Chicago Current's second issue comes out Monday

Issue Two of the Chicago Current is set to come out Monday, and we're excited to tell you how you can get a copy of the print edition.

The issue features more of the smart political reporting you've become accustomed to on chicagocurrent.com.

A sampling of the second edition, includes:

Political writer Adrian Uribarri examines the current state of the Republican Party in Illinois;

Geoff Dougherty takes a look at the Chicago Police Board's policies;

County reporter Alex Parker asks Todd Stroger why he deserves a second chance;

and correspondent Andrea Zelinski investigates redistricting of Illinois districts.

Now, how can you get a copy of the paper?

We'll be handing out copies from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday at the following locations:

City Hall;

the Damen Blue Line station;

and Red Line stops at Addison, Belmont and Fullerton;

and the Diversey Brown Line stop.

So get a copy, join the conversation on chicagocurrent.com, and let us know what you think.

The best and worst hockey jerseys ever: A half-thought through list

I've had lots of fun reading people's thoughts on my (apparently inflammatory) post on the suckage of the Missouri Mavericks' uniforms.

Some say the colors are great, others say the mascot is cool. The general consensus is that my ideas for a name/color change are ridiculous. I disagree, but whatever.

So, in the spirit of rational discourse, here's my list of the five best, and five worst hockey jerseys out there. Some of this is based on design. Some of it based on emotion. Most of it is just off the top of my head because, let's face it, Thanksgiving is over and I have more important things to do than troll the Internet for jerseys. Which I will start doing now.

Behold:
The five best hockey jerseys:
Chicago Blackhawks
Never mind the fact that I love the Hawks and am ecstatic about their return to glory. This jersey is sharp, distinguished and proud. Just ask Denis Savard about committing to the Indian. (Special consideration to the Hawks' sweet Winter Classic unis. The Wings' were good, too.)







2) Boston Bruins
Another Classic Original Six jersey. It's minimalist, but like all the Original Six uniforms, it's hardly changed.

3) Hartford Whalers
Simply because I love the Whale. I used to go to games at the old Hartford Civic Center to watch the likes of Pat Verbeek, Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Dean Evason, Mike Liut, Ulf Samuelsson, Randy Cunnyworth, Paul Cyr, Geoff Sanderson - well, you get the point. I have a soft spot for the old green jerseys, but the newer blue ones were cool, too. Just as long as that wuss Paul Coffey wasn't wearing it. Jerk.

4) Old school Miami University

I'm clearly writing with my heart here. But my alma mater's old jerseys, especially the '99-'00 ones with the red shoulders are classic. Go Hawks!

5) Sweden
The Swedish National Team's jerseys are great. They say a lot without being loud. The three crowns say all they need to: We are Sweden, our women are hot and we will score goals on you.

Honorable Mention: Chicago Wolves, Rochester Americans, old NHL All-Star jerseys






The Worst
This list sums up some fugly minor league jerseys (don't worry. The Mavericks aren't on there, not even their atrocious Harry Truman sweaters).
1) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim third jersey
What the? Why the? Absurd.















2) Buffalo Sabres, mid-90s era
This jersey looks like a tomato and a black marker were put in a blender. Fail.















3) Any Ohio State Buckeyes jersey Atlanta Thrashers
What is this? The NBA. No, thank you.












4) Vancouver Canucks, late '70s/early '80s
'Nuff said.















5) TIE: Kansas City Blades/Chicago Blackhawks
Two of my favorite teams had two of the worst jerseys ever. The sweaters the Blades wore in their final years were an attempt to make them look mean. Instead, they looked silly. I guess I just really liked their original jerseys.

The black "third" jerseys that Hawks wore up until this year were an abomination, and a nod to the lack of imaginative thinking that crippled the team for most of the last two decades.

















There you have it. Thoughts?

On hockey jerseys, and why the Missouri Mavericks should change theirs

This past Friday I checked out the new minor league hockey team near Kansas City, the Missouri Mavericks. It was a good game, with a lively crowd, lots of goals and fights, making for an entertaining evening.

It was nice to see hockey back in Kansas City, which has been without a professional hockey team since the lame Outlaws voluntarily folded a few years ago. Before that, KC enjoyed the IHL's Blades, which folded in 1999. And it was years prior to the Blades 1990 debut that KC had the short-lived Scouts, which by way of Denver, became the successful New Jersey Devils.

The Mavericks game was fun, but the jersey and mascot were lame. The main attraction on the powder blue and orange/gold? jersey is a cartoonish horse brandishing a hockey stick. It's been played out, and some folks have observed its resemblance to the logos of the Kentucky Thoroughblades and the hated Denver Broncos.

(UPDATE: It may interest some readers that the inaugural Thoroughblades team was actually the last Blades team. They pretty much picked up and moved to Kentucky.)











My biggest problem, I think, is that the Missouri Mavericks name has no real tie to Missouri, Kansas City or the town the team plays in, Independence. Not that I can say the Chiefs, Royals (though the name hearkens to the old Monarchs of the Negro Leagues), Blades, Outlaws or myriad other teams that have called Kansas City home have either (though the Scouts and perennial ABA start-up Stars do.)

So I've taken it upon myself to start an Internet campaign to change the name of the Missouri Mavericks hockey team to something like the a) Missouri 33s, b) Independence 33s, or c) Independence Independents (Go Indies!).

33s? you ask...Well, Independence is the hometown of our 33rd president, Harry S. Truman. Why not honor the man who has given the town so much? It's a cool name and could make a cool jersey, as evidenced (or not) by my below attempts at Photoshop.

The Independents name is just fun to say.

