I’m loving this Blagojevich sentencing story.

So essentially, Blagojevich wants to play the tapes at his sentencing hearing. But it’s the same judge. And the judge is the one giving the sentence, right? So it’s safe to say that the judge has already the heard the tapes. So is this just for us? Again, Blago wants to re-litigate his case at the sentence hearing. Has that, like, ever been done?

Sure, at a sentencing hearing the defense is given time to present its rationale for a shorter sentence.  The defendant is also given a chance to speak, to express contrition, and to otherwise try to convince the judge that they understand the severity of the situation. Blago? He wants to play the tapes.

This is going to go down on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, which also means that the Blagojevich real-life movie will be ending. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to get some popcorn and settle in for the finale.

B story: If aldermen can’t yell at the mayor, a nun will. This is a fascinating read with some great insight on our mayor and his style (hat tip to Shawn Allee)

C story: Enrico Fermi tested out his atomic theories on this day in 1942. Can I tell you how much I love WBEZ Blogger John R. Schmidt? Through his writing, you realize how much awesome history there is in Chicago. Every day, something notable happened. There are almost no dates unclaimed! So what happens when a new historical event happens on the same day of something from the past? Do we just choose which one is more significant and the other one just goes away? Anyway, December 2, 1941.

D story: Kanye West & Jay-Z were at the United Center for two nights of concerts this week. I met a couple of old high school buddies who were coming in to see the show, which was a great time. I hadn’t see my buddy Stu in almost 10 years! Anyway, what I thought was funny was that the show actually started at 8pm but Stu, being a master of going to concerts, didn’t roll there til after 9pm. Why? Because he knew that Kanye and Jay-Z don’t start on time. Hilarious. So instead of standing at the UC waiting and waiting, we get to hang out for a few minutes and reminisce. Gotta like that.

E story: Derrick Rose is going to wear CTA-themed shoes for the Xmas game against the Lakers. Could this guy be any more”Chicago”? I love it! He also talked to the media for the first time in a while yesterday and squarely put the blame on losing to the Miami Heat in the Conference Finals (remember that?) on his own shoulders. Like it was personal, that he let the fans down. There’s something about those kind of athletes that Chicago LOVES. 

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ve been watching the Hardwood Classics on Comcast Sports recently and happened to catch Game 1 of the Traiblazers/Bulls series. Wow. It was one of the games when Jordan just goes off. You forget how unbelievable Jordan was. And it makes you really understand how special Derrick Rose is, too. Jordan is in his prime on these classics, like 6 years past Rose. So we have something to look forward to, Chicago. God, it’s nice to have basketball news again that doesn’t include Derrick Fisher in sweater vest.

Sports: The White Sox are allegedly dangling John Danks. If traded and Buehrle doesn’t come back, the White Sox will have lost two high quality left-handed pitchers. I thought those were kind of important in baseball? Maybe Kenny is trying to get better players by dangling quality?

Kicker: Alison Cuddy will tell you what to do in the Weekender. Our crew has some shows, too - Mark Bazer is doing Interview Show tonight. Paper Machete is Saturday afternoon at the Horseshoe. Claire Zulkey has a Funny Ha-Ha coming up next month and I’m prepping for next week’s big Schadenfreude show during the Bears vs. Broncos. Sunday 12/11/11, 3pm. (Not the 4th - there was a conflict with Lincoln Hall) This is going to be fun, I have 22 comics/local celebs lined up to take turns doing play-by-play in front of a live audience. It’s MST3K’ing the Bears game at Lincoln Hall. C’mon, that’s pretty cool. And we are going to have a halftime show! Have a great weekend.