in the game, such as Refuseds Samurai, for whom one of Cyberpunks main characters, Johnny Silverhand (voiced by Keanu Reeves), is the lead singer.

Grimes, who also has an anticipated project forthcoming in her fifth studio album, Miss Anthropocene, will also voice an in-game character, a pop star named Lizzy Wizzy. Yesterday (Dec. 12), she performed her song on the soundtrack, 4M, at The Game Awards. Watch the performance below.

Cyberpunk 2077, according to a synopsis on the games official website, is described as an open-world, action-adventure story set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. Gamers will play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality. It is scheduled for release on April 16, 2020.

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Grimes, A$AP Rocky & More Included on 'Cyberpunk 2077' Soundtrack - Billboard

Guest columnist Published 2:34 p.m. CT Dec. 11, 2019

Marc Sundstrum, lead pastor with Linwood Wesleyan Church in Sioux Falls.(Photo: Submitted)

The last few years, it seems that each Christmas has come to me with its own unique understanding or insight into the heart of the Father in the sending of His Son. As I have reflected upon the Christmas Story this year, the contrast between the ordinary and the extraordinary has stood out to me in a powerful way.

Theres something special about the entirely unique joining with the perfectly commonthe truly exceptional merging with the totally routineespecially as we see these juxtapositions in the familiarities of the Christmas story. Consider the extraordinary events leading up to the coming of Christ: angelic announcements in dreams and visions, with centuries old prophecies being fulfilled, all culminating in a virgin conceiving and giving birth to the King of kings and Lord of lordsthe Only Begotten of God.

Then contrast those extraordinary events with the utterly ordinary elements of that same miraculous birth: a humble man and his unpretentious wife, alone in a strange town, far from home and family; a modest manger in an unassuming stable; simple swaddling cloths and dusty straw. Now consider the common shepherds who made up the Son of Gods first visitors and compare them to the Magi from the east who would follow after them.

In the Christmas Story, we see an extraordinary beginning to an extraordinary life that ended in a horrifying death but led to an extraordinary resurrection! While there was nothing ordinary at all about Jesus Himself: His birth, His life, His death or His resurrection, all of these aspects of His time on earth were marked by a frequent inter-mingling with the common elements, events and people of everyday life.

The birth of our savior brings with it an invitation for each of us to be reborn; for the ordinary to be transformed into the extraordinary; for the temporary to become eternal; for the mortal to take on immortality. Its an invitation to exchange death for life, darkness for light, defeat for victory and shame for grace; to trade fear for faith, sorrow for joy, dread for expectation, and slavery for freedom.

Christmas means that He is here! He is with us! He is for us, and He is inviting us to live with Him and for Him. This Christmas may we accept the invitation, may we also integrate the ordinary and mundane with the extraordinary and miraculous.

Marc Sundstrom is Lead Pastor at Linwood Wesleyan Church.

Read or Share this story: https://www.argusleader.com/story/opinion/readers/2019/12/11/pulpit-christmas-extraordinary-and-ordinary/4401569002/

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From the Pulpit: Christmas: The Extraordinary and The Ordinary - Argus Leader

Sidelines loves halls of fame.

Over the past few months the number of DuPage County folks slated for immortality has stacked up. We'll try to give them a bit of justice here.

On Tuesday in Maryland, Doug Smith, former athletic director at Naperville North, Woodstock and Monmouth, will be inducted into the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Hall of Fame.

Smith, who retired from Naperville North in 2011 and was inducted into the Illinois Athletic Directors Association four years later, has done a ton of stuff -- on top of his athletic programs winning eight state championships and 80 conference titles.

He may be proudest of the Hoops for Healing boys basketball tournament. A cancer survivor, Smith created it at Woodstock and brought it to Naperville North. The event has donated more than $500,000 to Camp Hope to help cancer patients and their families.

When Lake Park's Zach Frye won boys Class 3A pole vault last May he became the seventh state champion and 24th all-state vaulter under Lancers vault and high jump coach Doug Juraska, set to join the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Jan. 11. Another champ was Zach Ziemek, seventh in decathlon at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Glenbard South varsity girls track coach Mark Tacchi.- Daily Herald File Photo

The ITCCCA ceremony also will salute Glenbard South's Mark Tacchi. This will be the first year since 1989 that Tacchi is not the Raiders' girls coach. He hosted more than 30 conference and sectional meets, won seven sectionals and coached 33 all-state athletes or relays.

