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CityFront Center Serves as a Cautionary Tale for The 78 Development in the Sloop
If you're into urban design and city planning, we highly suggest reading an excellent article on the Tribune about the CityFront Center. Beyond having great graphics and pictures, it serves as a good reminder for us in the South Loop as our own developments - such as the 78 take shape:
Viewed from the air, it’s a stunning transformation — in just 30 years, a gritty swath of cleared land and surface parking lots has become a glistening new part of Chicago.
But people experience cities on the ground, not in the air. Put the 60 acres between Navy Pier and Michigan Avenue under a microscope and what you see is a cityscape of great expectations and half-kept promises.
The deal was simple: The city would let developers build tall at Cityfront Center, Chicago’s largest real estate development of the 1980s. In exchange, there would be beautiful buildings, streets, parks, plazas and a riverwalk.
Yet the architecture, with rare exceptions, is mediocre. The public spaces were supposed to be vibrant and interconnected. Instead, they are unfinished, underachieving, largely disjointed and even, in one case, off-limits to the public.
Urban planning flops like these loom large as city officials review new megaplans from developers who pretty up their visions of skyscrapers with dazzling drawings of riverwalks, bike trails and other amenities teeming with smiling, attractive people.
For the 53-acre Lincoln Yards on the North Side, developer Sterling Bay wants to construct 12 million square feet of buildings, including towers as tall as 800 feet. It’s sweetening the deal by proposing amenities like an extension of The 606 bike and pedestrian trail east of the Kennedy Expressway.
At The 78, a 62-acre project on the Near South Side that Amazon is considering as an HQ2 site, developer Related Midwest has laid out plans for 13 million square feet, including skyscrapers up to 950 feet tall. Its sweeteners include a 100-foot-wide, half-mile-long riverwalk lined by restaurants and shops.
The planner of both projects, the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, co-designed Cityfront Center’s master plan. But if Cityfront Center is any guide, some of the promised amenities will never materialize.
The broader South Loop area has had some transformational projects already such as Dearborn Park 1 & 2 and Central Station development. While many have issues with those, they certainly were pioneers for what our neighborhood has become and will continue to evolve into. Should be fun to see how the latest wave transforms the Sloop.
Source: http://www.sloopin.com/2018/10/cityfront-center-serves-as-cautionary.html
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Stat Maps
So you want to know where the carjackings are happening?
Be sure you read the dates at the bottom to see what's covered and how it compares to just three years ago.
Labels: crime, stats
Source: http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/2018/11/stat-maps.html
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United Center to Introduce New Cutting-Edge Scoreboard and Sound System for 2019-2020 Season
CHICAGO– The United Center Joint Venture announced today that a new state-of-the-art scoreboard and fully immersive arena audio system will debut for the start of the 2019-2020 season. The project is the latest arena enhancement aimed to provide an unparalleled gameday experience for Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks fans.
The new UC Scoreboard
The new center-hung scoreboard will feature a one-of-a-kind design that intersects traditional display elements and modern technology. It will feature:
8,600 square feet of 4mm pixel pitch displays, making it the largest center-hung screen display with the highest resolution technology among all arenas that host both NBA and NHL teams
Nearly four times more LED screen display than the existing scoreboard
Kinetic movement with six independent panels
First-of-its-kind, continuous inner ring display
Immersive audio, production lighting and more
Fans in every seat across the arena will experience better visibility. The new inner ring display will provide video and stats to fans closest to the floor or ice, while the increased panel size and image clarity will enhance the view from all other perspectives, including the 100-, 200-, 300- and penthouse levels.
"This new scoreboard allows us the opportunity to take the in-game experience to the next level," said Sergio Lozano, Senior Director, Scoreboard Operations, United Center. "Fans will be blown away by the remarkable scale and unique capabilities leading to a truly captivating in-game experience."
Complementing the new scoreboard, the United Center is installing a fully customized, production-level sound system that will deliver more balanced, seamless and powerful audio to fans and visitors of all events.
The United Center's innovative approach to audio and visual elements comes in partnership with industry leaders including Mitsubishi Electric, Crossfade Design, HOK and Clair Solutions.
These two large-scale arena enhancements join recent updates, including all new arena bowl seats and the installation of LED sports lighting. This project marks the continuation of the United Center's commitment to enhancing the fan experience at more than 200 events each year. For the latest information about new in-arena elements or upcoming events, please visit the United Center's website, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
About United Center
The United Center is a state-of-the-art, multi-use entertainment facility that has welcomed more than 55 million fans since opening in 1994. Home of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League, the United Center hosts more than 200 events each year, including the best sporting events, musical performers, family shows, and special events in the industry. A commitment to superior service makes the United Center one of the top venues in the world. For more information, visit www.UnitedCenter.com.
Source: https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/united-center-introduce-new-cutting-edge-scoreboard-and-sound-system-2019-2020-season
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Roupa masculina: Como escolher certo para cada ocasião!
A aparência de uma pessoa conta muito, pois a primeiro momento nós julgamos e somos julgados por ela, por isso vestir bem é fundamental. Mas com tantos lugares que frequentamos ao longo dos dias fica um pouco difícil saber qual roupa é mais adequada para aquela situação. Por isso, a seguir eu irei falar um pouco sobre roupa masculina a fim de te ajudar a escolher as melhores peças para o seu guarda roupa.
Ainda não sabe como escolher roupas masculinas estilosas? Continue conosco e confira!
Estilosa
Para que o homem vista roupa masculina estilosa ele precisa primeiro entender qual é o seu estilo, e para isso uma consultoria de estilo pode ser uma excelente opção.
Algumas roupas estilosas são:
Camisa jeans
A camisa jeans é uma peça muito estilosa e que deve está no guarda roupa de todos os homens que desejam se vestir bem. Ela pode ser tanto de manga longa como de manga curta que irá dar uma super valorizada no homem, desde que ele saiba combiná-la.
Blazer
O blazer não precisa ser usado apenas em ocasiões especiais, ele pode ser usado em vários momentos menos formais, pois se combinado com outras peças estilosas deixa o homem muito elegante.
Camisa social
Algumas pessoas tem pavor dessa peça, mas ela é excelente para quem vai a ocasiões especiais, sendo que atualmente já existem versões estampadas que tiram a seriedade da peça.
Roupa Masculina para casamento
E se você vai a um casamento e não sabe qual roupa masculina vestir fique de olho nas dicas abaixo!
Paletó com calça jeans
Antes os homens optavam pelo terno completo, porém hoje está muito mais em alta você ir de paletó com uma calça jeans, assim não fica mais formal do que gostaria.
Você pode deixar o paletó aberto ou fechado conforme o seu gosto. Mas lembre-se de escolher uma calça que combine com ele.
Terno
E é claro que ainda assim não podemos deixar de mencionar o terno, pois ele é uma peça chave para quem deseja acertar na roupa de casamento. Se desejar você ainda pode usar ternos de outras cores além das tradicionais.
Colete social
E se você deseja fugir dos ternos e paletós o ideal é colocar um colete social, assim ficará formal, mas dará uma descontraída no look.
Roupa Masculina Festa junina
Mas se você deseja uma roupa masculina para festa junina, as melhores opções são:
Blusa xadrez
A blusa xadrez é ideal para quem vai em festa junina, pois ela é típica dessa ocasião. Você ainda pode optar por várias cores e modelos para ficar lindo!
A blusa poderá ser usada tanto fechada, como aberta com outra peça por baixo.
