Michelle Obama's Speech at the DNC Last Night.

“OK. We got a big night ahead. Thank you all so much. Thank you so much. OK. There you go.

Hello, Chicago! Yeah. All right. Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it? You know, we’re feeling it here in this arena, but it’s spreading across this country we love. A familiar feeling that has been buried too deep for far too long. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the contagious power of hope.

The anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing the unfinished promise of this great nation, the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for.

America, hope is making a comeback.

Yeah. But, to be honest, I am realizing that, until recently, I have mourned the dimming of that hope. And maybe you’ve experienced the same feelings, that deep pit in my stomach, a palpable sense of dread about the future.

And for me, that mourning has also been mixed with my own personal grief. The last time I was here in my hometown was to memorialize my mother — the woman who showed me the meaning of hard work and humility and decency, the woman who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice.

Folks, I still feel her loss so profoundly. I wasn’t even sure if I’d be steady enough to stand before you tonight, but my heart compelled me to be here because of the sense of duty that I feel to honor her memory. And to remind us all not to squander the sacrifices our elders made to give us a better future.

You see, my mom, in her steady, quiet way, lived out that striving sense of hope every single day of her life. She believed that all children, all — all people have value. That anyone can succeed if given the opportunity. She and my father did not aspire to be wealthy. In fact, they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed. They understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.

So, my mother volunteered at the local school. She — she always looked out for the other kids on the block. She was glad to do the thankless, unglamorous work that for generations has strengthened the fabric of this nation. The belief that if you do unto others, if you love thy neighbor, if you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay off. If not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildren.

You see, those values have been passed on through family farms and factory towns, through tree-lined streets and crowded tenements, through prayer groups and National Guard units and social-studies classrooms. Those were the values my mother poured into me until her very last breath.

Kamala Harris and I built our lives on the same foundational values. Even though our mothers grew up an ocean apart, they shared the same belief in the promise of this country. That’s why her mother moved here from India at 19. It’s why she taught Kamala about justice, about the obligation to lift others up, about our responsibility to give more than we take. She’d often tell her daughter, ‘don’t sit around and complain about things. Do something.’”

I typically don’t write about politics on this blog. But I do warn readers that this blog will contain things that I cannot stop myself from writing about. I reproduce the entire text of the speech here because I can. I found and read the entire text of the speech, at the price of giving the New York Times my email address, so I could respond to a dopey post of Facebook saying that the Obamas have more than they need so why don’t they give it away. Presumably, to discredit them, their support of Kamala Harris and the content of their speeches at last night’s DNC.

What Michelle Obama said was “[her parents] understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.” She said give back. Help. Volunteer. Do the unglamorous work. Love your neighbors. DO SOMETHING.

I agree with Mrs. Obama and the Former President’s admonition in his speech to treat those who oppose us with the dignity that we wish they would extend to us. I hope I was courteous in my Facebook retort to the cleaver poster. I thought it was important to expose his false and mean spirited argument. And I don’t think it will hurt to cannot encourage others to love their neighbors at least once on the blog.

Michelle Obama at the 2024 DNC. Photo credit CBS News.

Lane Tech Broadcaster Alex Burstein set to Graduate and Conquer the World

A preview of my upcoming Inside—Booster article 

By Jack Lydon

Alex Burstein is going to be famous someday. That day may be soon. The eighteen-year-old Lane Tech senior is a young man on a mission and that mission is well underway. Alex broadcasts Lane Tech football, basketball, volleyball and baseball games on Lane Tech’s You Tube channel.

“Tonight (April 24 game against Von Steuben) was my 163rd broadcast,” Alex said. “I do every baseball home game. And for basketball it’s home and away. I also do home games for girls’ volleyball and football. I also did one or two flag football and boys soccer games. I’ve done the boys basketball games since freshman year. I have done the baseball games since sophomore year.”

To prepare for each broadcast, “I keep notes. I email the coach a week in advance. I talk to the opposing coach in advance. I look up the opposing players on Twitter and news articles. Even if it’s one or two notes about a player. Parents really love when they hear me say something about a player,” said Alex.

The Rogers Park eighteen-year-old, whose brother Simon is a junior at Lane, has known what he wants to do from an early age.