SFHS Softball head coach TOP Ralph Remus watches from the 3rd base coaching box as his daughter Emily as she bats. leephoto- Daily Herald File Photo

Moving on, St. Francis softball coach Ralph Remus is a 2020 Illinois Coaches Association Softball Hall of Fame inductee. Averaging more than 22 wins in 21 seasons, his Spartans have won 10 straight regional titles and two sectionals. His 2017 club went 33-5 but from a state perspective 2019 was his finest season, second in Class 3A at 26-4.

NNHS head coach Jerry Kedziora give some encouragement to @#22 Liz Marshall as she gets set to bat. NNHS Vs NVHS girls Softball at NVHS in Naperville. lee photo- Daily Herald File Photo

Naperville North's Jerry Kedziora will join Remus at the Feb. 9 induction in Bloomington. The Huskies' 17-year softball coach owns the program record of 259 victories with regional titles in 2011 and 2012 and a program-high 24 wins in 2012. Like Smith, Kedziora may be most proud of a charity effort. In the past decade DVC Cares games have raised more than $25,000 in cash and supplies for the Mutual Ground women's and children's shelter in Aurora.

Starting in 1973, the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association annually inducts current and retired coaches, former players, teams, media members, "friends of basketball" and officials -- like Bensenville official Joe Fritsch.

The 2020 class, honored May 2 in Normal, includes 49 players including York boys basketball coach Vince Doran, who set Driscoll's standards for scoring, assists and steals among a slew of records.

York's head coach Vince Doran during the regional semifinal boys basketball against Benet.- Daily Herald File Photo

Samantha (Arnold) French set Lake Park's girls basketball season and all-time scoring records. She was the 2008 girls All-Area captain before becoming a three-time Academic All-Big Ten pick at Michigan. At Glenbard West, where she's back as coach, Kristi Faulkner graduated as DuPage County's top girls scorer with 2,417 points. Also an All-Area captain and a three-time all-academic pick at Iowa, Faulkner averaged more than 24 points to lead the Hilltoppers to a third-place Class AA finish in 1999.

Kristi Faulkner

One would think Montini girls basketball coach Jason Nichols still has plenty of coaching in him, but his resume screams hall of fame now. In his 20th season Nichols is 567-89 overall and at Montini has produced a whopping nine state trophies, including four state titles.

Glenbard East boys basketball coach Scott Miller unfortunately has less than a season left. He's retiring after this, his 21st year with the Rams and 24th season overall.

Sitting on 299 wins at Glenbard East entering Friday's home game with Fenton, Miller will make the IBCA Hall his third following inductions by Plano and Waubonsee Community College. Miller took Plano to fourth place in Class A in 1999, and led Glenbard East to third in Class 4A in 2011 with his son, Zach, at point guard.

Retiring Waubonsie Valley football coach Paul Murphy, a member of the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, said selections are being made this weekend for the IHSFCA 2020 class. The beat goes on.

doberhelman@dailyherald.com

Twitter: @doberhelman1

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Catching up on all the hall of famers - Chicago Daily Herald

Marion McClinton.

Ive started this obituary a dozen times.

Theres a clever intro or anecdote I could lead with, but it eventually comes back to the same thing: Hes gone. My best friend has moved on. I know that hes telling my mother about the time we spent together. I grin when I think of how he and his mother are catching up. I laugh out loud when I think of the collaborations, he, August, and Claude are cooking up. But it always comes back to: I must learn to negotiate a world without Marion McClinton.

In 1976, when we met, there was no way we could know that standing outside the Firehouse Theater in Minneapolis on our first day as professional actors would be the start of a bond that would span countless sports arguments, brushes with immortality, marriages, divorces, births of children, deaths of parents and siblings, Broadway, and the fulfillment of most of our hopes and dreams. In the final weeks of his life, we were alone, and he said, Dub, manIm realizing Im never going to direct again. After a long pause he added, What am I going to do? Thats all I am. No, thats what the world knows about you, I replied. Thats what newspapers will say but youre so much more.

And he is. Most people will never know that he got equal enjoyment spending hours with fledgling actors at St. Paul Central High School discovering their voices as he did working with Broadway stars. Moreover, he talked to them both in the exact same way, with stories from his past that planted seeds of encouragement and confidence and brought them back from the fear of failure that lives in all actors. His commitment to inspiring every writer who crossed paths with him was legendary. He opened doors, bringing young directors in regional, Off-Broadway, and Broadway rehearsal spaces, only requiring they do the same for those that followed them. Most of the theatrical world is unaware he turned down the artistic directorship of a major regional theatre rather than uproot his son, who was about to enter high school. Family came first.