Camisa floral
As camisas florais também são muito comuns em festa junina, e por isso os homens que desejarem também poderá optar por elas, principalmente se estiverem usando uma calça mais justa.
Espero que você tenha gostado das nossas dicas, e se ainda tem alguma dúvida, deixe um comentário que assim que for possível nós responderemos você!
Source: https://chicagoweekly.net/roupa-masculina/
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Robbie Gould sounds interested in a Bears reunion, but there's a big obstacle in the way
As Cody Parkey’s kick bounced off the post and onto the ground in the NFC wild card round, a tidal wave of second-guessing around the Chicago Bears’ kicker personnel decisions was unleashed.
The Bears moved on from Parkey by releasing him Friday, but a fairly important question still remained. Who’s going to be kicking field goals for the Bears next season?
Some candidates included former Jets kicker Nick Folk, former Vikings kicker Blair Walsh and former Kentucky kicker Austin MacGinnis, all of whom worked out with the Bears following Parkey’s miss. The team eventually signed Redford Jones, a kicker who graduated from Tulsa in 2007 but hasn’t seen any NFL action yet.
None of those options are likely inspiring for Chicago fans, though there is one interesting possibility for Parkey’s successor: one of Parkey’s predecessors.
Robbie Gould hints he might be up for return to Bears
One of the reason Parkey’s miss stung so much for Bears fans is the team had released Gould, a perfectly good kicker, after a frustrating 2015 season only to see him blossom into one of the game’s best kickers with the San Francisco 49ers.
Gould, who is still the Bears’ all-time leader in career points (1,207) and field goals made (276), has made 82 of his 85 field goal attempts in the two and a half seasons since his tenure in Chicago ended. He is now the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history, behind only the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Tucker. Very, very few Bears fans would have a problem with Gould’s return.
And it appears Gould wouldn’t have a problem either, judging from a story from the Associated Press:
“Once a Bear always a Bear,” he said. “I truly mean that. This is where I spent 11 years of my life playing for an awesome organization. I’ve developed a lot of great relationships throughout the city but also the organization, just like I’ve done in New York, just like I’ve done in San Francisco. Will it happen? I don’t know.”
Given that Gould’s family still lives in Chicago, the Bears would likely be a strong contender for Gould’s services if he hit free agency. However, it might take a while to get there.
49ers could prevent a Robbie Gould-Chicago reunion
Gould is set to hit free agency this offseason, and while a reunion with the Bears would be a lovely story for all involved, a major obstacle remains in the 49ers’ interest in keeping Gould aboard as they try to return to playoff contention.
The team is reportedly poised to slap the franchise tag on Gould if he won’t agree to a long-term. Per NBC Sports Bay Area, the franchise tag for kickers is expected to come in around $5 million, something the cap space-rich 49ers can easily afford.
All of that means if the Bears really want Gould and Gould really wants the Bears, they will have to wait a year to come together in all likelihood. That might be too long for a Bears team preparing to defend its NFC North title this season, especially for a kicker who will hit 37 years of age next season.
More from Yahoo Sports:
• Pro-Confederate rally prompts Ole Miss players to kneel during anthem
• Boeheim on fatal car accident: ‘Will be with me for the rest of my life’
• Green sprains ankle in Warriors’ loss to Rockets
• AAF analyst defends himself after saying ‘nobody’s watching’
Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/robbie-gould-sounds-interested-bears-reunion-theres-big-obstacle-way-060340918.html?src=rss
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Megan Oswald, Broker , Real Living City Residential
Number of years in real estate: 14
Describe your look: Smart, tailored and on trend
What do you consider a “fashion don’t”? Ill-fitting and disheveled clothes
What is your favorite piece of clothing and why? Shoes define your outfit.
What do you consider a must-have accessory? I feel completely naked if I leave home without a watch.
What is a fashion crime you have committed in the past? A friend recently sent me an old photo of me from about 16 years ago wearing a tiered, ruffled miniskirt. Never again!
Where are your favorite places to shop? Zara, Express, Banana Republic, J.Crew or any local boutique that catches my eye
What, besides your wardrobe, completes your look? A Goorin Bros. hat
What is in your bag/briefcase? Chapstick, lotion, chargers and, most importantly, snacks!
My closet is full of… shoes and hats.
Bow-tie: Express; shirt: Banana Republic; belt: Banana Republic; pants: Banana Republic; bracelet: local boutique store; rings: David Yurman and Tiffany & Co.; watch: Original Grain; shoes: Barker
Source: https://chicagoagentmagazine.com/2019/06/10/megan-oswald-broker-real-living-city-residential/
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Tasting event Mexico in a Bottle is the party of the year
If, like me, you've fallen under the spell of agave spirits, you know the tasting event Mexico in a Bottle is the party of the year. Graduating from its increasingly crowded original digs at the Chop Shop, the 2018 incarnation of the festival is moving into roomier quarters at the Logan Square Auditorium, all the better for one to easily glide among more than 100 bottles from mezcaleros both established and unsung, more than of their destilados new to Chicago. Complimentary bites from Carnitas Uruapan, Dos Urban Cantina, Dove's Luncheonette, Presidio, and Quiote are there to help keep you tethered to the floor while engaging with the brains that can tell you everything you want to know about mezcal, raicilla, sotol, bacanora, and more. Short of selling all your possessions and moving to Mexico (something maybe you should consider), it's the best way to get a grip on the huge variety in flavor, aroma, terroir—and story—that this magical juice is capable of. Sunday, October 14, 3 PM. Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie. Tickets are $60-$75. v
Source: https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mexico-in-a-bottle-mezcaleros-logan-square-auditorium-fall-preview/Content?oid=58423231
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Shooting
Cops okay, but looking at 30 days of flying a desk:
A Chicago police officer shot a man during a foot chase that ended inside an East Chatham apartment building Wednesday night.
A little after 7 p.m., officers on “proactive patrol” saw a man with a gun standing in a crowd near 79th Street and Drexel, according to Chicago Police Patrol Bureau Chief Fred Waller.
Three officers tried to stop him, but he ran about a block and forced his way into the third floor of an apartment building at 79th and Ingleside, Waller said.
A “brief struggle ensued” and one of the officers shot the man once, Waller said. Thought to be in his early 20s, he was listed in serious condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Police did not say where on the body he was shot.
Police said they recovered a handgun with an extended magazine from the suspect, who did not fire the weapon, Waller said. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted out a photo of the gun recovered.
All's well that ends well we suppose....if it ever really ends. Nice job.
Labels: shooting
Source: http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/2018/11/shooting.html
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Bote reflects on rookie season, walk-off slam
David Bote cracked a smile and laughed, but then the Cubs infielder was rendered speechless for a dozen seconds. The question sent his way during MLB's Rookie Career Development Program earlier this month was simple enough.
Do you get tired ever of watching the video of the grand slam?
David Bote cracked a smile and laughed, but then the Cubs infielder was rendered speechless for a dozen seconds. The question sent his way during MLB's Rookie Career Development Program earlier this month was simple enough.
Do you get tired ever of watching the video of the grand slam?
The grand slam left everyone inside Wrigley Field speechless on Aug. 12, too. Sure, there was the deafening roar, but Cubs fans probably had a hard time forming any discernible words as Bote raised his arms and the baseball soared over the ivy-laced wall in center for a walk-off miracle. It was every kid's backyard dream scenario: Bottom of the ninth, down by three, two outs, two strikes and the bases loaded.
It still feels like a dream for Bote.
"Yeah," Bote said, still smiling, "I don't know how to answer that question."
