The state football playoff experience increased for schools from the Chicago Public League, with teams from the four Chicago Conference divisions joining the schools in the Illini Conference. While the results don't show it, the city game is making strides -- despite the fact the only first-round winners predictably were Morgan Park and Hubbard.
The Illinois High School Association announced pairings and brackets for its eight-class, 256-team postseason tournament Saturday night.
Brett Basanez was the 2000 Chicago Sun-Times football Player of the Year as a senior at St. Viator. After a stint with the Carolina Panthers, the former Northwestern standout is now a member of the Bears. He has an important message for high school athletes that needs to be heard.
In 1913 ... Woodrow Wilson became the 28th president; union wages in Chicago were 68.75 cents per hour for plumbers; Mel Allen, Paul ''Bear'' Bryant, Gerald Ford, Woody Hayes, Jimmy Hoffa, Richard Nixon and Jesse Owens were born; Harriet Tubman died; the population of Naperville was 2,135; Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's defeated John McGraw's New York Giants in the World Series.