He was a true son of St. Pauljust ask any interviewer who said he was from the Minneapolis or the Twin Cities. He got his start as a playwright at the Multicultural Resource Center on St. Anthony and Victoria writing history plays after hours, based on the lives early Black Minnesotans. He was instrumental in developing the jazz acting esthetic at Penumbra Theatre, always carrying a yellow legal pad with pages of script titles to suggest and casting ideas.

I dont know much about his life on the road. We made it a point to never talk about that, because we both felt it was important to for him to have a relationship with someone who didnt want anything. He was indefatigable. When health issues made the life on the road unbearable, he came back looking for new challenges and finding a new home at Pillsbury House Theater, championing another generation of writers whose work he consumed when the pain wouldnt let him sleep. He created pathways for the next generation of African American actors in Minnesota and did some of his best work. He made himself accessible to everyone I brought to the house.

My primary memory of him there is sharing. He had a story for everything, and he was never the center. Either his mother said, or August used to say, or the time George C. Wolfe remarkedthen he would drop the knowledge. Like he was just the repository of the wisdom, not the one that always brought up the right story at the right time.

Its impossible to talk about Marion without talking about him in the room. Rehearsal room, that is. Thats where he came to life. In the room his kidneys didnt hurt. In the room he was following his calling. In the room he was still close to Mr. Wilson. The good times were just a story away. It was always difficult for him to leave the room. Whether it was at the end of the rehearsal day or giving the state of the union (his term for the final time he addressed a cast before opening), leaving the room meant returning to real life. To a failing body and an art form filled with people he sometimes thought had forgotten about him.

In the room he was the most patient director Ive ever worked with. In the 45 years we worked together he never said, We dont have enough time, or We need more time. The time we had was the time we needed. Ill say now: Marion, we need more time. Lets talk about that the next time we get together. Rest in power, my brother. And so it goes.

James Williams, a mainstay of the Twin Cities theatre scene since 1976, was a founding member of Penumbra Theatre.

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Marion McClinton Brought His Best to the Room - American Theatre

Recent Star Wars leaks suggest we could see a character become fanged and demonic in Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, but who is it? Our initial guess was Emperor Palpatine taking some horrific new form, but one clever theory suggests the leak could be referencing a terrifying Force user we havent seen in the movies before, but one with a direct connection to The Rise of Skywalkers most intriguing plotlines.

Big spoilers obviously follow for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In the British Board of Film Classifications official listing for The Rise of Skywalker, the film gets a 12A rating partially due to one scene described as follows:

A young woman finds herself alone amidst an arena of sinister enemies, taunted by their leader. A character briefly becomes fanged and demonic.

The young woman is obviously Rey. For all we know, this moment could apply to Palpatine. Weve seen his face melt from Force lightning before, so its possible he can make himself a little more demonic. But what if instead, its describing the Son of Mortis?

Redditor u/Urdur made an interesting connection between the Rise of Skywalker ratings leak and a lesser-known Star Wars character from the Clone Wars animated series. And its not the first time the topic of Mortis has come up in regards to the plot of Episode IX.

Its worth noting that the Son died during The Clone Wars, which takes place during the prequels, but considering he lived in Mortis, an ethereal realm that exists at the nexus of the Force (you read that right), anything seems possible. He could appear as a vision, or he could simply get recycled by J.J. Abrams into one of Palpatines spooky acolytes.

During The Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano are drawn into Mortis where they encounter the Father, Son, and Daughter. These three beings represent balance, destruction, and peace, respectively. The Son is capable of transforming into a monstrous Gargoyle thats similar in design to Draculas humanoid bat form. It definitely counts as fanged and demonic. (The Daughter also transforms into a slightly less terrifying winged beast.)

From what we know of various Rise of Skywalker leaks and rumors, this might not be the only Mortis reference.

Some kind of dagger with ancient writing on it has been rumored to play a key role in The Rise of Skywalker ever since it was spotted in an early trailer. Plenty of fans assume this is the [Dagger of Mortis]((https://www.inverse.com/article/61406-star-wars-9-new-footage-spoilers-trailer-dagger-of-mortis-rey-steals-from-kylo-ren), a mystical relic capable of killing immortal beings. The current location of the dagger is unknown, but if located, it could theoretically kill Palpatine should he achieve immortality.