Video: Must C Comeback: Bote's grand slam completes comeback
The RCDP was created in 1992 and is designed to help up-and-coming Major Leaguers be aware of off-field issues and how to deal with them. Bote received a crash course in big league life in 2018, when he bounced between Triple-A Iowa and Chicago, offering an option all over the diamond and throughout the lineup for the Cubs' fourth straight trip to the postseason.
Has Bote allowed himself to sit back and reflect on his rookie taste of The Show?
"I thought I would," Bote said, "because that was kind of the question during the year: Have you been able to step back and appreciate the year that's gone on? I really haven't, and I really don't think I will until all is said and done, just because once the season's over and you get back into the offseason, you're already back into the mindset of, 'What do I need to do to increase my abilities?'"
With shortstop Addison Russell suspended for the first month of the regular season, the 25-year-old Bote has a strong chance of cracking the Opening Day roster as a pseudo-regular. He can lend a hand at second (where the Cubs also have options in Ben Zobrist and Daniel Descalso), spell Kris Bryant at third on occasion and give the team depth behind shortstop Javier Baez.
An 18th-round pick by the Cubs in 2012, Bote is reaching the nothing-left-to-prove portion of his Minor League career. Now, he is trying to prove that he belongs in the big leagues. On that summer night in August, Bote certainly caught the baseball world by surprise with his pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam against Nationals reliever Ryan Madson.
Video: Bastian on where Bote fits in on the 2019 Cubs
Breslow joins front office
The Cubs announced Monday that they have hired former MLB reliever Craig Breslow as the team's director of strategic initiatives for baseball operations. Per the Cubs, Breslow, who has a degree from Yale University in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, will "help to evaluate and implement data-based processes throughout all facets of baseball operations. He will also support the organization's pitching infrastructure in player development and the Major Leagues."
The 38-year-old Breslow recently finished a 12-year big league career, which included 576 appearances between stints with seven teams and a World Series ring with the Red Sox in 2013. The lefty posted a 3.45 ERA in his stops with the Padres, Red Sox, Indians, Twins, A's, D-backs and Marlins, appearing in the Majors for the final time in 2017. Breslow spent last season in the Minors with the Blue Jays.
Jordan Bastian covers the Cubs for MLB.com. He previously covered the Indians from 2011-18 and the Blue Jays from 2006-10. Read his blog, Major League Bastian, follow him on Twitter @MLBastian and Facebook.
Source: https://www.mlb.com/news/david-bote-discusses-rookie-year-grand-slam/c-302688596
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Ten Thoughts on the NFL
1) Way back on Thursday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers put the AFC on notice that they’re still one of better teams in the league. They smacked the Carolina Panthers around and won 52-21 behind Ben Roethlisberger’s 328 yards and 5 touchdown passes. He only had three incomplete passes on the night.
FYI, they were my preseason pick to win the AFC!
1a) Steeler hold out Le’Veon Bell has until 3pm Central to report otherwise he can’t play this year.
2) The Steelers moved into the AFC’s second seed after the New England Patriots were beat down by the Tennessee Titans, 34-10. The 5-4 Titans have one of the worst offenses in the league, but somehow no team has allowed fewer points than their defense has (16.8 ppg).
If I had 10 guesses to who led the league in that category I don’t think I would have guessed the Titans.
3) The 7-2 Los Angeles Chargers are keeping the pressure on the 9-1 Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West. An argument could be made that the Chargers are one of the more complete teams in the NFL right now. They have a balanced offense and a solid defense and if they hot down the stretch they could win the AFC.
4) The Oakland Raiders have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
If the season were to end today they would hold the number one pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, and that pick they got from the Chicago Bears in the Khalil Mack trade would be the 23rd overall pick.
5) What happened to the Jacksonville Jaguars?
No team had more swag and bravado coming into the year than them, yet they’re last place in their division and their mouthiest player is hinting he’ll leave when his contract expires in a couple years.
6) The Jags just lost to the Indianapolis Colts, 29-26, and in that game this happened...
Quenton Nelson has helped stabilize an offensive line that had usually gotten Andrew Luck creamed on a regular basis, but this year he’s the least sacked QB in the NFL.
7) What’s up with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles?
Their loss on Sunday Night Football to the Dallas Cowboys dropped them to third in that division, but at 4-5 they’re not that far behind the 6-3 Washington Redskins, who may be the worst division leader in the NFL.
The Redskins have a +1 point differential, which is the worst of all division leaders, and that was in the negative before they beat the Buccaneers 16-3 on Sunday.
8) To illustrate just how weird the 2018 NFL season has been I present Matt Barkley to Dion Dawkins.
Barkley had been out of football until Halloween, but now he’s starting and winning games for the Buffalo Bills.
9) The Monday Night Football game was between two of the worst team sin the NFL, the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers, but it wasn’t a bad game, with Eli Manning leading the Giants back for a 27-23 win.
Next week’s MNF game will take place from Mexico City, and it will feature the high powered offenses of the Chiefs and the Rams.
The showdown between Kansas City and Los Angeles has opened with an over/under of 64 points, which marks just the third time this century that an NFL game has been given a total of 60 or more points.
10) The Chicago Bears’ and the Minnesota Vikings will battle it out for the NFC North lead on Sunday Night Football (11/18). Minny is a half game behind the Bears right now, so the winner of this game will control their playoff destiny. This will be the biggest test of Mitchell Trubisky’s career so far, and in case you missed it I gave my thoughts on Trubisky and all the negative chatter surrounding his play of late on my latest podcast.
What are some of your thoughts on the NFL this week?
Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2018/11/13/18089664/ten-thoughts-the-nfl-chicago-bears-pittsburgh-steelers-titans-eagles-redskins-cowboys-buffalo-bills
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MTV's Real World Auditions Come to the Sloop on Saturday 12/8
Here is your shot (via wbbm):
Do you remember the days of simpler reality TV where contestants didn't just vy the cameras and start drama to get attention? You could be part of that reality on the next "Real World."
The MTV reality TV show just announced it will be relaunching after its most recent 32nd season and is coming to Chicago in the search for new roommates, according to its casting page. Facebook Watch is teaming up with MTV to revamp the original storyline where strangers live in a fancy house and deal with the drama that unolds for the world to watch. But this time, it will be streamed online through Facebook, which started Aug. 9 and features news programs, shows and reality content for Facebook consumers.
On Dec. 8, Chicagoans feeling nostalgic about the 90s hit show or who want a change of scenery, lifestyle and gossip can audition for the show. Auditions will be held at Bar Louie in the South Loop from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Contestants must be 21 to enter and if you can't make the audition in person, you can apply online.
Source: http://www.sloopin.com/2018/11/mtvs-real-world-auditions-come-to-sloop.html
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2019 NFL preview: Bears will regress, but Mitchell Trubisky could help ease that
Yahoo Sports is previewing all 32 teams as we get ready for the NFL season, counting down the teams one per weekday in reverse order of our initial 2019 power rankings. No. 1 will be revealed on July 31, the day before the Hall of Fame Game kicks off the preseason.
(Yahoo Sports graphics by Paul Rosales)
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In almost every sport, we assume progress will be linear. That goes for teams and players. If someone has a breakout season, we talk ourselves into bigger and better things the next season.
That does happen on occasion, of course. Sometimes the sudden emergence we see from a player or team in is the start of something really big. But not always.
With that, let’s talk about the 2019 Chicago Bears.
