🎬HIGHLIGHTS

1. Bears get back in the Win column

2. Bulls are fun to watch again!

3. Connor Bedard is actually ridiculous at hockey.

💎THE FRANCHISES

In-Season

🏈Chicago Bears

TROPHY TRACKER 1-2-3-❌-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

W - Bears 27, Cardinals 16

A fairly dominant Christmas Eve performance sent the Bears back into the Win column.

The defense and rushing attack were excellent against the 3-win Cardinals. Khalil Herbert rushed for 112 yards and 1 TD, and Justin Fields rushed for 97 yards and 1 TD. Cole Kmet was banged up but caught 4 passes for 107 yards.

The 4th quarter was scary yet again, and Fields threw a bad interception in the end zone…some of the issues with this team just don’t fully go away.

Season Record: 6-9

Star of the Week: Khalil Herbert

Props to Herbert on returning with a vengeance. After accounting for only 15 carries and 40 yards over the last three weeks, due to personnel decisions and D’Onta Foreman’s emergence, it was great to see him back with the special cuts and bursts that have flashed in his career.

Play of the Week: QB1 scramble

There’s always THAT play in each JF1 game. Moments like this remind me of Justin’s inhuman acceleration and elusiveness. Enjoy this one over and over!

News & Notes:

1. Cairo Santos signed an extension for 4 years, $16M ($9.5M guaranteed). Congrats to Cairo!! (His previous contract included two void years, so this looks even smarter financially.)

2. Jaylon Johnson reiterated that he would love to remain a Bear. He continues to receive praise from the coaching staff.

3. Here’s a fun one for the holidays - Spice Adams messing around with every player driving up to the facility. Check it out!

🏒Chicago Blackhawks

TROPHY TRACKER 1-❌-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

W - Blackhawks 3, Avalanche 2

The Blackhawks turned things around with a HUGE win on home ice. After a long stretch of ugly losses and trying to survive with a depleted roster, this was one of the most fun games of the season.

• Connor Bedard: 2 assists, including a beautiful dish to Lukas Reichel

• Speaking of Lukas Reichel: This was a nice bounceback game, and he scored a goal on a one-timer from Bedard

• Shoutout to Colin Blackwell: He made his return to the ice after EIGHT months and made his presence felt all night. He also served up a sweet hit on Nathan MacKinnon

L - Canadiens 5, Blackhawks 2

The Hawks took a 2-0 lead and then fell apart. The largest UC attendance of the year took in quite a dud.

• Kevin Korchinski made his return after the loss of his father 🙏

• A crazy non-goal for the Blackhawks was as close as you’ve seen a puck get to crossing the goal line and not counting

• Another Colin Blackwell shoutout: made an impressive play to set up Jason Dickinson for a goal

L - Blues 7, Blackhawks 5

Another ugly collapse. After being up 3-1 and 5-2, the Hawks gave up 5 unanswered goals in the last 13 minutes of the game.

• Connor Bedard with the MICHIGAN GOAL - he had attempted this in Juniors and now scored with it in the NHL

• Nick Foligno scored 2 goals, including a PPG and SHG

• Lukas Reichel was moved back to the 4th line so he wouldn’t “stay comfortable”. His line ended up with a huge statistical advantage in their ice time, but Luke Richardson only played them for one shift in the entire 3rd period.

• Jarred Tinordi with 3 assists!?

Week Record: 1-2-0

Season Record: 10-22-1 (21 Points)

Star of the Week: Jason Dickinson

2 goals, an A on his sweater, and a new leader for this young team

Play of the Week: Connor Bedard’s Michigan goal

News & Notes:

1. Check out Ben Pope’s story on the Blackhawks’ vision headed into another trade deadline. So many interesting topics and quotes to digest from Kyle Davidson.

2. Every Shift (Episode 3) dropped on YouTube. We get to see Connor Murphy giving back to the community, Nick Foligno leading the guys in the locker room, and more reminders that the Hawks want to build a team “the right way”.

3. Blackhawks prospects are filling up the stat sheets at the World Juniors. Oh to imagine Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore up with the Hawks…

4. Biggest crossover event ever - Bedard spent time with fellow #1 pick Victor Wembanyama - and it was glorious.

🏀Chicago Bulls

TROPHY TRACKER ❌-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

W - Bulls 108, 76ers 104

With no Torrey Craig and another monster game from Joel Embiid, the Bulls pulled off a great win against the 76ers.

• Coby White had a near-triple double (24p/9a/8r)

• Vooch came up clutch with 3-balls in the last few minutes!

W - Bulls 124, Lakers 108

The Bulls were in control all game long and had their best shooting night of the season. What a win against the [IN SEASON TOURNAMENT 🤷‍♂️] Champs.

• DeMar played extremely well (27p/9a/7r)

• The Bulls made 18 3s!! 8 players scored in double figures!

W - Bulls 114, Spurs 95

Dominant outing for the Bulls as they held Wemby to only 7 points!

• Alex Caruso was back in the starting lineup

• Andre Drummond played big minutes

L - Cavs 109, Bulls 95

Rough loss for the Bulls against a very shorthanded Cavaliers team. They got away with a poor shooting performance against the Spurs, but couldn’t keep up in this one.

• Bulls shot 8/35 from 3

• No Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Caris LeVert, or Sam Merrill for the Cavs

• 3 game win streak is now over

Week Record: 3-1

Season Record: 13-18

Star of the Week: DeMar Derozan

Talk about a guy who keeps putting up big scoring nights but has impacted the game in so many ways. He’s really getting his teammates involved.

Play of the Week: Patrick Williams with the poster!! He is finally showing improvements lately, and it’s fun to watch.

News & Notes:

1. Torrey Craig is expected to miss 8-10 weeks with a plantar fascia sprain. Let’s hope he returns sooner!

2. Patrick Williams has been hot and is now shooting 41.4% from 3 on the season.

3. The radio voice of the Bulls Chuck Swirsky missed Monday’s game to due a death in the family. Everyone missed him, and his kindness is unmatched in this industry. Prayers for him and his entire family.

Off-Season

⚾Chicago Cubs

TROPHY TRACKER 1-2-3-4-5-❌-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

1. Craig Counsell reportedly finalized his coaching staff.

2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto signed for 12 YEARS and $325M with the…you guessed it…Dodgers. This should mean the rest of free agency can kick into high gear since all the big signings are out of the way. We’ll see.

3. Still no free agency or trade announcements…..

📣SAY WHAT?

😎GOOD ONE ALERT

Justin Fields

Fields passed out gifts to military families and spent time with their kids at a USO event. I love seeing our quarterback’s generosity just in time for Christmas. Here’s a video of the event:

🔥MILD TAKE❄

I’m not freaking out about the Cubs. It’s OK that they haven’t made any moves.

Sure, I wanted Ohtani. He’s the best player in the world. And yes, Soto would have been a superstar addition (but maybe just if he signed an extension). But it is still possible to build a championship team without those players.

With the major signings out of the way, I hope the market starts to move. Although, it’s the holidays, and I’m guessing most free agents don’t want to be on the phone with their agent all week long.

Here’s to some significant trades and signings in 2024! I’m convinced a significant trade is in the works and may surprise us all.