Chicago thru and thru
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Gregory Davis Kunkel
A Life and Personality Unlike Any Other
October 22, 1957
September 1, 2026
Rest in Peace Kunks.
My Memorial To Kunks
Today we lost Greg “Kunks” Kunkel—a great caddymaster, golfer, sports fan, mentor, friend, husband, father, grandfather, and one of the truly good men in this world.
For those of us who came up as caddies, Kunks was never just the man assigning loops or managing the caddie yard. He was part coach, part guardian, part teacher, part friend, and often the person looking out for the kid who needed someone in his corner. For 35 years, he understood that caddying was about much more than carrying a bag, reading a putt, finding a ball, or keeping pace. It was about responsibility, trust, work, respect, humor, and learning how to walk alongside other people.
A caddie learns to be present: to pay attention, to offer steady encouragement, to help someone through the rough, to celebrate the good shots, and to keep walking after the bad ones. Kunks lived that lesson. He guided generations of caddies and golfers not from a distance, but alongside them—on fairways, in caddie yards, through difficult moments, and across decades of friendship.
In the short, immortal, and haunting words Ram Dass said, “We’re all just walking each other home.” For those of us who knew Kunks through golf and caddying, those words feel especially true today. A caddie walks beside another person—sometimes quietly, sometimes with advice, sometimes with a laugh at exactly the right time—but always helping carry a little of the weight. Kunks did that for so many people. He made the walk lighter. He made people feel seen. He made them believe they belonged.
He was a Hall of Fame caddymaster, but his greatest legacy is not a title or a plaque. It is the countless people he mentored, defended, encouraged, and loved. It is in the friendships that began in the caddie yard and lasted a lifetime. It is in every young caddie who learned to work harder, carry themselves better, and look out for the next person because Kunks showed them how.
The golf course can be a place of competition, beauty, frustration, humility, and joy. Kunks understood all of it. He loved the game, loved the people around it, and brought his extraordinary strength, character, and spirit to every part of his life.
Today, we mourn the loss of our friend. But we also give thanks for having walked with him. The fairways may feel quieter, the caddie yard a little emptier, and the walk a little harder without him. Yet his voice, his laughter, his toughness, his loyalty, and his generosity will remain with all of us.
Kunks, thank you for the lessons, the loops, the walks, the rounds, the stories, and the friendship. Thank you for carrying so much for so many. We will carry you with us now.
And until we meet again, we will keep walking each other home.
EZK retweeted
Sal Frelick is playing in the World Series for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Some of his best friends in the world are people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and he has been showing up for them since high school.
Here is how he describes them.
"I really do think they're angels."
Here is the whole thing.
Frelick grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts. In high school he was already friends with a lot of the students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Not as a project. Just friends in the hallway.
Then someone told him about Best Buddies, a nonprofit that pairs students with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
"I had just been friends with these kids in the hallways, so I was like, 'Sounds fun.'"
He joined. He went to their events. He went to their prom.
One of the friends he made back then is still one of his best friends today. Every offseason, back home near Boston, they go out to dinner.
His hometown runs a Unified Basketball league, where athletes with and without disabilities play on the same team. Frelick shows up to the big end of season event and brings shoes and sweatshirts for the players.
Then the Brewers made him a big leaguer, and he moved to Milwaukee. He said something felt off.
"When I was out here, it was almost like something was missing from my life in that aspect."
So he sent a message on Instagram to the local Best Buddies chapter and asked how he could help.
He started going to their events. Their Friendship Walk drew more than 1,000 people.
One of the chapter directors said this about him.
"He has a huge heart and compassion for the community we serve."
Then he found Inclusion Coffee Company in Hartland, Wisconsin, a shop where most of the staff are people with disabilities.
The owner explained why she opened it.
"My idea was to give our friends with disabilities a place to work after high school."
Frelick came in one Saturday morning before a game. Anybody could come get a coffee and take a picture with him. The money went to Best Buddies and the staff.
The owner asked fans for one thing. No autographs, please. Just come in, buy a coffee from the staff, and take a picture.
Here is the honest part. This was not a huge foundation or a million dollar check. It was an hour on a Saturday, a lot of dinners, and a lot of showing up.
But that is exactly the point, and he will tell you so himself.
"If you're around people with special needs or they're in the same environment as you, go up and talk to them."
Tonight he has a chance to win a World Series. Win or lose, he has already been showing up where it counts.
For more stories like this, follow us on any platform @thesportsontap
EZK retweeted
49 years ago tonight. DeKalb, Illinois.
Phil steps up to the mic after Roses and says it plain:
“I just want y’all to know out there, this is the happiest day of my life.”
Then the band went straight into Let It Grow. Same, Phil. Same.
#GratefulDead 10/29/77 ⚡️💀🌹
EZK retweeted
Nearing peak fall color at Indiana University right now.
No wonder College Gameday chose Bloomington this week.
Showalter Fountain is going to be an all-time Gameday backdrop on the most beautiful campus in the country.
EZK retweeted
Why does every single elected Democrat and Democrat candidate for office have a Muslim handler?
Am I the only person who has realized this?
It’s very bizarre. The Democrat Party has been taken over by Muslims.
Very alarming! Vote Republican.
Watch as Illinois Governor JB Pritzker @JBPritzker dances like a total idiot next to a woman wearing a hijab.
Remember, Pritzker is one of the wealthiest and most powerful elected Democrats in office today.
This further proves the Democrat party has sold out to Islam.
EZK retweeted
Victor Davis Hanson: It's Disgusting What Elissa Slotkin Did
It was Barack Obama who paid Christopher Steele to compound and collate an entire fake dossier that Donald Trump was communicating with Vladimir Putin.
