James Pollard
It's sung at baseball stadiums around the United States. But the impact of 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' goes much further than simply getting fans out of their...
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Illinois football looks to cement its foothold in Chicago with events such as Illini Night at Wrigley Field
Members of the Illinois football team visited Wrigley Field on Tuesday for the second of three Illini Nights at major-league ballparks. It's one of many ways the program is looking to bolster its relationship with the city of Chicago. Recruiting is always on the mind of college coaches, and Bret Bielema wants Chicago to be an Illinois hub. With Champaign located more than two hours south of the city and Northwestern labeling itself 'Chicago's Big Ten team,' the Illini could face disadvantages when it comes to local talent. Bielema wants to change that. 'Since I took the job, I've talked about building relationships with Illinois, (and) we've done a better job in state, collectively downstate and here in the Chicago area,' Bielema said Tuesday. 'Going into Year 5, we have a roster that is significantly different and about half of it is from Illinois.' The current Illini roster lists 49 players from Illinois, including 33 from the Chicago area. Senior center Josh Kreutz from Loyola was among the players present for Illini Night. 'We weren't really a big 'go to Chicago all the time' family,' said Kreutz, who grew up in Bannockburn as the son of six-time Pro Bowl Bears center Olin Kreutz. 'I did go to a lot of Bears games growing up.' Added senior left guard Josh Gesky, who's from Manteno, north of Kankakee: 'I've been up here a few times and played here at Wrigley (against Northwestern last season). It's a great city to be a part of and I'm very excited that they were able to bring me here.' The Illini won that regular-season finale Nov. 30, beating the Wildcats 38-28 to reclaim the Land of Lincoln Trophy behind Aidan Laughery's career-high 172 rushing yards and three touchdowns and quarterback Luke Altmyer's 170 passing yards with two total touchdowns. No footballs were thrown at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, but that didn't mean there weren't lessons to be learned from watching a professional team play — especially for players with NFL dreams. 'You can learn from any aspect of anything you can do,' Gesky said before the game. 'If you have an open mind and are willing to learn, there are opportunities everywhere. If they're down by three (runs) in the third, how do they handle that? And how would I handle it?' Gesky's words proved almost prophetic. The Cubs fell behind 2-0 in the second on Isaac Collins' two-run homer for the Milwaukee Brewers, but they rallied for a 5-3 victory on Seiya Suzuki's three-run homer in the fifth and Pete Crow-Armstrong's solo shot in the eighth. The White Sox previously hosted an Illini Night at Rate Field on May 20, and the St. Louis Cardinals will have one at Busch Stadium for Wednesday's game against the Cubs. Tuesday's event included men's and women's basketball coaches Brad Underwood and Shauna Green throwing out ceremonial first pitches and Bielema singing 'Take Me Out to the Ball Game' with Altmyer during the seventh-inning stretch. Some players questioned what Bielema's singing would sound like, but that didn't faze the coach. 'Super excited to be here,' he said pregame. 'Luke's going to duet with me (and) sharing the stage on the seventh-inning stretch is something I've never done before, so (it will be) a lot of fun.' Bielema and Altmyer also share the same vision for the coming season after the 2024 Illini finished 10-3 with a Citrus Bowl victory over South Carolina. Taking the next step would include contending for the Big Ten title and a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff, which would bring more attention to the program. 'We understand what's important,' Altmyer said. '(It's about) working hard and understanding what got us there and using the gift that we've been given. It's another element that brings eyes to us, but we don't get distracted because of the individuals in our building and our leader, Bielema. 'All the media stuff is new in this world and it wasn't that way back in the '90s and early 2000s. It's a new world and it's easy to get off the straight and narrow path, but when we see (the attention), that's just a part of it.' Before the season gets going, players find events like Illini Night helpful. They feel the intensity of football from spring practice through bowl season, so it's nice to focus on something else, even if just for a night. 'We do a lot of football,' Altmyer said, 'and to be able to get out of your environment, to just be yourself and to do something different with your school, especially with the people you love and the teammates you work really hard with, it's cool.'
