The short videos at the end of this are a bit unexpected and uncommon from what I generally post here, but somewhat fun, I think.

But first some background.

It's been quite a week for women's sports at the beloved Northwestern.  The other day, the women's golf team won their first-ever national championship.  And yesterday, the remarkable women's lacrosse team qualified for tomorrow's national championship finals by winning their semi-final match against Boston College -- coming back from an 11-6 deficit to win 12-11.

This was a big deal, since Boston College beat Northwestern last year in the finals -- after Northwestern had beaten Boston College in the finals the year before.

And the reason I call them "the remarkable women's lacrosse team" is because that win in 2023 was the Northwestern women's team eighth national championship in 18 years under coach Kelly Amonte Hiller. 

The finals this year, to be played on Sunday at 9 AM Pacific Coast time, will be broadcast on ESPN.  It'll be a tough contest, against #1 ranked North Carolina.  Northwestern is ranked #4.

As it happens, when I was back in Chicago last month, I was staying in Evanston and went to the campus and wandered around.  And at one point, I came across a practice field by Lake Michigan.  And there was the women's lacrosse team practicing.  I took some short videos and thought this would be a proper time to post them.  One in particular is offbeat and amusing.

If the "start" icon isn't showing, just tap on the image, and it should show up.

This first is a 35-second video of the players in a sort of "shoot-out" scrimmage, practicing their one-on-one moves against the goalie.  (You can see Lake Michigan in the background.)

And this second video is...well, I'm not exactly sure what the point of it is.  They team was at the far end of the field, so the details are a bit far, though I tried to zoom the lens as much as possible.  But what they're doing -- other than having great fun -- was sort of bewildering to him, though a treat to watch.

Basically, they seem to have split the team into two sides and appear to be playing a sort of dodgeball game, but with more than one ball and with what might be a small lacrosse ball.  Though it looks a touch bigger and softer.

Why they are doing this...I don't have a clue.  Perhaps it's to develop hand-eye coordination. Or to develop teamwork or camaraderie.  Or maybe it's just something the women love playing, and it's a treat the coaches give them as a break during practice. 

Whatever it was, it went on for maybe 10-15 minutes.  And they were having a really wonderful time.  (You'll hear the cheers at the end.)  And considering they've won eight national championships in 18 years and are in the finals tomorrow, it seems to work.  Here are 25 seconds of it.

Just a bonus video that I suspect very few people here will be interested in watching.  But that's okay, it's only a bonus.

However, when I posted the breath-of-fresh-air video of the final putt which clinched the first-ever NCAA National Championship for the beloved Northwestern's women's golf team, it was buried at the end of an article about Trump hell.  And the championship deserved better.  It deserved it's own posting.  It deserved it's own headline.

So, here's an an eight-minute video on the final round.  (It's posted by NU Athletics, so it will not come as a shock that the only shots they include are by Northwestern players.)  I'll give away the ending -- the Northwestern women's golf team wins the National Championship.  Its first ever.
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When I was back in Chicago -- Evanston actually, staying just a few blocks from the beloved Northwestern -- I saw the news story on how the Trump administration (in its ongoing fascist effort to destroy education in the United States) had added Northwestern to its list and was demanding "changes" or else they would freeze $790 million in federal funding from the school. This stems from, as the New York Times stated it, Trump team "accusations of racial discrimination stemming from their efforts to promote diversity."

As the article later notes, Northwestern (a Big Ten university) is the first non-Ivy League school to have funding from the Trump administration targeted.

A spokesman for the school, Jon Yates, said -- "Federal funds that Northwestern receives drive innovative and lifesaving research, like the recent development by Northwestern researchers of the world’s smallest pacemaker, and research fueling the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. This type of research is now at jeopardy.”

Before we get to that, I think it's important to know what this actually means, and that's it's not just "spokesman fluff".  When he says "recent, that "world's smallest pacemaker" was announced literally less than two weeks ago, on April 2, and it's utterly remarkable.  Jaw-dropping breathtaking.  Whatever you may have in mind about "world's smallest pacemaker," you almost certainly might want to think smaller -- and even that's not the only thing that's stunning about it.  The device is so small, it can be inserted with a syringe, and then dissolves after it’s no longer needed!

Yes, that's a pacemaker.  And yes, that is small.  And it dissolves when not needed.  Here's a 90-second video about it --

And that's the thing about this fascist Trump effort -- accepted and enabled by MAGOPs in Congress -- to destroy education.  No doubt the base (and the word was never more accurate) loves when its party tries to undermine and shred education by freezing funding for all those "elites."  Except what so much of the federal funding goes for is critical research that impacts the lives of everyone -- Red, Blue and every color in between -- and also helps the U.S. lead the world in scientific and medical advances.

The $2 billion in funding that Trump/MAGOPs now want to freeze may be a joy to the base, but they might want to find out first that the bulk of the money goes for medical research into cancer and Alzheimer's Disease (neither of which discriminate on the basis of political belief...), and also Harvard-based hospitals, like the renowned Mass General and Boston Children's Hospital.  Neither of which discriminate on the basis of...oh, you know.  

If you (whoever you are) ever need and can benefit from the medical care or scientific advances from any of this research that Trump/MAGOPs are trying to freeze, because they want to destroy education and have it heel to their fascist beliefs, just know what could be lost could affect you or your loved ones.  And leadership in the fields might now go overseas.

That's what this is about. Not falsely presumed "elites" or the MAGOP-hated "education."