[Join or create a 2019 Yahoo Fantasy Football league for free today]
The Bears were a great story in 2018. The fantastic preseason trade for all-world edge rusher Khalil Mack took the defense to a phenomenal level. The offense, with first-year head coach Matt Nagy, was fun and exciting. The Bears went 12-4 and while they lost a heartbreaking playoff game to the Eagles, the season was a success. And for the most part, people figure the Bears will pick up where they left off and maybe even get better. Players seem to figure that last season was just the start.
“Our goal right now for defense is to be No. 1 across the board,” safety Eddie Jackson told SiriusXM. “Like I told them earlier, shout out to the ’85 Bears, but we want to top everything they’ve done.”
Teams sometimes take a step back after a huge improvement, especially when the foundation of success is defense. A great defensive performance doesn’t always carry over to the next season. Football Outsiders Almanac said every one of the last 10 defenses to lead the league in FO’s DVOA per-play metric got worse the next season. One only needs to look at the 2018 Jacksonville Jaguars and Minnesota Vikings for proof that a great defensive performance is hard to carry over. The Jaguars and Vikings had the top two defenses in 2017, in some order. Both defenses were still good in 2018 but neither was top two in any meaningful category, despite few personnel changes for either unit. Each team won five fewer games in 2018. The Jaguars and Vikings made their respective conference championship games two seasons ago, and missed the playoffs last season. The margin of error in the NFL can be really slim.
There are other reasons to believe the Bears can’t repeat their nearly historic season on defense. They picked off 27 passes, and that’s very hard to do again. The Bears were the third luckiest team in the NFL when it came to injuries, according to Football Outsiders’ adjusted games lost metric, and injury luck is mostly random (and very important). Chicago should plan on a few more injuries this season. And the Bears defense took some hits this offseason, particularly at the top.
Vic Fangio was perhaps the best coordinator in the league last season, and we can’t just ignore the impact of him leaving to coach the Denver Broncos. His schemes were a huge part of Chicago’s success. Former Colts coach Chuck Pagano replaces Fangio. Defensive backs coach Ed Donatell and outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley left for Denver with Fangio. The Bears didn’t retain inside linebackers coach Glenn Pires or assistant defensive backs/safeties coach Roy Anderson. That’s a lot of turnover. Safety Adrian Amos and slot cornerback Bryce Callahan were big parts of the Bears success as well, and they both left in free agency.
The Bears won’t turn into an average defense. The Bears defense will still be good, but probably not as great as last season. They’ll need to improve in other areas to counter-balance that almost certain regression. And the most obvious way is through quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
Story continues
Trubisky is the wild card for the Bears. To some he’s still a raw and improving talent who showed real signs of progress last season, at least before a shoulder injury in November. For others, he’s too inconsistent and he hasn’t really shown upside like Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes, two future stars the Bears passed on to take Trubisky. Trubisky doesn’t profile as the type of quarterback who can carry a team by himself and be a top-five quarterback. But the Bears don’t need that. They need a quarterback who can make enough plays to support a defense that, while it might not be miles ahead of the rest of the NFL again, will be very good. For most of last season, Trubisky was that kind of quarterback. An improvement is certainly possible, given his relative lack of experience and draft pedigree. Having the innovative Nagy calling plays is a plus, as well.
The Bears were so much better on defense than any other NFL team, they could regress in a significant way and still be the best defense in the league. And perhaps the offense, with its young quarterback, improves enough to make up for whatever step back the defense takes. Chicago should feel it can be one of the best teams in the league again. It just might not look exactly the same as last season.
Coach Matt Nagy had a big first season for the Chicago Bears. (AP)
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We won’t count the loss of Vic Fangio in the offseason grade, though clearly that is the biggest loss the team had. The Bears lost safety Adrian Amos and slot cornerback Bryce Callahan in free agency and replaced them with Ha-Ha Clinton Dix and Buster Skrine. The Bears probably got worse at both positions. Jordan Howard was a productive back but not a great fit for Matt Nagy’s scheme, and he was traded to the Eagles. The Bears signed Mike Davis and drafted David Montgomery, and those players are probably better fits. Those two, along with Tarik Cohen, make an intriguing backfield. Cordarelle Patterson gives the Bears’ return game a nice boost. The Bears didn’t have a first- or second-round pick; they gave up the first-round pick in the Khalil Mack trade and sent a second-round pick to move up in the 2018 draft for receiver Anthony Miller. Overall, it’s hard to say the Bears got better.
GRADE: C-minus
While there are reasons to believe the Bears won’t repeat what they did on defense in 2018, there’s still a load of talent on that side of the ball. Safety Eddie Jackson, cornerback Kyle Fuller and edge rusher Khalil Mack were first-team All-Pros. Defensive lineman Akiem Hicks finally got some due and made his first Pro Bowl. Others like middle linebacker Roquan Smith, defensive tackle Eddie Goldman and edge rusher Leonard Floyd have a lot of talent too. The Bears defense ranked at or near the top in practically every category last season. They stopped the run, rushed the quarterback, forced turnovers and shut down passing games at remarkable levels. When your foundation is a defense with this much talent, things are looking good.
OK, time to talk about the Bears kicking situation. That has been a story throughout the offseason, since the moment of Cody Parkey’s infamous “double doink” miss to end the Eagles playoff loss. Parkey was cut and the Bears can’t feel good about their candidates to replace him. The Bears brought in plenty of no-name kickers and none stood out. Eddy Pineiro and Elliott Fry are the last two standing, and unless you’ve followed the Bears kicking news closely, it’s likely you’ve never heard of either. Elliott came from the defunct Alliance of American Football, and Pineiro was acquired in a trade with the Raiders. Neither has kicked in an NFL game. This is a frightening situation for a team with big dreams, and the immense pressure and attention in Chicago surrounding the position won’t help.
If you want to tell yourself a story that Mitchell Trubisky is on the verge of a nice breakthrough, it’s not crazy. Trubisky was the second overall pick of the 2017 draft; he has obvious talent. He had only 13 college starts, so he needed more development time than many of his peers. He was with a coaching staff in 2017 that had no idea how to develop him. Then last season he was paired with Matt Nagy, in a complicated and new offense, and was doing well before a shoulder injury:
Pre-injury (10 games): 2,469 yards, 20 TD, 9 INT, 7.7 yards per attempt, 97.7 passer rating
Post-injury (4 games): 754 yards, 4 TD, 3 INT, 6.7 yards per attempt, 88.9 rating
You can explain the drop in play to the injury, and winter weather. Conversely, you can also say the numbers through 10 games were inflated by a six-touchdown game against a terrible Buccaneers defense. But mostly, Trubisky was fine in his second season. He added value as a runner, which has always been part of his overall package as a player. He could be more accurate and definitely needs to be more consistent, but if you believe that quarterbacks entering their third season should still be awarded a little bit of patience, Trubisky is on a positive path.
No need to waste anyone’s time here ...
Khalil Mack is the Chicago Bears' latest defensive star. (AP)
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From Yahoo’s Scott Pianowski: “When it comes to rookie wideouts, it’s important to remember the Class of 2014 (which went bonkers) was a gigantic outlier. Usually, it’s encouraging simply to see a first-year receiver keep his head above water. And Anthony Miller was able to do that last year, with a handy 33-423-7 debut. Considering Miller had a nagging shoulder injury, which required offseason surgery, that’s not a bad return.
“Miller was limited through offseason work, but should be fine for summer camp. We can’t draft him as an assumed fantasy starter, but there’s all sorts of plausible upside here; I love that he was comped to Doug Baldwin a year ago. Miller is merely being selected as the WR52 in early Yahoo drafts, around the 125th overall pick. He’s one of my favorite targets for a WR 4-5, an upside play that I won’t necessarily need to start Week 1. Keep an eye peeled on Miller in August.”
