Category: Movies

Ring Lardner award honors: Mark Giangreco, Red Kerr, Frank Deford

Ring Lardner award honors: Mark Giangreco, Red Kerr, Frank Deford
The Ring Lardner Awards for Excellence in Sports Journalism were held Tuesday night at the Union League Club of Chicago. The honorees this year were- Broadcast: ABC 7 WLS TV Mark Giangreco; Print: Sports Illustrated/NPR/HBO Frank Deford; and Posthumous: Chicago Bulls and Fighting Illini icon Johnny “Red” Kerr. The Ring Lardner awards are like the Heisman Trophy for journalists; as Giangreco put it. Proceeds raised at this event will benefit the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs. The Union League Club, which was founded in 1879, has been recognized as one of the top city club in The United States...
By Paul M. Banks,
May 2, 2013 at 7:30 pm • 

Ring Lardner Sports Media Awards Tue: Lardner influenced Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Ring Lardner Sports Media Awards Tue: Lardner influenced Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ring Lardner (1885-1933) was a legendary American figure in two of my favorite fields: satire and sports-writing. He was great both at telling a sports-related story, and doing it in a snarky way. The Ring Lardner Awards for Excellence in Sports Journalism will be held Tuesday, April 30, 2013, at the Union League Club of Chicago. Cocktails at 5:30 PM, dinner at 6:30, and the awards to follow. The honorees this year are Broadcast: ABC 7 WLS TV Mark Giangreco; Print: Sports Illustrated/NPR/HBO Real Sports' Frank Deford; and Posthumous: Chicago Bulls and Fighting Illini icon Johnny “Red” Kerr. Proceeds raised at this event will benefit the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs. This year Frank Deford’s award is being presented by Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times while Mark Giangreco will receive his award from Bob Vorwald, Producer of WGN Sports...
By Paul M. Banks,
April 28, 2013 at 1:37 pm • 

Chicago is My Wife, but Boston My Mistress

Chicago is My Wife, but Boston My Mistress
In the wake of today’s horrific events in Boston... ...we are all Bostonians.  This atrocity takes on an added level of outrage, sadness and disgust as it occurred on Patriots Day. On April 15, 2013 we are all Patriots. We are all Patriots fans today. Even New York Jets are. Because Patriots Day actually has nothing to do with the NFL team, the New England Patriots. It’s a Revolutionary War Memorial Holiday. I felt the need to re-publish an essay I wrote about the city of Boston and it’s similarities to Chicago in 2007. And to keep updated on the news coming out of Boston, here’s a good NESN sports reporter covering the Marathon to follow on Twitter. Let’s get to the essay...
By Paul M. Banks,
April 15, 2013 at 8:24 pm • 
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Jackie Robinson Movie Reminds us How Far We’ve Yet to go

Jackie Robinson Movie Reminds us How Far We’ve Yet to go
The Jackie Robinson movie “42″ had 46 N-bombs in it by my count. And I was taking notes while watching this biopic, so I’m pretty sure my N-word tally is quite accurate. “42″ also showed us how numerous opposing players and managers attempted to physically and psychologically hurt Jackie. It conveyed how Branch Rickey, the owner of Jackie’s team the Brooklyn Dodgers, received hundreds of death threats and bulky folders of hate mail. This was the backlash for breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. It was a Jackie Robinson movie, but a Branch Rickey biopic at the same time. And both men were important in bringing us to where we are today regarding racial relations in America. However, “42″ reminds us of just how far we have left to go...
By Paul M. Banks,
April 14, 2013 at 8:01 am • 

Chet Coppock has a new Chicago Sports book out (exclusive interview)

Chet Coppock has a new Chicago Sports book out (exclusive interview)
Chester Coppock, a.k.a. Chet Coppock is an American Emmy award-winning radio broadcaster, television broadcaster and sports talk personality. Coppock publishes Daily Coppock videos and interviews on DailyCoppock.com, as well as an audio podcast called Coppock on Sports available on iTunes. Coppock can currently be heard on Notre Dame football pregame and postgame on WLS Radio, as a featured content contributor for the Heritage Series on the Chicago Blackhawks website. Coppock is recognized as one of the most notable alumni of New Trier High School in Winnetka, where he got his start, broadcasting football and basketball games on the school radio station. Since then he’s hosted, co-hosted multiple shows over the years with WMAQ-TV, WMAQ radio, WLUP, WMVP, Fox Sports. He’s been a prominent staple of the Chicago sports media scene for decades. In the 1990s  Coppock also co-hosted The Mike Ditka Radio Show as well as talk shows featuring NBA coaches Phil Jackson and Doug Collins. In 1999, Coppock received the Peter Lisagor Award for Journalistic Excellence. In 2009, Coppock penned the “Coppock On Sports” blog, covering Chicago sports for ChicagoNow.com In 2007, Coppock served as a football consultant and had an on camera role in the motion picture “The Express” starring Dennis Quaid and Rob Brown.The film was shot at Ryan Field in Northwestern. Coppock has a new book out. And I had an exclusive interview with him about his latest endeavor...
By Paul M. Banks,
March 11, 2013 at 11:41 am • 

White Sox Adam Dunn appearing in Matthew McConaughey movie

White Sox Adam Dunn appearing in Matthew McConaughey movie
Chicago White Sox slugger Adam Dunn is going to be on the silver screen. Yes, the $56 million dollar slugger is going Hollywood (I’m sure the stipend for the role will be a tremendous paycut) and we hope for the movie’s sake that his acting ability is much better than his batting average. But Adam Dunn does know how to put on a good show for the U.S. Cellular Field crowd with his mammoth home runs...
By Paul M. Banks,
February 22, 2013 at 8:25 am • 
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