Which is why I was thrilled to see Harvard turn down the Trump/MAGOP demands, even if it meant losing $2 billion.  It will hurt Harvard -- but it will also hurt all Americans, because they're who benefit from medical advances and needs.  They and everyone in the world.

As Harvard President Alan Garber said, spot-on properly: “No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”

I must assume there will be lawsuits from Harvard and all the universities under threat of their government funding being frozen, including of course Northwestern.  So, hopefully, they will either get to keep their funding for research or won't be blocked.

In the meantime, though, great for Harvard.  What a courageous, important stand to take.

Which leads me to end with this from Tom Lehrer.  To be clear, it's a comic song that has nothing to do with medical research (though does with scholarship), and is really just a chiding number about what a football fight song should be for the school.  But its title fits perfectly, and so that's why we're going with it. 

"Fight Fiercely Harvard," indeed.
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Well, I'm back in Los Angeles, and the elves have left the place in reasonably good shape and didn't leave the refrigerator completely raided.

I'll have something else later today, but while I'm unpacking and reacclimating I thought it proper to repost an article I wrote eight years ago on an earlier trip to Chicago.  It's about one of my several favorite restaurants, Charlie Beinlich's, of which I've never come across anything like it in Los Angeles.  It's very low-key.  Began life over 70 years ago as really pretty much a truck-stop tavern in the suburb of Northbrook (basically across the street from Glencoe, where I grew up -- perhaps on that side of the road because Glencoe was dry, until literally the 1970s.  Yes, really.  In fact, I believe that was the case for all the Cook County suburbs along Lake Michigan because Evanston -- that borders Chicago to the north -- was the world headquarters of the WCTU, the Women's Christian Temperance Union).  Mounted fish on the wall.  Only about a dozen items on the menu, at most.  But what they serve is all so good, and the welcoming service, never feeling rushed even when the place is packed (which is usual) is a joy.

Here's more about Beinlich's.

​​Mainly, they make burgers and cheeseburgers -- thick, juicy, rich, fresh and meaty -- which you can get regular with chips, or deluxe with French fries and coleslaw.  (And the fries are piping hot, and taste like little baked potatoes.) If you're a non-conformist, though, there's barbecued beef, a ham-and-cheese sandwich, grilled cheese, and they eventually added a chicken wrap, as lighter fare, and egg salad.  Honestly, small as the menu is, I can't be accurate with everything since I've only gotten a burger deluxe there for the past probably 40 years.  They're that good.  (I think once, decades ago, I may have gotten a barbecued beef, but I can't swear to it.

The two sides -- and hey, this is Beinlich's, they only need two sides, they're that good -- are shrimp cocktail (which my dad loved), and stunning chili.  Okay, my dad loved that, too.  As for me, it may well be the best chili I've had.  I don't put any onions or cheddar cheese on, but just take it straight.  Though I do like their oyster crackers, and dump a bit of red pepper flakes on.

(Decades ago, after my dad had quadruple bypass surgery, he cut down on meat.  So my mother -- a quiet, demure, small Midwestern lady, who used the telephone like Heiffetz played the violin -- called to ask if they could make a vegetarian chili.  They said to call in the morning before we came in, say how many bowls we'd want, and if they hadn't made the chili that day -- something they did 2-3 times a week -- they'd put those bowls aside before adding the meat.  Much as I love the Beinlich's chili -- and I said it may be my favorite -- I loved their meatless chili even more.  It was lighter, and the flavors came through more, without having the meat predominate.  Anyway, a couple of years ago, after my mother passed away, my dad and I were going to head to Beinlich's, so I decide to take on the responsibility and called ahead to ask about getting the meatless chili.  Sorry, he said -- but disappointed as I was, I loved and preferred his reason.  "We only did that for your mom.")​

​Beinlich's even still has some staff who I remember from when I first went there when I was eight years old, though at this point it may be down to Andy, who began as a waiter, and is either the general manager at this point, or a part-owner now.  But there are about 3-4 "new" guys which at Beinlich's means they've been there for probably 20 years.  There are also now a couple of actually-recent servers.  And the waiters, bartenders, and bus boys have always, for over half a century, always and only been men.  But the last time I was in they had, for a very first time -- a young woman busing tables.

Lunch usually isn't a big problem, though the place is always full.  But if you show up for dinner too late -- like much past 6:30, the tiny waiting area and tiny enclosed porch is going to be jammed.  That's more of a problem than you think -- remember, this is Chicago.  If you get there too late at night in the winter, you're going to be standing outside in sub-freezing weather.  But people will do just that.  But ultimately, it's not a huge problem, because Beinlich's is fast.  They zip you your food, and when you're done -- whoosh, it's gone.  But somehow magically, you never feel rushed.  It helps that everyone who works there, even when they're in a bit of a hurry, has always been Midwest friendly, and will give you time and chat if you need to.  And if you want to linger a bit, that's okay.  But because there's so much movement around, and a long line, people tend to be polite to others and empty their table.

No, there isn't anything like Charlie Beinlich's in Los Angeles. Or most anywhere.
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Being in Chicago now, I was talking last night with the elves back in Los Angeles taking care of the homestead, and they asked if I had any plans of going to Wrigley Field to see a Cubs game.  I could hear the suppressed laughter in their voices -- because at game time last night it was 38-degrees.  I should add that that's balmy...since at the moment (it's 9:30 in the morning, as I write this), it's 30 degrees.

My answer was that I've been to Wrigley Field in the cold weather and sitting for three hours in 30-degree weather is not high on my list of fun things, unless one is properly bundled up in winter gear.  And often even then.  So...no.