[Yahoo fantasy preview: Chicago Bears]
If you want another reason the Bears could regress, just look at their strength of schedule. The Bears had the second easiest strength of schedule last season, via Football Outsiders’ DVOA per-play metric. That changes dramatically this season. The Bears are projected to have the fifth hardest schedule this season according to Warren Sharp, who uses Las Vegas over/under win totals to estimate schedule strength. The Bears play four projected top-five opponents, tied for the most in the league, and seven top-10 opponents, and only the Broncos play more than that. The Bears could be just as good this season and not finish 12-4, given the massive shift in strength of schedule.
CAN A BEARS RECEIVER TAKE A BIG STEP?
Part of getting Mitchell Trubisky to the next level is his receivers stepping up as well. That group wasn’t bad last season, but it still seems there’s a higher level for at least three of them: tight end Trey Burton and receivers Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller. Burton was OK in his first Chicago season, but can improve off a 54-569-6 line. Robinson and Miller should be healthier. Robinson had 754 yards a year removed from a torn ACL. He said he’s feeling much better this offseason, and 1,000 yards seems to be a fair expectation. Miller caught seven touchdowns as a rookie but had only 423 yards. He was playing through a bad shoulder injury and had offseason surgery. He has exciting potential. It seems fair to assume Robinson has a bigger season, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Miller and Burton did too.
We can at least imagine a scenario in which the Bears defense remains the best in the NFL, and the offense takes huge strides. Matt Nagy is a creative playcaller, there are talented players all around quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and Trubisky has the ability to make a big leap. We saw flashes of what Trubisky can be last season. While Trubisky doesn’t seem like he has the upside of being an MVP candidate (though he was the most popular bet to win MVP in Las Vegas this summer, mostly because of the long odds), he can be a good, productive quarterback. The Bears could make a big improvement on offense now that Nagy’s scheme has been established and there’s a good amount of continuity on offense. A 12-4 team with a lot of room to grow on offense has to be considered a preseason Super Bowl contender.
In 2016, an Oakland Raiders team led by Khalil Mack went 12-4. We expected the Raiders to be on the upswing, because we don’t figure on teams winning 12 games and disappearing right after. The Raiders haven’t had a winning season since, and probably won’t have one this year either. That’s not to say the Bears were a total fluke or will go the way of the Raiders since that one magical season, but it’s possible. Maybe Mitchell Trubisky doesn’t take the next step. Perhaps the NFL figures out Matt Nagy’s offense. The defense won’t fall off a cliff, but the 2018 Jaguars had a very good defense and went 5-11. When a team coming off four double-digit loss seasons in a row suddenly goes 12-4, there should be some skepticism about that team’s staying power.
I wasn’t going to disrespect the Bears by putting a Packers team coming off a 6-9-1 season ahead of them in these rankings. The Bears should get the benefit of the doubt, and the Packers have a lot to prove. But when we make our season predictions, I’ll probably pick the Packers to win the NFC North. There are too many regression factors for the Bears to ignore. I don’t think the Bears will completely fall off. Mitchell Trubisky will continue to develop and the Bears should get a wild-card spot. I just don’t think they will improve upon last season.
32. Arizona Cardinals
31. Miami Dolphins
30. Oakland Raiders
29. New York Giants
28. Cincinnati Bengals
27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
26. Washington Redskins
25. Detroit Lions
24. Buffalo Bills
23. New York Jets
22. Denver Broncos
21. San Francisco 49ers
20. Jacksonville Jaguars
19. Atlanta Falcons
18. Tennessee Titans
17. Carolina Panthers
16. Minnesota Vikings
15. Seattle Seahawks
14. Baltimore Ravens
13. Pittsburgh Steelers
12. Houston Texans
11. Dallas Cowboys
10. Cleveland Browns
9. Green Bay Packers
8. Philadelphia Eagles
– – – – – – –
Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/2019-nfl-preview-bears-will-regress-but-mitchell-trubisky-could-help-ease-that-122340123.html?src=rss
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Jed Hoyer Says the Cubs Will Focus More on Trade Talks This Week Than Top Free Agents
All in all it’s just a-nother brick in the wall.
Without directly confirming or refuting any of the buzz out there about the Cubs’ ability to spend this offseason, GM Jed Hoyer did say something very telling to reporters at the GM Meetings: “Given where we are as a roster, [this week] will probably be more focused on trade talk. We do feel like our answers are internal. We need to focus on getting our players to maximize their potential. With that said, I think we’re open to business and listening [on trades] and that will probably be our focus more than shopping at the top of the market.”
ESPN:
As is always the case when you see these comments or rumors, you have to ask yourself: do we buy it?
The front office never puts itself in a bad negotiating position, but they also usually lay out the reality if you’re open to really hearing what they’re saying. At this point, the front office would have be acting UNCHARACTERISTICALLY deflective for us to believe this is all just a smokescreen. Even when talking about financial tightness in the past – like after signing Yu Darvish – the “but you never know” aspect of the conversation always felt more than just a throwaway line. It felt like, yeah, you really don’t know what these guys have up their sleeve. This time around? It feels like we are having our expectations for the offseason managed. You never know, but, yeah, it’s going to be virtually impossible for us to get Bryce Harper or Manny Machado.
To be very clear, I have never been of the mind that you just *HAVE* to keep spending more and more money because your team is in a competitive window. I am a realist, and I know that there will be a budget. I also know that we see every year that the priciest moves don’t always wind up being the savviest or most productive.
But when it comes to Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, specifically, the potential on-field impact is so dramatic that I don’t think any large-market, big-revenue club should ever allow themselves to be in a position where they cannot entertain a serious pursuit if they believe in the player. Since we do not have any indication that this front office doesn’t believe in these players, then I cannot and will not excuse the organization if it decided, for purely financial reasons, that they cannot be in the pursuit of those two generational, 26-year-old talents. (If they have decided privately that they simply don’t like these guys as much as we think they should, however, and know they won’t outbid the market for that reason, then I suppose that’s another conversation entirely. But we don’t have that indication.)
It’s not just about spending money. The Cubs’ payroll already projects to be up dramatically from last year, and last year it was nearly $200 million. Relative to the rest of the league, the Cubs project to have a payroll commensurate with their market standing. Cool. Good. Fine. There are moves the front office could make to improve the club for next year, and they could win more games (they won ninety-freaking-five last year!), and the payroll could come nowhere close to the top luxury tax tier, let alone bust through it. In isolation, I’m not going to bust the organization’s chops solely for not going out and hitting some arbitrary payroll mark.
But like any offseason, I think it’s wholly fair to expect efforts to improve, and, this offseason, I think it was always wholly fair to expect a serious pursuit of Harper and/or Machado if the front office believed in the talent. Those two guys are that unique for free agency, and the next three years are that important.
Circling back to Hoyer’s comments, then, if the Cubs have decided their best bet to improve is in the trade market, again, I say cool, fine, go for it. It’s not like going hog wild in free agency last year worked out well for the Cubs, so I trust the adjustments they choose to make. I am just saying that there are two free agents in particular, so rarely made available at this age, that the Cubs could really use. Not even being involved in those two pursuits – specifically – for financial reasons would be incredibly disappointing and discouraging.
This conversation isn’t going to go away, as much as I’d like to say this is the last time I’m gonna round on for paragraphs about the financial state of things. Rumors will come and go, and there will necessarily be financial implications. We will also eventually get a better whiff of what the Cubs’ revenues looked like in 2018, and that, too, will have some implications for these conversations.
