Latest news with #CubsWorldSeries
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former Chicago Cubs public address announcer Andrew Belleson relaunches his career again in Rockford
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — There are a lot of new players on the Rockford Rivets Northwoods League baseball team this season. They also have a new manager, and a new guy at the microphone streaming their games, although he's not new to Belleson is his name. Some Rivets games this season, he'll do play-by-play, others he will provide analysis. Belleson started his broadcasting career in Rockford at this (Rivets) stadium as an intern two decades ago.'We're dating ourselves here, but yeah, yeah, Rockford Riverhawks (former Frontier League team in Rockford),' said Belleson. 'I did PA here when the stadium was almost brand new, and it was pointed out that that was about 20 years ago.'Then Belleson made an almost unheard of jump from RiverHawks minor league baseball in Rockford to the Chicago Cubs. He landed the Cubs public address announcer job.'I was a kid Scott. I was 23 years old. There was about 3,000 people that applied, and it wasn't really my interest to apply. I figured I've got no chance…but I did.' 'I got hired about week before opening day in 2011.'Wrigley Field became Belleson's office for ten years. He was there for the Cubs World Series season in 2016.'I was so fortunate to do it during the run they had. The timing was great. I've got a World Series ring which I don't deserve.'It was quite a gig for a young man who grew up a Cubs' fan, but in 2020 Belleson walked away from that job. His heart was set on broadcasting games. It wasn't set on being a public address announcer.'Play-by-play is my passion. It's always been (that), and my goal is to make it back to the big leagues as a play-by-play guy. I knew if I didn't step away from what I thought was my dream job at that point, that this might never happen.'The past few years, Belleson has done play-by-play work for the Chicago Dogs and Windy City Thunderbolts minor league baseball teams. Now, he's back in Rockford hoping this city will again be his next stepping-stone to another dream your dream job now is play-by-play for the Cubs?'Well, I'll take it if you're offering. Yeah, I'll take that, but a major league job somewhere someday again would be very neat for me personally.'The Rivets games are streamed on which can also be accessed through the Rivets website. Some of the games are also streamed by ESPN+. So, you can catch Belleson there along with his broadcast/streaming partner Ian Plaskoff. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chicago mayor: Trump acting like ‘terrorist' for withholding federal funding
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) compared President Trump to a terrorist after the president threatened to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities. 'Trying to hold people hostage and manipulating them to succumb to his will, and then hold up our tax dollars, that is how terrorists behave,' Johnson said Tuesday. 'Look, he's not going to hold the people of Chicago ransom.' Since starting his second term, Trump has set his sights on sanctuary cities, or jurisdictions that limit the amount of information they will share with federal immigration officers. In February, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies and departments to refrain from providing funds to states and localities that could 'facilitate the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration, or abet so-called 'sanctuary' policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.' Chicago is a sanctuary city and could lose up to $3.5 billion if Trump holds firm. The nation's third largest city received almost $2.5 billion total in federal funding last year. But with an anticipated $1.12 billion budget shortfall, the city's budget this year is relying on $2.7 billion in federal grants. 'These aren't threats anymore,' Johnson said. 'These are real, adversarial attacks against working people.' The mayor said he has no plans to travel to the White House to try to discuss the threats with the president. 'There's a long history of Black political leaders talking to people who may not see us as first class,' Johnson said. 'Outside of a 2016 Cubs World Series ring, I'm not kissing a ring, okay? The president of the United States of America has an open invitation to the fifth floor of the greatest freakin' city in the world, the city of Chicago. He can come talk to me,' he added. Johnson clarified that he was not calling the president a terrorist, but said he is committed to standing up for Chicagoans. 'I have a responsibility to working people, and advocating on behalf of working people, but trying to force your will to break the spirit of working people in order to have a conversation? That's terrorism. We're not going to negotiate with terrorists.' Johnson is not the first Chicago mayor to have a hostile relationship with Trump. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) often found herself at odds with the president during his first administration. In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, Lightfoot accused Trump of dishonoring Floyd's memory after the president suggested those protesting his death should be shot. 'I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump. It's two words. It begins with F and it ends with you,' Lightfoot said at the time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