“Growing up I was always interested in sports, but I was not great at sports. In fifth grade, I realized that I wanted to do this as a career. I wanted to find a way to work in sports,” Burstein said.

“Before [Alex] even started at Lane, I was in the stadium for a state soccer game. He hunted me down trying to talk about next year’s football team,” said Lane Tech men’s basketball coach and former athletic director Nick LoGalbo.

“Broadcasting is my thing that I do out of school. I put a lot of time into it. Basketball season is usually three games a week. Baseball is three to four a week. I also work with the school newspaper as a co-editor-in-chief,” Alex said.

In addition to broadcasting, Alex is one of three editors-in-chief for the Lane Tech school newspaper, the Champion. Oh, and his grade point average is 5.07 on a four-point scale. His tireless work in and out of school has landed Alex a full ride scholarship to Syracuse University where he will major in broadcast journalism with a minor in political science.

Alex has a gained a certain celebrity in the Lane Community. “The parents, a lot of them watch. But also the coaches. LoGalbo doesn’t love it because a lot of the coaches get film on him. So a couple times this year we “privated” video. There is not a lot of programs like this in Chicago. It’s nice to get recognition,” Alex said.

As for the players, “they all think it’s pretty cool.”

“I have been doing this now for almost 20 years. He is one of the most special people that has come out of our school,” LoGalbo said.

“For what he does, he is driven by such a clear north star and sense of purpose. It’s really crazy to see that. To have a young man like that who has had a such a clear sense of purpose and direction, he’s done wonders for our school and our athletic department.”

“Him getting a full scouting report on us for other teams when they watch his live broadcasts hasn’t been awesome but if you are a good coach you are going to do your scouting anyway,” LoGalbo admitted.

“Alex does his homework on the other teams too. He has called every coach that we have played for the last four years to get their starting lineup, to get their story to get their records. It’s no wonder he’s got a full ride to Syracuse. We’ll see him on ESPN one night.”

Last year after Lane’s varsity basketball game at Whitney Young, legendary Dolphins’ head coach Tyrone Slaughter went over to Alex who was broadcasting from a table on the sideline and said to Alex, “I am a huge fan. I watch you on You Tube. You do a great job. I find it very helpful.”

Lane head baseball coach Sean Freeman praised Burstein as well. “He is a huge piece of Lane. Not only does he do all the sports games; he is head of the paper. He does a lot for the community as far as getting out all the good things that are happening. He has been an invaluable piece of our program, the football program, the basketball program and covering school wide news.”

“I think it’s a great thing [that Alex broadcasts our games]. We have people all over the country that are now able to watch our games. My parents live in Colorado. Up until last year, neither of them had seen any of our games live, now they are able to watch every home game because he puts those on-line. If the other teams get a little scouting edge on us, in my book, it’s worth it overall,” said Freeman.

“I am not surprised that [Alex] has a high GPA. He’s been part of our publication here for his four years. He did not take journalism as a freshman but he contacted me” to get involved, said Lane Tech English and journalism teacher and newspaper advisor David Strom. 

“Alex became the sports editor pretty early in his sophomore year. He has been co-editor-in-chief his junior and senior years. He has a ton of experience with reporting and writing. That’s a huge advantage. He is a leader in our classroom and our staff. He collaborates with first year journalism students. He will go along on an interview with someone who is new. That is hugely valuable for me as a teacher,” Strom said.

“He carries himself like a professional and he has just been there. And he does really good work. I have seen the improvement he has made. People recognize that and think highly of him because of it,” Strom said.

Favorite experience as a Lane broadcaster, “probably Wrigley Field. That’s hard to beat. So the City Championship last year for baseball, that was pretty cool. For basketball, I’ve done the Chicago Elite classic every year. My freshman year, they had me on radio row at DePaul’s Wintrust arena. That was early on but that was hard to beat. This past summer I went to Israel to cover the Maccabiah Games. Just calling games there was really cool. That was probably my favorite,” Alex said.

As for favorite broadcasters, “I would say it’s Pat Hughes, the Cubs’ radio broadcaster. That’s my dream job, Cubs’ radio. For basketball, it’s Adam Amin, Bulls’ TV broadcaster. He also does a lot of national work with Fox Sports. That’s my other dream job because he does so many other sports,” Alex added.