The final Rise of Skywalker trailer confirmed the daggers importance, and a December TV spot revealed it could serve as a sort of map to some other key location. The going theory is that C-3PO can translate some writing on the dagger, but only if the droidsmith Babu Frik gives him a factory reset, the droid equivalent of death. The writing should, in theory, lead Rey to Palpatine for the final confrontation.

More recent leaks, coupled with those ratings, describe an arena of sinister enemies. So wherever Rey confronts Palpatine, shell be surrounded by Sith acolytes standing on the sidelines. Could the Son of Mortis somehow be among them? Or some other being capable of transforming into a fanged monster?

One things for sure: The Rise of Skywalker sounds scary as heck.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be released December 20, 2019.

Excerpt from:

'Star Wars 9' theory: Son of Mortis may be confirmed by ratings leak - Inverse

The walls of the small 10-by-12 foot office are filled with drawings. On the left wall hangs 16 framed concert posters symmetrically from top to bottom. A whiteboard sits behind the door with Draft. Draft. Draft. Draft. Draft. scrawled across it in blue marker.

Under the only window in this office is a small framed degree that says Brigham Young University-Idaho: Cory Kerr. Dressed in a blue button-up shirt and bright pink tie, Kerr sat in his office chair and talked about illustration.

Im trying to create something that will outlast me, said Kerr, a communication professor at BYU-Idaho. Im trying to create something that will be around long after Ive died and Im gone because I find that type of immortality fascinating.

Kerr found his creativity at a young age. He spent every free second drawing something new.

I feel really strongly that if people are not creating that they are not living up to their potential, Kerr said.

As time went on, his excitement slowly turned to fear. He spent so much time trying to draw something perfect that he became unpleased with his creations.

He needed a break.

Kerr found different creative outlets as he furthered his education at BYU-Idaho. As a communication student, he worked with graphic design, photography and different types of illustration.

He worked as a lab assistant in the Visual Media Lab and a teaching assistant. When he graduated with his bachelors degree in 2004, he went from intern to vice president of production at Gibby Media Group.

I wrote scripts, conducted on-air interviews, shot, edited, animated, rendered and mastered video projects for a variety of clients, Kerr said.

He finished his education with a masters degree from Savannah College of Art and Design. In 2014, he came full circle and made his way back to BYU-Idaho as a professor in the Communication Department.

According to Kerr, he finds joy in watching his students succeed.

I really really like Brother Kerr as a teacher and as a mentor, said Kaitlin McKenna, a BYU-I alumna.

McKenna considered Kerr to be a faculty mentor and took his classes throughout her time at BYU-I.

Ive gotten so used to how he critiques and realized how valuable it is, McKenna said. Weve been sitting here (in his office) since nine this morning just sitting with him because hes so insightful. And he is so good at what he does. And hes so willing to help you learn.

At the age of 32, Kerr decided to start drawing again. He spent 60 weeks creating his own comic. He taught himself how to work with thumbnails, pencils and inks to color. This process was slow, but his 60-page comic about a boy who wakes up as a giant cockroach was exactly what he wanted.

It was the first time in years that I felt fulfillment and satisfaction, and so there was something in that, Kerr said.

His passion reignited.

Kerr created a YouTube channel called Illo Talk and a website called Cory Kerr Art. His website displays his illustrations along with different videos and links to a shop where people can buy his art. Kerrs YouTube channel allows him to teach others, and himself, about art. According to Kerr, it gives his viewers a raw look at what its like inside his mind. Today, Illo Talk has over 2,000 subscribers.

The best way to learn anything is to do a project, Kerr said.

One project he worked on was a 100 Days of Animation challenge. Everyday for 100 days, Kerr spent 30 minutes on a short film and posted a video to his YouTube channel.

Each video explained how he learned to animate things like insects walking, butterfly wings and dandelion petals. His goal was to release the short film at the end of the 100 days.

If you dont choose to carve out time to make things, then you wont, Kerr said. Itll be haphazard, youll be waiting for the inspiration.

Kerr created an art studio where he makes all his projects happen. Original black and white illustrations drape along the wall. Between two desks hangs two shelves full of comic books hes collected and created over time. One series took 12 years to complete.

He explained that drawing takes time and patience.

If youre writing, you can say that there were 400 people in the crowd. When youre drawing, you have to draw 400 people.

In total, Kerr has over 400 videos.

