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Former Hawk Daze buys $1.68M Hinsdale mansion

ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | Bucking a recent trend of former Chicago Blackhawks players listing their area homes and leaving town, retired Blackhawks winger Eric Daze has paid $1.68 million for a newly built, six-bedroom, New Orleans four-square house in Hinsdale. He also has a contract to sell his longtime four-bedroom house in Hinsdale, which has been listed for $795,000. Get the full story »

Former Bear Tait lists Mettawa house for $1.5M

Former Bears offensive tackle John Tait, left, in 2006. (Tribune file)

ELITE STREET | By Bob Goldsborough | Former Chicago Bears offensive tackle John Tait has listed his 15-room stucco French Manor-style mansion in Mettawa for $1.499 million. Tait, 36, played with the Bears from 2004 until 2008. He retired in February 2009.

Tait paid $1.645 million in 2004 for the four-bedroom, 5,465-square-foot home in Mettawa. Built in 2003, the house has four full baths, two half baths, three fireplaces, 10-foot ceilings, quarter-sawn hardwood floors, millwork and a finished lower level with a second kitchen. The house sits on a 1.62-acre parcel adjoining a conservancy. Get the full story »

United Airlines to advertise on Wrigley rooftop

Budweiser's ad on a Wrigley Field rooftop on Waveland Ave. is removed in September of 2008 to make way for a Horseshoe Casino ad, which will soon be replaced by one for United. (Phil Velasquez/Tribune)

The highly visible rooftop sign across the street from Wrigley Field will have a new advertiser this season.

The Cubs announced Monday that United Airlines has bought the rights to advertise on the rooftop, which is beyond the left-field bleachers on Waveland Avenue. The Horseshoe Casino in Indiana had advertised on the rooftop the last few seasons. Before that, the rooftop was painted red and sported the Budweiser logo for many years. Get the full story »

Outperform rating lifts Brunswick stock

Stock in Brunswick Corp. rose more than 6 percent in late afternoon trading Friday after Wedbush initiated coverage of it with a stock-investment rating of outperform. Get the full story »

Fortune sees four types of golf bidders

(Tribune File Photo)

Fortune Brands Inc. expects its golf business to attract a special kind of bidder in addition to the usual suspects — rich people who like playing the game.

The company announced plans late last year to sell or spin off its golf business, which makes Titleist golf equipment, and spin off its home products business, which makes Simonton windows and Moen faucets, amid pressure from activist investor William Ackman. Get the full story »

NHL owner Woo joins Monroe Capital as partner

Chicago-based Monroe Capital LLC has hired investment banker Warren Woo, an owner in the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators, as partner and as managing director of its recently raised $250 million investment fund.  Get the full story »

CME Group to sponsor LPGA’s season-ender

From NBC | The commissioner of the LPGA Tour announced Sunday that Chicago-based CME Group will become the title sponsor of the season-ending Titleholders tournament at Grand Cypress in Orlando. The inaugural CME Group Titleholders will be played Nov. 17-20, and will replace the LPGA Tour Championship on the schedule.

Tim Weigel’s son to do weekend sports on Ch. 7

Tower Ticker | Rafer Weigel is poised to follow in the footsteps of his father, the late Tim Weigel, by joining Chicago’s WLS-Ch. 7 as a sportscaster.

The TV industry subscription news site NewsBlues.com on Thursday reported Weigel has left HLN’s’ popular “Morning Express with Robin Meade,” where he has handled sports for three years. “Tipsters claim he walked out on his contract and has been hired as the weekend sports anchor/reporter at ABC-owned WLS,” the site said.

HLN sources say Weigel’s exit, but not his destination, was announced to “Morning Express” staff. WLS had no comment. Weigel could not be reached for comment.

Sportscaster Kashul sticks with Naperville

Elite Street | By Bob Goldsborough | In the end, veteran sportscaster Steve Kashul couldn’t bear to leave Naperville.

In 2009, Kashul, who does Chicago Bulls broadcasts on WMVP-AM and hosts a weekly golf show on Comcast SportsNet Chicago,  told Elite Street that while he loved Naperville — hometown of his wife, Cindy — he wanted to move closer to his full-time job as membership director for the private Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Kildeer. Get the full story »

State Farm severs ties with LPGA event

From The Central Illinois Pantagraph | Bloomington-based insurer State Farm Insurance said Friday that it will not renew its sponsorship with the LPGA tourney that has been held in Springfield for 36 years. This year’s event is set for June 9-13.

Duerson items draw little attention on eBay

Dave Duerson had barely been dead for a day before memorabilia owners took to eBay, but goods related to the former Chicago Bears safety are turning out to be a hard sell.

About two-thirds of the 44 Duerson products listed on eBay have been posted since he committed suicide on Feb. 17. They range from 25 cents for a Topps card to $1,200 for a jersey he wore while playing for the Arizona Cardinals. Duerson played on the 1985 Bears team that won the Super Bowl, and also appeared in four Pro Bowls. Get the full story »

YouTube seeks to extend live sports to NHL, NBA

Bloomberg News | YouTube says it has been talking with the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League to broadcast live games, part of a move into sports programming stated last year with cricket in India.

Todd Hundley lists Glenview house for $1.7M

Elite Street | By Bob Goldsborough | Retired Chicago Cubs catcher Todd Hundley has put his six-bedroom home in Glenview on the market for $1.799 million.

Hundley, 41, played in the major leagues from 1990 until 2003,  including with the Cubs in 2001 and 2002. Get the full story »

Bears’ Duerson had pending personal bankruptcy

Former Bears player Dave Duerson in 2007. (David Trotman-Wilkins/Chicago Tribune)

Former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson, who committed suicide last Thursday in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., had filed for voluntary personal bankruptcy last September in a case that was still pending.

But his Fort Lauderdale lawyer said he was “shocked” when he learned that his client had shot himself. Get the full story »

Wal-Mart, NASCAR broaden licensing deal

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has entered a retail and licensing deal with NASCAR under which it will offer exclusive products related to the stock car racing circuit in 1,500 of its U.S. stores.

The program, dubbed “Race Time,” begins in time for the Daytona 500 race  Sunday, which opens the 2011 NASCAR season, 10 years after famous driver Dale Earnhardt was killed in a racing accident. Get the full story »