“Broadcasting has been my main extracurricular. That and the school newspaper. I am the editor-in-chief of the school paper. Those two are the heart of my college applications. I think it helps a lot. I have a demo real that I submitted to a couple schools. I wrote my essay about going to Israel and transitioning from being an athlete to be a broadcaster. I am going to Syracuse. I am majoring in broadcast digital journalism. My goal is to do this professionally. I really like sports journalism but I really like political journalism. I am probably going to do minors in sports analytics and political science.”

As for a color commentator on his broadcasts, “it’s hard to find someone to do it. The biggest thing is that the kids who care most about sports that could be a color commentator are the kids playing. It would be ideal to have a color commentator, but I think it’s good practice [for me] to do both rolls,” Alex said.

As for the equipment used, “it’s a mix. I bought a lot of the audio equipment,” Alex said. [The school has] helped with a couple GoPros and stuff so it’s a mix.”

“They are all really supportive. The broadcasts are on the school’s You Tube channel. They kind of have let me do whatever I want to do with it. All the administrators know about it and they watch. There is a lot of support. And obviously, with the coaches too.”

You can find Alex’s broadcasts on the Lane Tech You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@lanetechathletics743/videos

Stay at Home Order Protest at Thompson Center

On my way to drop off Dan downtown, I noticed police and media gathering in anticipation of a protest at the Thompson Center. I wasn’t covering the protest for any publication but it has been over a month since I photographed any people so I could not resist. I just wanted to shoot something. I went to the office, put on an N-95 mask, gloves and a hat. Then walked up there. I love a good protest. Some many different people to photograph.

This protest was pretty tame. Not a whole lot of action. But lots of honking horns. If never hear another horn honking it will be too soon.

I got some good shots. I learned a lot about how to shoot in the harsh midday sun. The good part is that was plenty of light. My Canon 7D works great in lots of light. Just as sharp as the 5D Mark IV. One also has a lot more options in Lightroom when there is plenty of light.

I got a very interesting shot of a couple at the southwest corner of Clark and Randolph. They were lite with direct sunlight from behind them on Clark Street and from in front of them by reflection off the Thompson Center windows. The high f-stop meant everything was in focus and there is very little depth perspective. I am fascinated by this one.

I hope you like the photos.

St. Andrew's or Saint Andrew?

Wait. Is it St. Andrew’s or Saint Andrew?

This morning Mark Brown’s column in the Sun-Times raises this age-old question and throws it squarely into the newspaper for all to ponder and debate. (I have the app on my phone. The last time I actually bought a paper copy of the newspaper was when it published a photo I took at a Lane Tech basketball game. But I digress.) Okay, maybe it’s just me who thinks about this St. Andrew’s v. Saint Andrew question. But that’s the point of this blog. (Again, I digress. Twice in the in the same paragraph. Enough already.)

Mark Brown’s column this morning features his heartwarming tale about ditching his out-of-town friends in order to attend a fish fry at Chicago’s “St. Andrew’s” Catholic Church at Addison and Paulina with his charming and lovely wife.

You see, St. Andrew’s is the next parish over from my parish, St. Benedict at Irving and Leavitt. But its more than that. St. Andrew’s has always been something of rival for St. Benedict. I am not proud of this but, at times, St. Andrew’s has not been spoken of in the most charitable terms.

In my mind at least, that was mostly because St. Andrew’s has excellent basketball teams that usually vanquished our beloved Bengals and often did so with the conference championship on the line.

And there was that time when my friend Robert was politely asked to either shut up or leave the gym when he argued a referee’s call a little too loudly, and repeatedly. Robert deserved it so I guess so I can’t hold it against a whole Catholic church community but they did hire the bad ref making calls in St. Andrew’s favor. Just saying.

Plus, and this is more of an unspoken thing. At one time, St. Andrew’s was more of lace curtain Irish kind of place. I come from an Irish family in the German parish. It’s not that way anymore, but I learned that perception my parents, my father really. He grew up in St. Benedict in the early part of the last century and for some reason that attitude printed on me.

I understand there was a time when St. Benedict were predominantly German and St. Andrew was largely Irish. St. Benedict had German pastors and St. Andrew’s had Irish ones. (Although interestingly, the one-time German pastor of St. Benedict, Fr. Bob Heidenriech, was born and raised in St. Andrew’s. Go figure. Again I digress.) St. Andrew has always been a little fancier—lacy curtain Irish rather than the working class, policeman/bus driver kind of Irish in my German parish.