For now, though, the message being sent from the front office is very clear: don’t expect a balls out pursuit at the top tier of free agency, and instead it may be a matter of making other creative moves.
Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/2018/11/07/jed-hoyer-says-the-cubs-will-focus-more-on-trade-talks-than-top-free-agents/
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How to Set Up Google Analytics: The Complete Guide (with video)
If you have Google Analytics set up on your website, you are one of the tens of millions of websites using the most popular analytics tool on the internet. This post and video may help you confirm that it’s set up properly.
If you don’t have it set up, you are just 52 clicks away. Here’s your complete guide on how to set up Google Analytics quickly for the most accurate reporting possible.
Let’s answer a few basic questions and then go into the step-by-step instructions. But first, here’s the complete video:
How does Google Analytics work? What does it track?
Just now, when this page loaded, a tiny bit of Javascript was triggered. It talked to five tiny cookies on your device, then it reported back to Google and stored the information in our Google Analytics (GA) account.
Through this clever combination of Javascript and cookies, Analytics tracked that the page was viewed.
It doesn’t know who visited or what they looked at. It doesn’t know how long they were on the page unless they went to another page and triggered the Javascript again. There’s a LOT that Analytics doesn’t track.
By default, it doesn’t track anything except when pages load. So any “non-pageview interactions” is not tracked unless you use “event tracking.” But that’s a topic for another article.
Here’s a quick list of 16 types of clicks that aren’t recorded in Google Analytics.
There’s a lot it doesn’t know. But it’s still a good way to track visits and visitor behavior. And how much does it cost? Nothing. Google Analytics is free.
So let’s get GA set up right! And for fun, let’s try to do it all in 52 clicks. Easy peasy, right? Let’s go.
But first…
The Analytics JavaScript needs to be on every page of your website, in the <head> section of the code.
For years, marketers added GA tracking code using a plugin in their content management systems. Today, the best way to add (and manage) the code for Google Analytics (and every other tracking tag) is Google Tag Manager.
You put the Analytics code into your Google Tag Manager (GTM) container, and add the GTM container to your website, usually by using a plugin. You can find details here.
1. How to set up goals in Google Analytics
When a visitor takes an action, they “convert” into a lead, subscriber, registrant, job applicant, donor, etc. Each conversion is a success for the brand and the website. But because websites are built in different ways, Google Analytics doesn’t know what success looks like. So we have to tell it.
Here’s how to set up each type of conversion as a goal in 12 clicks:
Note: We’re going to create “destination” goals, which are thank you pages or receipt pages for ecommerce. If visitors who take actions see a thank you message, rather than a separate thank you page with it’s own URL, setting up goals won’t be so simple. You’ll need to set up event tracking. There are at least 14 other good reasons to have thank you pages.
Click the gear icon in the bottom left to go to the “Admin” section
Under “View” in the right-hand column, click “Goals”
Click the big red “New Goal” button at the top
Enter in the name of your goal. For example: Contact Lead or Newsletter Subscriber
Under “Type” select “Destination” then click “Continue”
In the Goal Details section, enter the web address of your thank you page. Notice the suggestion under the field. Don’t enter the full URL with the domain name. Just enter the address of the page, such as “/thank-you”
Under “Value” switch the toggle to On and assign a monetary value to your goal, even if it’s arbitrary. Setting a $1 value for each goal is perfectly fine.
Under “Funnel” switch the toggle to On.
Enter the page name and URL of the contact form (ie “Contact Page” and “/contact”) then under “Required?” switch the toggle switch to “Yes”
Click “Save” and you’re all set!
Note: All kinds of things can be set up as goals in Analytics. For example, a visitor spent five minutes on the website or a visitor visited three pages. I recommend against creating these types of goals unless you have a strong reason to do so. If you create lots of these less important goals, your overall conversion rate becomes meaningless.
2. How to filter out traffic from yourself
Visit your site and that visit is recorded. You’re in your data. But you can filter yourself out by telling Analytics the IP address of your office. This is especially important for low traffic websites, where traffic from the website owners may be significant.
Here’s how to create a filter in Google Analytics in 11 clicks:
Click the gear icon in the bottom left to go to the “Admin” section
Under “View” in the right-hand column, click “Filters”
Click the big red “Add Filter” button at the top > “Create new Filter”
Name your filter (ie “Chicago Office”)
Now set the three dropdown menus…
Change “Select Filter Type” to “Exclude”
Change “Select source or destination” to “traffic from the IP addresses”
Change “Select expression” to “that are equal to”
Now enter your IP address into the box
If you don’t have this memorized (who does?) find it just by searching Google for “What is my IP.” Just copy and paste that number into the box.
Click “Save” and you’re done!
Once complete, the filter should look something like this:
To confirm the filter is working, go to a deep, rarely visited page than look at the Real-Time report. See a visit to that page? If no, the filter is working.
Once in place, Google Analytics will forever be more accurate. You can do things like test your contact forms without affecting your conversion rate.
Note: An IP address filter only works if the IP address of your network doesn’t change. If your office or home network doesn’t have a “static” IP address, then your network is grabbing a new IP every time you connect to the web, and the filter won’t work.
Also, if you move offices, change internet providers or reset your router, your IP address may change and you’ll need to update your filter.
3. Exclude traffic from known bots and spiders
Why exclude traffic from robots and spiders? Because they aren’t your target audience. They aren’t even human. There are a lot of bots out there. The IAB/ABC keeps a long list of them. By default, Google Analytics tracks them as if they’re people. I think that’s weird.
Here’s how to get the known robots out of your data in 3 clicks:
Click the gear icon in the bottom left to go to the “Admin” section
Under “View” in the third column, click on “View Settings”
Scroll down toward the bottom to “Bot Filtering”
Check the box next to “Exclude all hits from known bots and spiders”
Click “Save”
That’s it. Your data is now more accurate.
Tip! Before removing bot traffic or filtering out traffic from your office, make a new View called “Unfiltered” so you can have something to refer back to if necessary. Once traffic is filtered within a view, it can never be changed.
4. Setting up Site Search
That little search box on your website is a nice way to help visitors find things fast. But it’s also a powerful listening tool for you. If you set up the Site Search reports, you’ll learn what people are looking and if your site is missing important content.
Here is how to set up the Google Analytics Site Search report in 7 clicks:
Step 1: Click the gear icon in the bottom left to go to the “Admin” section
Step 2: Under “View” in the third column, click on “View Settings”
Step 3: Scroll down to the “Site search Tracking” section. Switch the toggle to “On”
Step 4: Now enter your “Query parameter” into the box.
To find your query parameter, search for something using your search tool and look at the URL of the search results page. It will appear just before the keyphrase you searched for.
For example, a search for “Analytics” on this blog, shows this in the URL: https://www.orbitmedia.com/?post_type=post&s=analyticsSo for this site, the query parameter is the letter “s.” Other common query parameters are q, search_term and keyword.
Don’t see a query parameter when you search your site? If so, you may have “path based” programming behind your site search. You’ll need to set up a fancy advanced filter to see what people are searching for.
Step 5: Leave the box next to “Strip query parameters out of URL” unchecked and leave the “Site search categories” toggle off.
Step 6: Click “Save” and you’re good!
Once complete, it should look something like this:
Once set up, you are minutes away from discovering if content is missing from your website, if something is hard to find and if your navigation labels are confusing. This report is also a gold mine for new blog post topics.
Related: How to analyze the Site Search reports.