It was the Biden administration who, just three days after Donald Trump said he was going to run for office again, brought into the White House Nathan Wade, an obscure Fani Willis boyfriend who was a prosecutor meant to go after Trump in the Fulton County indictment.
Now, Elissa Slotkin is hunting down young people who want to help a president that they agree with as if they are the conspirators.
“She’s an idiot. She has no memory of all that.”
Watch the FULL episode with @VDHanson here: youtu.be/YsC8YckQ4ho?si=Vy4S…
EZK retweeted
Here’s a link to the full recording of the Rainbow Body set on @interntarchive
archive.org/details/rainbow-…?
EZK retweeted
I’m super interested if our boys have an another unique & interesting stage/light show for us this tour.
@goosetheband
See ya in MKE
Again
EZK retweeted
If you look closely at the forearm of Michelangelo’s Moses, you’ll find a tiny muscle that only tightens when you lift your little finger, and since Moses has his little finger raised, Michelangelo carved that muscle tensed beneath the marble...
He poured that extraordinary knowledge of the human body into a statue carved between 1513 and 1515 for one of the most ambitious projects of his life: the tomb of Pope Julius II.
The horns on his head, which surprise almost everyone who sees them, come from the Latin Bible of the time. In the Book of Exodus, the Hebrew word describing Moses’ face as he came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments is usually translated today as “shining,” but it is related to the Hebrew word for “horn,” and Saint Jerome’s Latin translation rendered the passage as “his face was horned.” By Michelangelo’s time, artists across Europe had been showing Moses with horns for centuries, and he followed that long tradition.
Today Moses sits in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome, looking so alive that it’s easy to forget he’s made of stone. Michelangelo seems to have felt the same way: according to a famous story, when he finished the statue, he was so proud of how real it looked that he struck it on the knee with his hammer and shouted, “Why don’t you speak?”
I’ve stood in front of him, and I can tell you that in person it really does feel as if he might answer at any moment…
EZK retweeted
Bessent cooks Obama after dining at the Cheesecake Factory: "This is the man who built the museum that looks like Darth Vader’s tomb... I had a great meal, and I would tell the Martha's Vineyard set to give it a try." 😭
Black Garlic Carne Asada Marinade
For about 2 lbs of skirt or flank steak:
•6 black garlic cloves
•4 fresh garlic cloves
•½ cup orange juice
•¼ cup lime juice
•¼ cup neutral oil
•2 Tbsp soy sauce, or 1 Tbsp Worcestershire
•1 jalapeño or 1 chipotle in adobo
•½ cup cilantro, stems included
•1 tsp cumin
•1 tsp ancho chili powder
•1 tsp Mexican oregano
•1½ tsp kosher salt
•½ tsp black pepper
Method
1.Blend everything until smooth. Blending matters here because black garlic is sticky and won’t mix in evenly by hand.
2.Coat the steak and refrigerate it for 4–8 hours. Don’t go past 12 hours, or the citrus will make the meat mushy.
3.Wipe off the extra marinade and pat the steak fairly dry. The sugars in black garlic burn quickly.
4.Grill over high heat, about 3–4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Rest it 5 minutes, then slice thinly against the grain.
EZK retweeted
HISTORY LESSON ON YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY CARD:
Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (& some older ones) didn’t know this. It’s easy to check out, if you don’t believe it. Be sure and show it to your family and friends. They need a little history lesson on what’s what and it doesn’t matter whether you are Democrat or Republican. Facts are FACTS.
Up until the 1980's, Social Security cards expressly stated the number and card were not to be used for identification purposes.
Since nearly everyone in the United States now has a number, it became convenient to use it anyway and the "NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION" message was removed.
Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. His promises are in black, with updates in brackets.
1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary [No longer voluntary],
2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual Incomes into the Program [Now 7.65% on the first $90,000, and 15% on the first $90,000 if you’re self-employed],
3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year [No longer tax deductible],
4.) That the money the participants put into the independent ‘Trust Fund’ rather than into the general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program [Under Johnson the money was moved to the General Fund and spent], and
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income [Under Clinton & Gore up to 85% of your Social Security can be taxed].
Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month — and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to ‘put away’ — you may be interested in the following:
Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent ‘Trust Fund’ and put it into the general fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.
Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?
A: The Democratic Party.
Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?
A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the ‘tie-breaking’ deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US
AND MY FAVORITE:
Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?
A: That’s right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it!
Now, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away!
And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it! If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe changes will evolve. Maybe not, though. Some Democrats are awfully sure of what isn’t so — but it’s worth a try.
Golden Beet Orange-Shallot Dressing
Makes about 3/4 cup, enough for 4-5 beets.
Ingredients
•1 small shallot, finely minced (about 2 tbsp)
•Zest of 1 orange
•1/4 cup fresh orange juice (about 1 orange)
•1 1/2 tbsp champagne vinegar or white balsamic
•1 tsp Dijon mustard
•1/2 tsp honey (taste first, since the orange may be sweet enough)
•1/4 cup olive oil
•1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
•Black pepper
Instructions
1.Soak the shallot. Put the minced shallot, vinegar, orange juice, and salt in a jar or bowl. Let it sit 10-15 minutes. This softens the raw bite.
2.Add the rest. Stir in the zest, Dijon, and honey.
3.Emulsify. Whisk in the olive oil slowly, or shake it in the sealed jar for about 20 seconds.
4.Taste and adjust. Add a splash more vinegar if it’s too sweet, a pinch of salt if it’s flat, or a little honey if it’s too sharp.
5.Dress the beets warm. Toss the roasted, peeled beets with about half the dressing while they’re still warm so they soak it up. Add the rest when you serve.