But that’s not true so much anymore. St. Benedict is plenty fancy. I don’t know how many Irish policemen live in the neighborhood anymore but I bet one can count them on one hand. I only know one.

It was only a few years ago that I learned that St. Andrew’s name is actually Saint Andrew Catholic Church. No apostrophe and no “s.” As long as I can remember it’s been St. Andrew’s. It seems Mark Brown thinks so too and wrote it that way in the paper.

I am guessing it’s a “Jewels” v. “Jewel” Chicago-speak kind of thing. It’s just something one says for no apparent reason. As far as I know, the proper name of the place has always been Saint Andrew.

St. Benedict has always been “St. Ben’s” or just “Ben’s.” Kind of a shorthand. Not sure that applies to St. Andrew’s. I don’t recall anybody ever calling it “Andrew’s” or “Andrew.” It’s always been St. Andrew’s.

I had to give up my hard feelings almost a decade ago when Saint Andrew joined the 47th Ward with the 2011 map. I can’t be thinking poorly of a parish in the Ward. That can’t be good politics.

Plus, and more importantly, it’s not right to harbor ill feeling toward our fellow Catholics simply because my St. Benedict teams have suffered humiliating defeat after humiliating defeat wrought by the merciless hands of grade school kids. I mean I don’t feel that way about Queen of Angels or St. Mathias. They are wonderful people, worthy of love and respect. We must keep telling ourselves that no matter how many defeats we suffer. It is the Christian way. And this is lent after all.

So it’s Saint Andrew Catholic Church. And I’m okay with that.

I wonder if Mark Brown has any idea of the St. Andrew’s/Saint Andrew divide. But probably he does, he wrote St. Andrew’s all over the paper.

47th Ward Aldermanic Forum

Last night (4 Dec. 2018) about 250 people came to Lane Tech to hear and see the candidates for 47th Ward Alderman. I was not surprised that so many people came. The aldermanic election has been the talk of the neighbor for six months.

I am impressed with the quality of the candidates. I would have no problem with any of the candidates being elected. I have my favorite of course, Eileen Dordek, she is clearly the best, but more on that later.

What struck me most was how similar the candidates positions were. They all have the same positions on issues. We all want to support our local schools, an elected school board, properly funded pensions, more police to fight crime, property tax reform, a progressive income tax, TIF reform, etc., etc. etc.

What I didn’t hear was any one of them talking about his or her vision about what they want the Ward to be. This may have been due to the format of the event, but they were asked to differentiate themselves the others.

I also didn’t here anyone talk about development. That is the area that the Alderman has almost unfettered discretion and opportunity for good or evil. Somebody ought to have brought it up. It was obvious. Each missed the opportunity to stand out.

But we are only getting started. Your mailboxes will soon be full of stuff from the candidates.

I just love elections.

Here are some photos I took last night.

De La Salle Handles DePaul Prep, 40-22

The DePaul Prep Rams faced the De La Salle Meteors at DePaul’s new home field, Chicago Academy, 3400 N. Austin. The noon game at that field makes for good photos. It didn’t work out too well for the Rams. The gave up the first 40 points then scored the final 22. De La Salle just proved a little to big and fast for the Rams.  

It was a great day to take photos. I noticed that the autofocus setting was reacting really slow. I need to work on adjusting the setting. Canon autofocus is so good. I must have work on that. Small issue but I can do better. The settings are so robust there is a better why.

Football is winding down. Playoffs are coming up. Looking forward to that.

Hope you like the photos.

Palm Sunday Visit to Montrose Harbor and Loyola Campus

Fresh of the Loyola Ramblers' unlikely NCAA tournament victory over Kansas State, I got up early on the Palm Sunday morning (March 25, 2018) to drive some things down to my son Dan as he was going back to school after his Spring Break trip. 

On my way home, I detoured to the breakwater off Montrose Harbor and the Loyola campus and strolled around about 0700 taking some photos.

The early morning light at Montrose Harbor made everything look especially gray. I loved the chop on the grey water.  Some fishermen and geese happened into the shots which is always good.

I lot changed on the Loyola campus since I was there 33 years ago. I have been back many times since by never for the express purpose of taking photos. 

No one was out yet. Just me and the police.