I think all of human connection is based on storytelling, and I have a deep-seated desire for people to connect with each other more than they are, Kerr said.

Whether it be through drawing, animating, teaching lessons, making comic books and making childrens books, Kerr continues to tell his story through illustration.

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Making animations, sketching comics and teaching illustration - BYU-I Scroll

Marvelhas teased the appearance of a significant new member of one of the Marvel Universe's cosmic pantheons, the Elders of the Universe,in Dan Slott and Sean Izaakse'sFantastic Four #20.

The issue's main story will see the villain Mole Man and a giant kaiju targeting longtime Fantastic Four ally Wyatt Wingfoot. However, only the Human Torch and his "soulmate" Sky, a superhero from an alien world, are around to aid him. The solicitationtextalso touts the appearance of the brand-new Elder and asks, "Who are they, and how will they change the FFs life... forever?"

RELATED: The Fantastic Four's Most Powerful (and Evil) Member Just Took a New Form

The Elders of the Universe are a group of the sole survivors of alien races that otherwise went extinct billions of years ago, all of whom achieved immortality by fixating obsessively on a personal pursuit like gathering knowledge, collecting artifacts and living beings, travel and even plants. Elders who have played key roles in the history of the Marvel Universe include the Collector, the Champion, the Grandmaster and Ego the Living Planet. The Collectorwas the first of these beings to appear, debuting in 1966 with Avengers #28, although the Elders of the Universe were not introduced as a group until Avengers #174 in 1978.

The solicitation text and cover art forFantastic Four #20 are below:

Fantastic Four #20, by Dan Slott and Sean Izaakse, goes on sale in March 2020 from Marvel Comics.

KEEP READING: Annihilation: Scourge Proves Why Reed Richards Is Marvel's Dumbest Genius

Ms. Marvel's Greatest Enemy May Be... Her Own Costume?!

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Marvel Introduces a New Elder of the Universe in Fantastic Four #20 - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Veteran TV producer and director Ken Ehrlich began his career with the Grammy Awards telecast in 1980, and in four decades presiding over the broadcast has become perhaps best known for mashup live performances featuring musicians from often wildly disparate genres and generations. Think Elton John and Eminem in 2001, classical pianist Lang Lang with heavy metal group Metallica in 2014 or Paul McCartney, Kanye West and Rihanna in 2015.

The 62nd Grammy Awards on Jan. 26 will be his final night at the helm, after which Ben Winston, executive producer of The Late Late Show With James Corden, will take over.

I dont know what my legacy is going to be with this show, Ehrlich said. I dont know if next year Ill be forgotten. I dont care. These have been 40 of the most amazing years of my life.

We invited Ehrlich, 76, to share in his own words the watershed moments from his long tenure of bringing the awards show to viewers around the world.

MOST NERVE-RACKINGJustin Timberlake, Al Green, Boyz II Men and Keith Urban, Lets Stay Together (2009)This was the day Chris Brown and Rihanna bailed on the show during dress rehearsal. First we heard that he wasnt coming and had no clue what happened. I said to myself, Ill just let the show breathe a little more, make up three minutes here or there; Ill be OK. Then 15 minutes later, I got a call that she wasnt coming. Someone finally came in and said they were out last night, somebody hit somebody, theyre not going to be here today. Now Ive got nine, 9 minutes to fill.

I was sitting next to [Timberlakes manager] Johnny Wright. I said, What am I going to do? He said, I think theres something we can do with Justin. We walked back to Justins dressing room and told him we had a problem. Justin, with more presence of mind than I had at that moment, said, Lets look at who else is on the show and zeroed in on Al Greens name. He said, I just did Lets Stay Together with him in Memphis why dont we see if hell do that with me? We also had Boyz II Men on the show, and I thought we could use them. We walked past Keith Urban in the hallway and asked him, Would you put a solo in Lets Stay Together? He said You must be [messing] with me. We wound up with a great number with Al and Justin, plus Boyz II Men and Keith Urban in the bargain.

MOST TALKED-ABOUTAretha Franklin singing Nessun Dorma, subbing for ailing tenor Luciano Pavarotti (1998)It was 8:10, so wed already been on the air for 10 minutes, and Ron [Basile, one of the shows producers] came to me with a little note that said, Mr. Pavarotti wants you to call him. Hes at home in his apartment. I called and he said, Mr. Ehrlich, I am sick, I cannot sing tonight, I will come sing next year. After I said, I hope you feel better, I thought, What am I gonna do? Theres a 35- to 40-piece orchestra and 30 singers ready to play Nessun Dorma.