Hans India
7 days ago
- Hans India
Protests against Trump's immigration policies staged across all US states
About 2,000 protests against the Trump administration's policies were held in all 50 US states, ranging from small groups in more rural communities to larger rallies in major cities, including New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, among others. The protests on Saturday came as US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown and decision to deploy the military in Los Angeles have already led to large-scale protests and additional protests in several other cities, reports Xinhua news agency. On the same day, a military parade hosted by Trump was staged in Washington for the US Army's 250th anniversary, which coincides with his 79th birthday. The protests, under the slogan "No Kings," have been arranged by a number of groups that overlap with the coalition that pulled together the "Hands Off!" protests on April 5 and other recent large protests against the Trump administration, according to US media reports. The coalition behind the protests has branded Saturday as a "day of defiance" against what the groups describe as "authoritarian overreach" by Trump and his allies. Plans for the event had been underway well before federal immigration raids set off protests in Los Angeles and other cities. Organisers avoided calling for protests in Washington, where the military parade was staged. They have characterised the Washington parade as a theatrical "display of dominance." Trump warned that anyone seeking to protest at the parade would be met with "very big force." In Atlanta, thousands of demonstrators gathered at Liberty Plaza, carrying signs with messages against the administration. The crowd also sang a protest version of the classic tune "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," reworded as "Take Trump Out of the White House." In Nashville, more than 1,000 people gathered near the Tennessee State Capitol and a cheering crowd recited the Pledge of Allegiance, a patriotic verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the Republic. In New York City, the police estimated that around 50,000 people took to the streets, shouted slogans like "What do we want? No ICE! When do we want? Now!" and waved banners reading "No Deportation! Trump Must Go!" and "No Justice, No Peace!" Xinhua reporters on the scene saw no arrests made by police. "That guy isn't content to be president of the United States of America, wants to be king!" Eddie B, a resident, told Xinhua. "But we won't let that happen." Mindy W, a visitor to New York City, said, "We need to rise up and stop him before it's too late and our democracy is gone forever!" In California, over 100,000 protesters staged demonstrations in over 200 cities and towns. Even in Idyllwild, a mountain town with only 3,600 residents, some 600 people took to the streets. Demonstrations even spread to Santa Catalina, an island some 35 km off the coast of Southern California. The authorities in Los Angeles, which has emerged as the epicenter of anxiety over immigration enforcement and seen days of sustained protests, said they were bracing for the possibility of crowd sizes that could be "unprecedented." It turned out that at least 25,000 people participated in the protests in LA on Saturday. Elected leaders and law enforcement officials in California and across the country encouraged protesters to remain peaceful, and organisers of the "No Kings" demonstrations called on participants to focus on "nonviolent action." Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, warned that demonstrations that turned destructive would only feed into an unfounded portrayal of LA as gripped by unrest. In Houston, Texas, the official estimate placed the number of protesters at over 15,000. Xinhua reporter at the scene saw many of them as Latinos and young, peacefully in protest, with one speaker shouting, "No Kings! Just like today, we don't need Donald Trump as king." A speaker named Mima told reporters, "This is a democracy and this isn't a monarchy ... The ICE raids and everything are not right. Violence and ripping families apart are not okay." In Greenville, Ohio, where Democrats are rare, protesters began gathering at noon, waving flags and holding posters in a downtown roundabout. Police warned that anybody blocking the road would go to jail. In Miami, the "No Kings" protest is unfolding near the Torch of Friendship, a symbol of the city's connection to the Caribbean and Latin America, with many protesters waving American flags. As is the tradition with protests on Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami, cars passing by were honking steadily to show support, and people were banging pots and pans. Ras Baraka, mayor of Newark, travelled between protests in New Jersey, heading from one in Montclair to another in Piscataway. He recounted what happened after his arrest last month following a clash at Delaney Hall, a private detention centre. "What I found out is that people who don't defend immigrants won't defend me either," he said. "We have to defend that right and defend it vociferously."
Miami Herald
14-06-2025
- Miami Herald
Thousands Mobilize for ‘No Kings' Demonstrations Across All 50 States
EDITORS NOTE: EDS: SUBS throughout to update; REVISES headline and byline; ADDS related story; RECODES as an added Page 1 refer.); (ART ADV: With photos.); (With: TRUMP-MILITARY-ASSESS, CALIF-PROTESTS-RECONSTRUCT Many thousands of protesters filled plazas, streets and parks across the country Saturday, mounting a mass mobilization against a president that many demonstrators decried as authoritarian. The protests, in small towns and major cities including Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta, came as President Donald Trump was set to host a military parade in Washington in the afternoon. The "No Kings" events in all 50 states were animated in part by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, domestic military mobilization, spending cuts and parade in Washington that coincided with the president's 79th birthday. With many demonstrators waving American flags, the protest crowds at times recited the Pledge of Allegiance and carried signs referencing the nation's founding fathers. In Newark, New Jersey, Rep. LaMonica Mclver stood in front of a statue of Abraham Lincoln and struck a tone of defiance. She faces federal charges of interfering with federal law enforcement outside a migrant detention center. "They will not silence, intimidate or bully me," Mclver said. "We have to be on the front lines to fight for democracy." That message took a particularly ominous tone as news spread from Minnesota that a person pretending to be a police officer had assassinated a Democratic state lawmaker and attempted to kill a second. The state patrol asked people to refrain from attending "No Kings" events in the state, reporting that materials referencing the gatherings were found in the vehicle of the suspect, who remained at large Saturday afternoon. Hours later, authorities in Texas evacuated the state Capitol and its grounds "out of an abundance of caution" after receiving what they described as a credible threat toward state legislators who were expected to attend the protest in Austin. The collective action encompassed some 2,000 planned events. Those protests came amid building outrage over raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Los Angeles that led to mass demonstrations and conflicts with law enforcement. In San Francisco, hundreds of protesters blocked the entrances of a building that houses ICE offices after dozens of immigrants who lack permanent legal status received phone alerts telling them to check in for appointments Saturday. The agency has been detaining immigrants who show up at routine check-ins. In Atlanta, thousands of people packed into Liberty Plaza, carrying signs that included the message "Stop Trump's Terrorism" and singing a rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" adjusted with the words "Take Trump out of the White House." In Westerly, Rhode Island, hundreds of people stood in a light rain along U.S. Highway 1, some with signs and bullhorns. One sign read: "Not a paid protestor, I hate him for free." People marched in the rain down Queens Boulevard in New York City, occupying 10 blocks of a service lane. The mood was boisterous as people chanted "No Kings in Queens," and people in passing cars honked their horns and cheered. In Staten Island, the city's most conservative borough, demonstrators on Victory Boulevard also were met with supportive honks from cars and, in some cases, heckling. "Long live the king," one driver shouted as he passed the group. Thousands swelled the area outside City Hall in Los Angeles, which has emerged as the epicenter of anxiety over immigration enforcement and has seen days of sustained protests. Members of Russian dissident group Pussy Riot, their heads covered in red balaclavas, climbed the steps of City Hall with a banner that read, "It's beginning to look a lot like Russia." Authorities in Los Angeles had said they were bracing for crowd sizes that could be "unprecedented." Elected leaders and law enforcement officials in California and across the country encouraged protesters to remain peaceful, and organizers of the No Kings demonstrations called on participants to focus on "nonviolent action." In Houston, some demonstrators handed out flowers to police officers who were securing the route of the protest. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