5. Connecting Google Analytics to Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is the sister tool to Google Analytics. It’s a valuable source of search-related insights. But the reports are a little harder to read, so it’s nice to connect the two so you can see the GSC data right there in your GA.
Once connected, you’ll get a set of reports in the Acquisition section. These reports show you the performance of your website in search engines. If these two are not connected, these reports are blank.
Assuming you’ve set up GSC and verified ownership, here’s how to connect Google Search Console with Google Analytics in 9 clicks:
Step 1: Click the gear icon in the bottom left to go to the “Admin” section
Step 2: Under “Property” in the second column, click on “Property Settings”
Step 3: In the “Search Console” section, click the “Adjust Search Console” button.
Step 4: From the dropdown, select the Search Console view like to associate with your Google Analytics account.
Note: If there is no dropdown, click “add” which will send you to GCS. As long as you’re logged into an account with access to the GSC property, select the relevant account then click “Save.” Once you get the Add association popup, click “ok.” This should take you back to Google Analytics.
Step 5: Click “Save.”
Once complete, the data won’t appear immediately. Check back later to find insights and then do some amazing blog optimization. If you’re in a hurry, all the same data is waiting for you in Search Console.
6. Adding Campaign Tracking code
This isn’t a one-time setup task. It’s an ongoing behavior. But it’s as important as everything else on this list because it makes your data more accurate and more meaningful.
Some of your actions are designed to drive traffic to a specific page through a specific channel. These are called “campaigns.” It could be an email, an ad, an affiliate link or any other effort.
If you do a little extra work while planning them, you’re Analytics will be a lot more useful. If you don’t, the visitors you worked so hard for (or paid so much for) are mixed in with everyone else.
For example, if you send email newsletters, but don’t track that traffic using campaign tracking code, you can’t see them separately. Those email visitors may appear in direct or referral traffic. Not good.
But if you add campaign tracking code, all of those visitors can be tracked separately and every one of their conversions can be attributed properly.
The difference is the campaign tracking code (aka UTM tracking code) on the links in the emails. The link is the same, but there are three bits of information added to the end: source, medium and campaign name. So a link like this without tracking code:
https://website.com/article
…gets the extra UTM tracking codes at the end
https://website.com/article?utm_campaign=nov-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter
It’s the same link, it’s just telling Google three things about where the visitor came from:
Medium
Source
Campaign Name
Here’s how to add campaign tracking code to a link in 7 clicks:
You can do this from any URL Builder. Google, of course, has provided one of these, but it’s not the easiest to use. Here’s a nice URL Builder created by Raven Tools.
Enter the address of the landing page for the campaign into the URL field
Enter the source: this is the specific origin of traffic (newsletter, twitter, facebook)
Enter the medium: this is the specific marketing effort (fall-special, marketer-recruiting)
Copy the new URL with the tracking code appended.
Paste this URL into the campaign, wherever you are creating the ad, the post or the email
Tip! Always use lowercase letters. The source, medium and campaign will appear in Google Analytics exactly as you typed it here.
Once complete, all traffic from that campaign will be tracked separately. You can see how engaged those visitors were and if any of them converted. Here’s what the campaign report looks like for a brand doing email marketing.
Learn more about how to track campaigns, here is a helpful article from our own Amanda Gant.
Warning! Never add campaign tracking code to a link on your website. If you do, the true origin (source and medium) of the visitors who click on this link will be lost, because the campaign tracking code information will override the original source. This makes your Analytics less accurate. And it’s unnecessary. The flow of your visitors is available in other reports.
7. Creating Annotations
The final step! Let’s add a little note to indicate that we’ve made changes to our Analytics. This way, anyone who looks at this account later can quickly see what happened.
Why did traffic go down? Oh look, this annotation says a filter was created.
Why did the conversion rate go up? Oh look, this annotation says that a new goal was set up.
Annotations help your data tell stories. And that’s really what Analytics is all about: answering questions, finding insights, telling stories.
It’s just a little note that you attach to a date. It appears under the timeline of all reports.
There are five main reasons to add annotations.
Website change: updated an important page, added a feature, redesigned
Analytics change: changed or added a filter or goal, excluded a query parameter, etc.
Advertising change: turned ads on or off, started or stopped recruiting, etc.
Email sent: sent a newsletter or promotional message
Press hit / Influencer mention: Someone loves us today!
Here’s how to add an annotation to Google Analytics in 3 clicks:
Step 1: Click on the tiny arrow on the tab below the timeline to open up annotations
Step 2: Click “Create new annotation” in the top right corner
Step 3: Choose the relevant date and type your note
Step 4: Click “Save”
Over time, your account will have a lot of these little notes. So here’s a tip for making them easier to scan through: start each type of the annotation with a few standard words. Use the bolded words from the list above as a simple naming convention. It will make things easy to scan through and find later.
Better data forever
We did it! We set up Analytics in 52 clicks, but who’s counting?
Your actions today determine where you will be in a year. Your Analytics setup today determine the quality of your data and insights next year and forever after.
Analytics is more than a scoreboard, it’s a decision support tool.
Do it well and your data will tell you better and better stories over many years. The outcomes of your actions will be clearly visible. That worked! That didn’t…
Do it poorly and you’ll be doing a lot of wondering, digging and detective work. What happened? Is something wrong with this report?
Ready to do some deeper analysis? Here are some next steps:
Source: https://www.orbitmedia.com/blog/how-to-setup-google-analytics/
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Great Clearance Rates Ed
Our Stat Guy has been busy data-mining various Department databases. We'll just leave these here and wonder why Special Ed (and his staff) still has a job:
Anyone know what a trend line is?
Yeah, 2019 isn't looking any better without a wholesale shakeup in the political order that is keeping crime from being solved and prosecuted.
Labels: department issues, stats
Source: http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/2018/11/great-clearance-rates-ed.html
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GOP campaign arm reports 'cyber intrusion' during 2018 midterm
WASHINGTON -- The National Republican Congressional Committee said Tuesday that it was hit with a "cyber intrusion" during the 2018 midterm campaigns and has reported the breach to the FBI.
The committee provided few details about the incident, but said the intrusion was conducted by an "unknown entity."
"The cybersecurity of the committee's data is paramount, and upon learning of the intrusion, the NRCC immediately launched an internal investigation and notified the FBI, which is now investigating the matter," spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement. "To protect the integrity of that investigation, the NRCC will offer no further comment on the incident."
The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Politico first reported the cyberbreach.
The severity and circumstances of the hacking weren't made clear. Politically motivated cyberespionage is commonplace across the world, but Americans have become particularly alert to the possibility of digital interference following the 2016 election. That hack is still fresh in the minds of many political operatives.
In March 2018, NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers said the committee hired multiple cybersecurity staffers to work with its candidates and promised to do more.
"We're starting to advise campaigns, but we're not ready to roll the whole thing out. We're working on it," Stivers said at the time. "We're working on the technology-based stuff to try and make sure that we know what's out there -- which is hard, too -- and then we try to defend against it the best we can."
In August, Microsoft alerted the public to attempts by government-backed Russian hackers to target U.S. conservatives' email by creating fake websites that appeared to belong a pair of think tanks, the Hudson Institute and International Republican Institute. It also confirmed an attempt similarly attributed to Russian hackers to infiltrate the Senate computer network of Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Missouri Democrat who lost a re-election bid in November.