16-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Chicago mayor: Trump acting like ‘terrorist' for withholding federal funding
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) compared President Trump to a terrorist after the president threatened to withhold federal funding for sanctuary cities. 'Trying to hold people hostage and manipulating them to succumb to his will, and then hold up our tax dollars, that is how terrorists behave,' Johnson said on Tuesday. 'Look, he's not going to hold the people of Chicago ransom.' Since starting his second term, Trump has set his sights on sanctuary cities, or jurisdictions that limit the amount of information it will share with federal immigration officers. In February, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies and departments to refrain from providing funds to states and localities that could 'facilitate the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration, or abet so-called 'sanctuary' policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.' Chicago is a sanctuary city, and could lose up to $3.5 billion if Trump holds firm. The nation's third largest city received almost $2.5 billion total in federal funding last year. But with an anticipated $1.12 billion budget shortfall, the city's budget this year is relying on $2.7 billion in federal grants. 'These aren't threats anymore,' Johnson said. 'These are real, adversarial attacks against working people.' The mayor said he has no plans to travel to the White House to try to discuss the threats with the president. 'There's a long history of Black political leaders talking to people who may not see us as first class,' Johnson said. 'Outside of a 2016 Cubs World Series ring, I'm not kissing a ring, okay? The president of the United States of America has an open invitation to the fifth floor of the greatest freakin' city in the world, the City of Chicago. He can come talk to me,' he added. 'I have a responsibility to working people, and advocating on behalf of working people, but trying to force your will to break the spirit of working people in order to have a conversation? That's terrorism. We're not going to negotiate with terrorists.' Johnson is not the first Chicago mayor to have a hostile relationship with Trump. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) often found herself at odds with the president during his first administration. In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, Lightfoot accused Trump of dishonoring Floyd's memory after the president suggested those protesting his death should be shot. 'I will code what I really want to say to Donald Trump. It's two words. It begins with F and it ends with you,' Lightfoot said at the time.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Trump's threats to federal funding: ‘We're not going to negotiate with terrorists'
CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson lambasted President Donald Trump dangling the possibility of cutting federal funding over Democratic leaders as 'terrorism' in a Tuesday news conference during which he offered few specifics on how he would fight back. Speaking to reporters at City Hall, the mayor responded to a question about Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's now-viral visit to the Oval Office last week by flatly rejecting the possibility of stopping by the White House himself. 'I will just say, outside of a 2016 Cubs World Series ring, I'm not kissing a ring, OK?' Johnson said. 'The president of the United States of America has an open invitation to the fifth floor of the greatest freakin' city in the world, the city of Chicago. He can come talk to me.' Then Johnson addressed the ongoing balancing act that politicians previously unfriendly to Trump have had to walk between flattering and antagonizing the president as he has threatened to withhold federal aid to blue states and cities — including Chicago. Last week, the president said he was moving to strip cities with sanctuary policies for immigrants of all federal aid, a threat he has made before. 'Trying to force your will to break the spirit of working people in order to have a conversation, that's terrorism. We're not going to negotiate with terrorists,' Johnson said. Asked if he was calling Trump a terrorist, the mayor continued: 'No. What I'm saying is trying to hold people hostage and manipulating them to succumb to his will and then hold up our tax dollars, that is how terrorists behave.' Johnson's assessment comes about three months after Trump assumed office for his second term and brought with him a host of fresh anxieties for Chicagoans to consider, from mass deportations to the revocation of up to $3.5 billion in federal aid for the city and sister agencies. Johnson had said a week before the inauguration that he was open to 'a serious conversation about how we build a better, stronger, safer Chicago' with the Trump administration because he is not 'mean-spirited,' but his Tuesday remarks signaled those prospects were dimmer than ever. During Trump's first term, Johnson's predecessor Lori Lightfoot met with the president's daughter Ivanka in the West Wing when she was mayor-elect, but she did not otherwise visit the White House. Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel similarly skipped meeting with Trump while the two were in office, though they did huddle in 2016 before Trump was sworn in. Emanuel on Tuesday also caught some scorn from Johnson in the news conference. 'Our challenges in Chicago did not start with Donald Trump,' the mayor said. 'One of the greatest, I believe, acts of terror that was ever administered by an administration was the Emanuel administration.' Johnson was talking about Emanuel's 2013 decision to close dozens of Chicago public schools. But he did not provide clarity on the subject he was asked about, the future of the school district's 'diversity, equity and inclusion' policies in the wake of White House threats against its $1.3 billion in federal funding. And Johnson's answer when he was asked Tuesday about his contingency plans should the city in fact lose its total $3.5 billion in total federal aid similarly lacked details. 'These aren't threats anymore, right? These are real, adversarial attacks against working people,' the mayor said while nodding to his promise to start planning earlier for the city's 2026 budget — which includes a projected $1.12 billion deficit. _____
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Trump's threats to federal funding: ‘We're not going to negotiate with terrorists'
Mayor Brandon Johnson lambasted President Donald Trump dangling the possibility of cutting federal funding over Democratic leaders as 'terrorism' in a Tuesday news conference during which he offered few specifics on how he would fight back. Speaking to reporters at City Hall, the mayor responded to a question about Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's now-viral visit to the Oval Office last week by flatly rejecting the possibility of stopping by the White House himself. 'I will just say, outside of a 2016 Cubs World Series ring, I'm not kissing a ring, OK?' Johnson said. 'The president of the United States of America has an open invitation to the fifth floor of the greatest freakin' city in the world, the city of Chicago. He can come talk to me.' Then Johnson addressed the ongoing balancing act that politicians previously unfriendly to Trump have had to walk between flattering and antagonizing the president as he has threatened to withhold federal aid to blue states and cities — including Chicago. Last week, the president said he was moving to strip cities with sanctuary policies for immigrants of all federal aid, a threat he has made before. 'Trying to force your will to break the spirit of working people in order to have a conversation, that's terrorism. We're not going to negotiate with terrorists,' Johnson said. Asked if he was calling Trump a terrorist, the mayor continued: 'No. What I'm saying is trying to hold people hostage and manipulating them to succumb to his will and then hold up our tax dollars, that is how terrorists behave.' Johnson's assessment comes about three months after Trump assumed office for his second term and brought with him a host of fresh anxieties for Chicagoans to consider, from mass deportations to the revocation of up to $3.5 billion in federal aid for the city and sister agencies. Johnson had said a week before the inauguration that he was open to 'a serious conversation about how we build a better, stronger, safer Chicago' with the Trump administration because he is not 'mean-spirited,' but his Tuesday remarks signaled those prospects were dimmer than ever. During Trump's first term, Johnson's predecessor Lori Lightfoot met with the president's daughter Ivanka in the West Wing when she was mayor-elect, but she did not otherwise visit the White House. Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel similarly skipped meeting with Trump while the two were in office, though they did huddle in 2016 before Trump was sworn in. Emanuel on Tuesday also caught some scorn from Johnson in the news conference. 'Our challenges in Chicago did not start with Donald Trump,' the mayor said. 'One of the greatest, I believe, acts of terror that was ever administered by an administration was the Emanuel administration.' Johnson was talking about Emanuel's 2013 decision to close dozens of Chicago public schools. But he did not provide clarity on the subject he was asked about, the future of the school district's 'diversity, equity and inclusion' policies in the wake of White House threats against its $1.3 billion in federal funding. And Johnson's answer when he was asked Tuesday about his contingency plans should the city in fact lose its total $3.5 billion in total federal aid similarly lacked details. 'These aren't threats anymore, right? These are real, adversarial attacks against working people,' the mayor said while nodding to his promise to start planning earlier for the city's 2026 budget — which includes a projected $1.12 billion deficit.