Then I remembered Aretha had sung it at the MusiCares dinner two nights before for him. She was going to be on the show to do a number related to the Blues Brothers 2000' movie. I ran upstairs to her dressing room [at Radio City Music Hall] and I took [producer-engineer] Phil Ramone with me. He had basically done MusiCares that year. We walked in, she was sitting there eating chicken, and I just laid it out to her: How would you like to sing Nessun Dorma in front of the world? She looked at me like, Ill do it, but then said, I need to rehearse it. One of us had a cassette of the afternoon rehearsal that was in the days of boom boxes. We played it for her, and she said, This is three keys higher than I sing it. Well, there was no way we could get it transposed for the orchestra and the singers in an hour. So she said, I can do it. I walked her down and stood offstage with her. It was the first time shed seen the setup with the orchestra and singers. She took my hand and squeezed it and said, This is going to be fun. Neither of us ever forgot it. After that, she put it into her concerts, and it became one of her signature pieces.

MOST CHAOTICThe show after Whitney Houston died (2012)We heard about it around 3 p.m. on Saturday, the day before the show. Todd [Smith, a.k.a. LL Cool J, the shows host that year] was there with us. I wasnt thinking in terms of his monologue at that moment. I was thinking we needed to do something, onstage, and I knew the answer was to get Jennifer Hudson to do one verse and one chorus of I Will Always Love You, with the barest accompaniment. We brought her in and cleared the house, just her and [house band member] Greg Phillinganes on piano. She couldnt get through it in the morning when she came in, but she got it on the show. Then it was all about Todd. He said, We need to start the show off with a prayer. David [Wild, the shows scriptwriter] and I looked at each other. But we are not the spiritual beings that Todd is. He came in the next morning with this prayer, we rehearsed it, put it on, and it was the most appropriate thing in the world.

MOST UNDERAPPRECIATEDB.B. King, Buddy Guy, Keith Urban and John Mayer salute to Bo Diddley (2009)Bo Diddley was shredding before it was called shredding. This segment was sandwiched in between a couple of other things that had more Pow!, but this was about musicality. If you can find it on YouTube, you can see the way it was shot: We spent [camera] time looking at the guys who werent playing to appreciate the guy who was playing. Its as much about humility and generosity as anything else.

MOST MIND-BOGGLINGLY COMPLICATEDOpening number (2005)We opened the show with five Grammy performers stationed all over Staples Center: Gwen Stefani and Eve, Maroon 5, Black Eyed Peas and Los Lonely Boys. Ive always loved the finale scene from the movie Fame, where all the different departments come together and perform I Sing the Body Electric. And I had always tried to find a way to steal it for the show. The closest I came was that year. We had done three acts, and even four acts in the same number, but this one had the most people coming on- and offstage. Rehearsing it was almost impossible it was like herding cats: This ones here, that ones there. But it was fun to do.

WILDEST SURPRISEAdele Fastlove restart during George Michael salute (2017)Adele restarting her George Michael tribute because she was out of key I sure didnt expect her to stop and call out, Hey, Ken, Im sorry, I need to start this over. Obviously, she didnt hit the key at the beginning. I think it was because she didnt get the bell note. Its a number she starts a cappella. So she stopped, God bless her. She had a choice she could have gone on and gotten creamed by people who knew. But she stopped and said, Let me start over. She loved George Michael. Thats the reason I got her to do it.

MOST FUBARSly Stone tribute with Joss Stone, John Legend, Van Hunt, Maroon 5, Ciara, Aerosmiths Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (2006)I got hosed by Slys manager. It wasnt obvious in the beginning, but it became clear that he hadnt told me that Sly didnt really want to do this. He was a mess. He rode his motorcycle to Staples. He still had his motorcycle suit on when he performed he got off the bike, came onstage, did the number, then got back on the motorcycle and left.

MOST MEANINGFULSame Love with Macklemore and Lewis, Queen Latifah, Madonna and Trombone Shorty (2014)We had 28 couples of all sexual preferences who got married onstage. I had heard from my gay daughter that couples were getting engaged at Macklemore shows, so I will always be grateful to her for telling me about that. The number was wonderful and it made a difference in the culture. It made a bold statement.

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Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich on 40 years of chaos, flubs and impromptu immortality - Los Angeles Times