Google later confirmed in September that the personal Gmail accounts of multiple senators and staffers had recently been targeted by foreign hackers, though it did not specify the cyberspies' nationality nor the party affiliations of the targets.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russian state-aligned hackers organized the leak of more than 150,000 emails stolen from more than a dozen Democrats. The FBI later said that the Russians had targeted more than 300 people affiliated with the Hillary Clinton campaign and other Democratic institutions over the course of the presidential contest.
During the 2016 presidential election, WikiLeaks' released hacked material damaging to Hillary Clinton's presidential effort, and U.S. intelligence agencies have said Russia was the source of that hacked material. Special counsel Robert Mueller is now investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, possible Russian ties to Donald Trump's presidential campaign and whether anyone had had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans.
Democratic lawmakers saw their cellphone numbers splashed online and voting databases for all 50 states had some type of intrusion attempt, although only a few were compromised. That included Illinois, where records on 90,000 voters had been downloaded. There was no evidence any votes were altered.
Election systems are constantly under fire from efforts to steal sensitive data, disrupt services and undermine voter confidence.
Federal officials said after the midterms this year there had been no obvious voting system compromises -- which appeared to remain the case, despite the hacking effort. There had been a major push since the midterms to shore up defenses against potential cyber intrusions, but most states remained highly vulnerable.
Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Colleen Long in Washington and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.
Source: https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20181204/gop-campaign-arm-reports-cyber-intrusion-during-2018-midterm
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If Money is Tight, Why Would the Cubs Pay Cole Hamels $20 Million? I Can Think of Some Reasons
As the rumors have grown nearly uniform in both their character and volume, and as the Cubs front office all but confirms them, we have to reckon with the highly possible reality that the Cubs will proceed through the rest of the offseason very judiciously about how and where they commit their limited additional dollars.
That creeping reality, however, is set against an almost completely incongruous wallpaper: if the Cubs knew they had so little money with which to maneuver this offseason, why in the world did they commit a whopping $20 million to Cole Hamels by picking up his option?
Sure, Hamels was great with them in the second half, and sure he’s a very valuable veteran presence who could be solid again in 2019, but the Cubs already had SEVEN big league starting pitchers under control at the time (Lester, Hendricks, Darvish, Quintana, Montgomery, Chatwood, Smyly). Surely Hamels would be a financial luxury at that point, right? That $20 million could have gone a long way to making HUGE upgrades in the bullpen or adding a truly impactful bat. Surely those were greater needs going into 2019, right?
So how do we reconcile these seemingly incompatible words and actions?
Well, I think I can come up with some explanations. Let’s try on five of them:
1. Money is not actually tight, everything is a smokescreen, rainbows and gumdrops are falling from the sky.
We have no reason, at present, to believe this is actually the case. But, since it would resolve the incompatibility in words and actions, it is one of the possible explanations.
2. Money is tight, but it’s not so much about the luxury tax in 2019, it’s about the long-term concerns.
Much of the expectation that the Cubs could blow through the top luxury tax tier in 2019 and beyond is predicated on a few assumptions that might not necessarily be true: (a) what if the TV deal after 2019 is not looking like it’s going to be as certain or enormous as hoped? (b) what if the spending restrictions attached to the original sale of the Cubs that could be lifted after 2019 are not really going to make much of an impact? (c) what if there’s broader league-wide concerns about the state of labor in the game after last offseason, and teams are reluctant to sign monster long-term deals that go past the expiration of the current CBA after 2021?
If this were true, then picking up the Hamels option wouldn’t really be an issue, nor would signing some short-term free agents to decent deals. We’ll see if things play out that way. The Cubs could certainly make some decent moves this offseason to impact the current competitive window without signing the guys who’ll require 8 to 10-year deals, but it would require some really aggressive short-term spending on impact bullpen arms and guys like Josh Donaldson or A.J. Pollock or Andrew McCutchen.
3. The Cubs simply think Hamels is just worth way too much as a veteran/performer/asset to risk letting him go to free agency, even if that meant skimping elsewhere.
Under this explanation, it’s not really about the money or the fit or anything other than an organizational decision that they love the crap out of Hamels, believed he was going to get a bigger, better deal elsewhere in free agency, so they decided to take advantage of their one opportunity to guarantee they could keep him.
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
4. The Cubs have specific plans for the rotation that they knew they could effectuate after retaining Hamels.
We would have already seen part of this explanation in action with the trade of Drew Smyly to the Rangers in conjunction with the Hamels option pick-up. But for this explanation to really, really totally fill the gaps, I’m talking about the Cubs having to know they were going to trade Mike Montgomery (for value) and/or were going to be able to move Tyler Chatwood (to save payroll space). And if that were a plan the Cubs knew they could roll out, then they better hang onto Hamels so they could have a full and effective rotation, and also still have a little quality depth.
5. The Cubs have serious concerns about the rest of the rotation, but nobody’s gonna say boo about it publicly.
This is the one that I fear is both the most realistic explanation for picking up the Hamels option, and also the most terrifying. No one knows the projections for the Cubs’ rotation better than the Cubs front office, and if they were deeply concerned about the ages of their starters, the possible declines shown by a few over the past three years, the unreliability of some, and the health of Yu Darvish, then they’d have a VERY good reason to hang onto Cole Hamels.
In other words, this explanation is the most straightforward baseball explanation: the Cubs perceived their own needs heading into 2019 fundamentally differently than outsiders did.
None of us would have called the rotation a clear “need” heading into the offseason, but the Cubs sure might have. The rotation wasn’t the flaw in the 2018 season for the Cubs, but it also doesn’t necessarily have the same internal buoyancy for bounce-back that the lineup does.
If we’re honest with ourselves, it’s really not that hard to see where there could have been concerns. Jon Lester is getting long in the tooth, and while he still finds a way to get the results, they are starting to trend down, as are his peripherals. Jose Quintana had a very Quintana-like second half, but it’s certainly possible that he, too, is already naturally declining. Yu Darvish is coming off of a lost season and an elbow clean-up procedure. There’s no way you can be certain of what you might get. Kyle Hendricks has been steadily very good, but even he’s had fits of time when he’s lost it – and if any more of that velocity goes, his margin for error gets smaller and smaller. Mike Montgomery has shown flashes of success as a starter, but not necessarily at a guaranteed level, and he’s also very valuable in the bullpen. And Tyler Chatwood is coming off one of the wildest seasons in recorded history, so you pretty much have to proceed on the assumption he will give you nothing.
So, then. Do I think all of the worst versions of these guys will actually happen next year? Nah. But could the Cubs roll the dice on some of it happening, and then getting caught with their pants down when they had a chance to hang onto Hamels before he hit the market?
In the end, there may be a combination of explanations here at play. The Cubs really like so much about what Hamels brings to this roster, both in the rotation and in the clubhouse. Why let him get away if you can afford to hang onto him? From there, then, you recognize that you might have to do some other things to address the lineup, but – for roster-crunch, and Addison Russell suspension reasons – that was probably already true anyway.
The Cubs probably made the right in-the-moment decision hanging onto Hamels, even at a very steep cost. Of course, we won’t really know if they were right to do it until the rest of the offseason, and then the 2019 season, play out. Should the Cubs continue to evince an intent not to spend aggressively this offseason in supplementation of a very competitive window, however, the decision to retain Hamels is going to keep coming back up. I reckon I’ll point to the plausible uncertainty in the rotation as the primary driver of the decision, but I also reckon I won’t totally able to shout down the folks who are frustrated about the overall allocation of funds.
Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/2018/11/13/if-money-is-tight-why-would-the-cubs-pay-cole-hamels-20-million-i-can-think-of-some-reasons/
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