The Daybook 3.0: It’s on like Ndamukong

The Daybook 3.0: It’s on like Ndamukong

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Daybook. Is. Back. BABY. 

Cabrini Green Gone?

We just got a one line email from The Chicago Housing Authority’s Kellie O’Connell-Miller.

Cabrini officially closed today at noon.

Natalie Moore is all over the story – she’ll have an in depth feature this afternoon on All Things Considered. The end of an era, no doubt.

Joe “O Noes” Berrios

Cook County’s esteemed Democratic Party Chair becomes County Assessor. The Democratic Party Chair then appoints his son and his sister to cushy county jobs.  This is the sort of article that writes itself, so why even bother? The Sun-Times is on it.

“Obviously, he doesn’t give a damn, does he?’’ said [the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform’s Cindy] Canary. “Yes, he won the election, but it’s been abundantly clear that the voters in Cook County are getting wary of this nepotism.’’

Our Tony Arnold is heading over to see newly sworn-in Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.  We’ll get her take on the apparent nepotism that’s going on in the building. Will she rally against it, or defer to the party chair?

High Speed RaiLOL

Wisconsin and Ohio don’t want that high-speed rail money?  Yes please, and thank you, we’ll snap that right up, Illinois says.  From the AP news wire:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional sources say the Obama administration is taking $1.2 billion in high-speed rail money away from Ohio and Wisconsin and awarding it to projects in otherstates.

People familiar with the grants say the Department of Transportation will announce Thursday that California, Illinois and New York, among other  states, will get a share of the funds.

Republican governors opposed to high-speed rail were elected in Ohio and Wisconsin in November. They have promised to kill projects in their states.

The sources spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly before the announcement.

Al Keefe is making calls to get the latest on this story.

It’s On Like Ndamakong

So it seems to me that Justin Kaufmann is the only person who thinks pushing a player is against the rules of professional football.  Well Justin and the NFL league office, to be fair.

I’m talking of course about the controversial-to-everyone-but-Kaufmann penalty and fine on Lions’ rookie Ndamakong Suh, for pushing the Bears’ Jay Cutler.

Here are some national takes:

CNNSI says, “The penalty was a joke; the fine is downright criminal.”  Meanwhile ESPN puts this down as a case of an “activist referee.”  Even Jay Cutler doesn’t seem to think it was that big of a deal.  Maybe not the difference in the ballgame, but it’s sad to see the NFL react like this.  It’s football people!

Patriots - Bears

My buddy Dave is friends with Tom Brady from our days at Michigan. He says he can hook me up for the game as a guest of the Patriots.  Make it happen, Dave!

Who do you guys have in this game?

It will be interesting to see if New England can sustain the high they were on while whipping the Jets on Monday Night Football.  A lot of teams will have letdowns after huge performances like that, but if we’ve learned one thing, it’s that these Patriots aren’t like other teams. 

Should be a dandy, with the weather calling for snow and sub-zero temperatures.  Now THAT’S football.