Jim Cornelison
Jim Cornelison greets veterans before they joined him on the ice for the singing of the national anthem at the United Center.
Four days after belting out the national anthem heard around cyberspace, JIM CORNELISON had finally made it through all of the social media shoutouts he received in the aftermath of last Sunday night’s Bears-Rams playoff game at Soldier Field.
“When I got home that night, I had 248 text messages and I was like, ‘What the heck?’” Chicago’s famed dramatic tenor said Thursday on News-Gazette Radio.
“And the next day, I got onto Twitter, or X, and oh my god. All day long. I didn’t come up for air from Twitter until Wednesday. Just unbelievable response. I’ve gotten a lot of job inquiries. Interview requests. You guys down there in Champaign. I did one this morning in Miami, Florida.”
Sold-out Soldier Field. National television audience on NBC. Unprecedented pregame hype.
“To see the videos later and see the players singing along,” he said, “I just can’t tell you how special the whole thing was.”
Humrichous wedding
Illinois men’s basketball coach Brad Underwood with Ben Humrichous and the former Adalia McKenzie on their wedding day.
— She’s the 13th all-time leading scorer in Illini women’s basketball history. He’s a top reserve for the 11th-ranked Illinois men.
On Thursday, the former Adalia McKenzie shared the story of the touching moment that led to her becoming ADALIA HUMRICHOUS, wife of BEN, last month:
“I was at a pizza place with this family that I stayed with for some time. They go to the church I go to. They took me out to dinner and next thing you know, I see someone walking in and giving my flowers and this note. I was like, ‘Uh-oh.’ I read the note and it said all these sweet things. It was from Ben.
“It said: Come to the back room. I got up and went to the back room, and there were rose petals leading up to where he was. He gave me this sweet speech. I could not tell you what he said. All I know is he got on his left knee and he asked me to be his wife.”
He got an immediate “yes,” followed by “a lot of tears,” she said. “And there was a whole back room full of all of our family and friends.”
Fergie Jenkins
Chicago Cubs pitching great Fergie Jenkins speaks during the unveiling of his statue on May 20, 2022 outside Wrigley Field in Chicago.
— As a 28-year-old Cub, FERGIE JENKINS went the distance 30 times during his Cy Young season of 1971. That’s one more complete game than every pitcher in the majors combined to throw last season.
“I think they’re protected too much,” the Hall of Famer said two days before he speaks at the Illini baseball program’s annual Hot Stove Banquet.
“You see a lot of these young men going four and five innings and not understanding they could do it longer if they were given the opportunity. I just think that the organizations, the agents, whoever’s stopping them from continuing to pitch into the sixth, seventh and eighth inning … it’s something that should be changed. And I think it’s going to change in the near future.”
Click on the podcast of Thursday's show for much more from Jenkins — including his toughest out (Roberto Clemente), smartest manager (Leo Durocher) and favorite current big leaguer (Nico Hoerner) — and a guest lineup that also featured retail expert NATHAN YANG, of the UI's Gies College of Business.
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$45 million gift from Pampered Chef founder inspired by 'love my experience at the U of I'
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