But all the jerseys I've attempted to design have one thing in common: A red, white and blue scheme that is in tune with the flags of Missouri, Kansas City and the United States. Both names - 33s and Independents - have an air of Americana in them. "33" honors a revered leader. "Independents," like Mavericks (only cooler), refers to the pioneering spirit that helped found the Kansas City area.

So this is it! A grassroots campaign to kill Mav the Maverick (may he join Chilly the Chipmunk in mascot heaven), and to bring on a relevant name for our local hockey team. Plus, it would give Steve Bell a cooler name to say when the team scores. (SIGN THE PETITION!)

Below are what I envision being, in order, the home and away jerseys of the 33s - the away jerseys would resemble the Rangers' uniforms (again, limited Photoshop skills here); and two away jerseys for the Independents, aka the Indies.

"Digg"ing in at the Daily Herald

Proving once again my mind is filled with brilliant ideas that I will most likely never produce, the Daily Herald uses a unique reader comment feature, which I've always thought would be a fantastic addition to news sites.

Like Digg and Windy Citizen, the Daily Herald allows readers to up-vote or down-vote reader comments. If enough people down-vote a comment, it disappears from from view, though you can read it by clicking a links that says "show".

It's a good way to eliminate (or attempt to, at least) the drivel that populates so many reader comment boards. On the other hand, it can stifle the true nature of the conversations that take place there.

I wonder how many news sites have similar features. I think it's a smart move.

Who is behind ChicagoTribunal.com?

I often search Google for stories similar to ones I’ve written to see who else is talking about them. Recently, local reporters have been talking about whether or not the city is planning on closing any of its mental health centers.

The Chicago Tribune has written a number of stories, several of which took place at town hall meetings with Mayor Daley.

I expected to see them on ChicagoTribune.com. I did not expect to see those mental health stories – indeed, all of the Chicago Tribune’s stories – on ChicagoTribunal.com.

Chicago Tribunal? It looks a lot like the Trib’s pre-redesign site, and the logo uses the same old(e) English font as the Trib. But it’s not the Tribune. It’s merely a regurgitation of Trib stories on a copycat site.

So who’s behind it? Tough question.

I typed in www.chicagotribunal.com into the form at the powerful domain search engine WhoIs.net.

I didn’t tell me who the operator was, as it does with many sites. Instead it gave me an address and a phone number.

And when I typed the phone number into the White Pages’ reverse directory, it came up one Adriano Galliani, who shared the same address as the WhoIs listing. It also listed a business, AC Milan Online Shop. Galliani, Google tells me, owns AC Milan, the stories Italian soccer club.

But why would a rich Italian sportsman own a copycat Web site? It makes no sense.

Turns out the address, 8939 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Westchester, Calif, is occupied by WhoIs, and it allows Web site domain owners to hide their real addresses.

WhoIs tells readers to check out ChicagoTrbunal.com’s listing on AboutUs.Org, which tells us it is a Chicago news site, with related sites including ChicagoTribune.com and ChicagoBreakingNews.com, both Trib properties. Its Alexa rankings don’t even register.

A Free Republic article from 2004 shows these elusive domains are quite common, and some of them are hidden by their Web hosts. There is some concern that these sites might be run by terrorist cells. In fact, the Free Republic story notes that one Web host, HostingAnime, lists the Sepulveda address as its home base. But building managers said it is not actually located there.

Should the Trib be worried about this copycat? Probably not. Unlike some aggregators, it has a miniscule audience and next to no outreach, meaning its only readers are probably like me, coming across it unwittingly.

But I wonder if the site will last after TribCo finds out about it. It seems like there would be a case for misrepresentation and unfair use of content. But I’m no lawyer.

By the way, AboutUs recommends a number of URLs which have yet to be purchased. Maybe I’ll gobble up ChicagoTribunet.com or ChicagoTribunen.com. I may just be the next shady dot com media mogul

Does anyone know how or why these sites operate? Chicago Tribunal has no advertising, so what’s the point? Color me intrigued.

In praise of copy editors

Ah, copy editors. The unheralded saviors of newsrooms everywhere. It's too bad they are casualties of the faltering news business, in addition to reporters. Doh.

My local SPJ chapter is worthless

As a cash-strapped scribe, I’ve often had to watch where my money goes. But I was adamant that I would continue owning membership in the Society of Professional Journalists, and the local chapter.

The learning opportunities, access to events and networking possibilities still seem valuable to me, but I am very disappointed in the local chapter that I joined (which shall remain nameless).

Even though I’ve since left that market, my dues for 2009 are in and I’ve kept up with goings on in the region.

I think that’s a major difference between me and my SPJ chapter.

My SPJ chapter is a vacuum of nothingness, a few old souls living on a deserted Web site that sometimes offers an oasis of participation, but little engagement.

The board of directors is a group of gray-haired veterans, and the chapter’s membership engagement and online presence may be indicative of why our business is in trouble.

I have not received any email notification of events, nor have I been privy to a chapter newsletter since May 2008. Minutes from chapter meetings are more than a year old, and the chapter’s blog (a big step forward, you’d think), has two – TWO! – entries since 2006.

I received no response when I offered feedback to the organization’s president.

And this in a market that is bleeding journalists, where innovation ,competition, ideas and thorough public affairs reporting are needed, but in my humble and distanced opinion, are not produced to the extent necessary.

What is the value of a local SPJ membership? A discount for awards submissions?

No. It should be a culture of conversation and ideas, a marketplace for innovation, where somehow new thinking might permeate the skull of outmoded news concepts.

And where is the engagement and feedback from the younger set? A Facebook fan page does not suffice.

It is frightening how a journalism organization is proof positive that this business is in trouble.

As for my local chapter, I won’t be renewing my membership and the fact that I no longer live there is only one reason.