THIS YOU GOTTA SEE
THE WEEK AHEAD IN SPORTS
SUN 16 DAYTONA 500 (1:30 P.M., FOX-32)
Watch the best in the world trade paint on a 2½-mile superspeedway as iconic as Lambeau or Wrigley. If they ain’t rubbin’, they ain’t racin’, we’ve always said. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the pole with a fast lap of 194.582 mph in qualifying, which begs the question: Who the heck is Ricky Stenhouse Jr.?
NBA ALL-STAR GAME (7 P.M., TNT)
Team LeBron or Team Giannis? The James Gang has Anthony Davis, James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. The Fightin’ Antetokounmpos have Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam and Jimmy Butler. In related news, Team Boylen has the night off.
MON 17 “THE ADAMLES: MIND OVER MATTER” (7 P.M., NBCSCH)
A half-hour documentary chronicles the past year with former Northwestern and Bears running back and Chicago broadcaster Mike Adamle and his wife, Kim, as they’ve navigated through the challenges of Adamle’s chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Here’s to a man our Rick Telander once described as “courage incarnate.”
TUE 18 ILLINOIS AT PENN STATE (5:30 P.M., FS1)
What has this world come to when a trip to State College for basketball is practically as grueling as a trip there for football? There’s a lot of upside-down going on in the Big Ten, and the Illini’s own success is one such example. Speaking of that success: How’s that knee feeling, Ayo Dosunmu?
WED 19 RANGERS AT BLACKHAWKS (7 P.M., NBCSN)
The reeling Hawks are home after what must have felt like an endless, miserable stretch in the Canadian wilderness. That is, inasmuch as one can describe four cities with an average population of more than 900,000 “the wilderness.”
THU 20 HORNETS AT BULLS (7 P.M., NBCSCH)
Consider this game — the Bulls’ first after the All-Star break — the beginning of Act 2 of their season. Act 1 also began against the Hornets, with a 126-125 loss in Charlotte that set the tone for a whole lot of disappointment and frustration. Will there be an Act 3? Presumably, that would be the playoffs. No, there will be no Act 3.
FRI 21 PELICANS AT TRAIL BLAZERS (9:30 P.M., ESPN)
His name is Zion Williamson, and, no, you can’t get enough of him. Not yet. ESPN will be sure to let you know if and when that time comes.
SAT 22 ATHLETICS AT CUBS (2:05 P.M., MARQUEE)
For many of us, baseball hasn’t really come back around again until we can see it with our own eyes. But will there be as many eyes on the new Marquee Sports Network as there were on Cubs games before the switch? It’ll still be Sloan Park. It’ll still be Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies in the booth and the same familiar faces on the field. Different, though, somehow, we reckon.
LOYOLA AT MISSOURI STATE (2:30 P.M., CBSSN)
An easy Missouri Valley “W” for the contending Ramblers against the also-ran Bears? Not so fast, friends. Last season, Porter Moser’s team went down 70-35 in Springfield — Loyola’s lowest-scoring output in more than 20 years. ✶