How is everyone’s weekend going? So I went to a youth football clinic Friday night in Waukegan.
Waukegan is located in Northern Lake County, about 40 miles north of Chicago near Lake Michigan. A large group from the eighth grade youth team I coach were there, along with a large group of kids from neighboring middle schools and elementary schools.
It was a terrific event, sponsored by USA Football and the Chicago Bears. To watch our players intermingle with athletes from other communities through the great game of football, time worth spent.
Before the event, all participants were asked to provide proof of vaccination and required to wear a mask. I have no issues with vaccination request. But the masking? Nothing but virtue signaling cosmetics. Someone had to provide one for me as I don’t own a mask any more.
The enforcement…non-existent (of course!) Coaches and athletes either took them off or dropped them below their chin for almost the entire clinic.
Everybody had a great time and I thank the Bears for making community outreach a priority. But good golly we need to stop with these displays of farcical masking. Unfortunately, I don’t we will for the foreseeable future.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
Covid Safety Rules In Flux As Schools Prepare to Reopen.
All over the country, public and private schools are well into reopening mode. Many have already begun classes, including several large districts in Illinois. How are districts handling Covid safety procedures? The NY Times takes a comprehensive look across the country and discovers how plans are as disparate as the rules themselves. Enforcing mask mandates? That’s an entirely different challenge for school officials.
Frequently on the Six I try and post articles from newsletters such as The Kerr Report. There’s quite a bit of good writing on Substack, the platform of TKR and many other publications. This week, author/writer Walter Kirn (who’s written eight books, most famously Up In The Air, the film starring George Clooney) takes a spin on modern media consumption and the ever crumbling quest for truth seeking, replaced by the 24/7 propulsion of narrative building.
Why We Still Obsess Over “The Sopranos.”
I re-watched the series “The Sopranos” over the past year and a half. I am closer, older in fact, in age now to Tony Soprano than I was when the show first came out. When I first watched it, I was closer in age to his son, AJ Soprano, and it was like watching a different show than my recent reviewing. With a new movie prequel, “The Many Saints of Newark,” on the way, Vanity Fair speaks to the show’s creator David Chase about its enduring success.
An Olympics Reporter Watches His Daughter Win A Medal.
A moment to cherish for journalist-dad Pat Forde, as he witnesses his daughter—U.S. swimmer Brooke Forde—win silver in Tokyo. Forde, who has written for ESPN, Yahoo and currently with Sports Illustrated has covered nine Olympics in his career. This time, with fans spectators banned due to Covid, Forde got a bird’s eye view no other parent of an Olympic athlete was allowed to experience in Tokyo this summer.
Toughest Games? Probably So Say The Heptathletes And Decathletes.
Another Olympic story, but free of politics. After the grueling two-day, 10-event decathlon, exhausted competitors collapsed on the track Aug. 5 following the 1500-meter run on day 13 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Getty Images photographer Richard Heathcote captured the final draining moments in a sprawling aerial image that conveys the aftermath of when athletes give it their all in competition. Phenomenal imagery.
When A Surfer Gets Photo Bombed By A Shark.
A teenager goes for a surf in the waters near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Then out of nowhere…just behind him…watch the video. The slow mo kicks in at about the five second mark. Not photoshopped, raw live footage captured by the boy’s mother. Pretty cool stuff.
Have a great rest of your weekend everybody. Thanks for reading as always.
Have a suggestion for the Sunday Six? Send email to jon@jonjkerr.com