🎬HIGHLIGHTS

1. Bears have 3 Hall of Fame inductees!

2. Bulls do nothing AGAIN at the Trade Deadline

3. Waiting on the MLB free agency market

💎THE FRANCHISES

In-Season

🏒Chicago Blackhawks

TROPHY TRACKER

1-❌-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

L - Wild 2, Blackhawks 1

The battle of the Foligno brothers was exactly that - a showdown featuring 2 Foligno goals and a Marcus Foligno fight.

• Wild outshot the Blackhawks 11-1 in the first period

• Marcus Foligno collided with Petr Mrazek in the first period on a play that was eventually called a no-goal with goalie interference

• Tyler Johnson returned to the lineup from injury

L - Rangers 4, Blackhawks 3 (OT)

What looked like a drubbing against a clearly superior Rangers team turned into a thriller! The Hawks scored 2 late 3rd period goals to send the game to OT.

• Alex Vlasic, Nick Foligno, and Jason Dickinson scored in the Hawks’ highest scoring game since JANUARY 19th when they won 4-3 against the Islanders

• This was a wild one - we saw a missing skate blade as Boris Katchouk had to get pushed to the bench (leading to a Rangers goal), a lot of goalie scrums, and a game tying goal with 1:02 left in the 3rd period

Week Record: 0-2-0

Season Record: 14-35-3

Star of the Week: Nick Foligno

The unofficial captain scored against his brother’s team and starred in both games for the Blackhawks this week. He had 2 goals on 8 shots (and managed a +2) in the 2 games.

Play of the Week: Philipp Kurashev to Nick Foligno for the goal

News & Notes:

1. The Blackhawks will host the 2025 Winter Classic at Wrigley Field vs. the Blues!!!

   ❄ Connor Bedard and (Macklin Celebrini???) company will represent the Hawks for the FIFTH time since the Winter Classic began (2009, 2015, 2017, 2019)

2. Scott Powers released a great set of articles this week looking at potential future lines for the Blackhawks (here is the first of three). Optimistically, Kyle from Chicago is building something here, and they have a ton of young talent that could impress at the NHL level. However, so much is up in the air. We need to see continued development before knowing who may make it in the NHL. I think we can all agree that a future top line of Moore-Bedard-Nazar with Celebrini at 2C would be pretty nice 👍👍

🏀Chicago Bulls

TROPHY TRACKER

❌-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

W - Bulls 129, Timberwolves 123 (OT)

What a GAME against the Western Conference’s top seed!! The Bulls came back from 23 and a brutal first half to rock the UC and come out on top. Coby took over in the 4th!

• First half: Wolves 69-47, Bulls only 2-12 from 3

• Coby White (!!!) with 33p/7a/5r, DeMar with 33 points, Drummond with 16p/16r and so many impact plays

• Anthony Edwards led the Wolves with 38 points

• Bulls had 16 blocks - most in a game since 2015

W - Bulls 118, Grizzlies 110

After standing pat at the deadline, the Bulls eventually flipped the switch in the 4th quarter and edged out the Grizzlies.

• Drummond and Vooch saw significant time on the floor together after a successful run against Minnesota and both had a double-double

• DeMar with 30p/8r, Coby with 21p/8a/6r

• Bulls with a solid shooting night at 55.1%/46.2%/90.9%

L - Magic 114, Bulls 108 (OT)

Tough way to close out the week. Another game with extra basketball exposed the short rotation the Bulls currently have due to injuries and lack of depth.

• DeMar (28p) and Vooch (26p/17r) had big nights

• The Bulls looked gassed at the end of the game and only scored 22 points total in the 4th quarter and overtime

• Disparity from 3 - Ayo with a career-high FIVE 3s, Coby struggled and shot 2-11 from downtown

Week Record: 2-1

Season Record: 25-28

Star of the Week: DeMar DeRozan

The steady veteran who continues to be the Bulls’ best closer.

In 3 games this week, he averaged 30.3 ppg, shot 50% from the field, and went 27-29 from the free throw line 🤯

Play of the Week: Dalen Terry Poster!!

News & Notes:

1. ANOTHER inactive Trade Deadline. 3 straight with no moves.

   🤷‍♂️ This is what I expected, but as you read last week, I was hoping for SOME kind of activity. This team has no path to contention, and their pitch is to continue with whatever form of competitiveness they believe the team currently has.

   😠 Not wanting to take a step back now or even a whole year ago could be extremely detrimental to the future of this organization.

2. Arturas Karnisovas held his post-trade deadline press conference on Thursday afternoon. Here are some takeaways:

   ➡ AK believes “this group is really good” and repeatedly emphasized remaining competitive and aiming for the playoffs this season

   ➡ The front office looked at all possible paths, including selling, but ultimately decided to only pursue deals that would improve the current roster.

   ➡ AK loves DeMar and made it clear that he wants DeMar to remain in Chicago.

3. The trade deadline did offer Chicago some entertainment…EIGHT former Bulls moved to a different team: Patrick Beverley, Robin Lopez, Doug McDermott, Cam Payne, Thaddeus Young, Daniel Gafford, Ryan Arcidiacono, and Troy Brown Jr.

Off-Season

🏈Chicago Bears

TROPHY TRACKER

1-2-3-❌-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

1. Steve McMichael, Devin Hester, and Julius Peppers were voted into the NFL Hall of Fame! Congratulations to these well-deserving legendary Bears!

2. Season ticket prices are increasing by an average of 8%.

   📝 President Kevin Warren wrote a letter to season ticket holders announcing the change. In his letter, he specifically mentioned DJ Moore and Montez Sweat as “transformational players”. Warren also clarified that the new stadium, wherever they build, will be a permanent dome structure.

3. We found out during Super Bowl Week interviews that Cole Kmet fractured his forearm in the Bears final game against the Packers. Luckily, it will be healed in 6 weeks and will not hinder him for next season.

4. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a less-than-raving review of Bears new OC Shane Waldron when talking to CHGO. Check out the video and his response here.

5. #1 pick talk this week went from Caleb Williams forcing his way to Washington, to Drake Maye needing to be considered for the #1 pick, to…Caleb Williams actually going #1 to the Bears. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And the latest reporting does sound like Caleb to the Bears. We’ll see about next week…

⚾Chicago Cubs

TROPHY TRACKER

1-2-3-4-5-❌-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

1. The annual PECOTA projections are out - and they cause quite a stir every time.

   🤷‍♂️ Cubs projection for 2024 is 80-82

   🤔 Cubs projection for 2023 was 77-85, they finished 83-79

   😟 I don’t understand lowering the Cubs projected win total from last year, especially when they underachieved according to some metrics that said they played like a 90 win team. Plus, they HAVE added talent to the roster and are not done adding. No way they should be projected at under .500.

2. RP Michael Rucker, previously designated for assignment to create a roster spot for Hector Neris, was traded to the Phillies for cash considerations

3. 2024 Minor League coaching staffs were announced here

4. Check out a day in the life of Ian Happ - I learned that his “personal goals” for this season are to win more, and Happ visited his best friend Seiya in Japan when on his honeymoon this offseason

5. Spring Training non-roster invites were announced here - believe it or not, pitchers and catchers report on Wednesday! Baseball is back! ⚾⚾⚾

📣SAY WHAT?

😎GOOD ONE ALERT

Steve “Mongo” McMichael

He made it. The Bears legend is a Hall of Famer.

McMichael has the 3rd most sacks (95) among defensive tackles and is a Super Bowl champion. He’s an icon in Chicago and in the football world.

He has also been fighting for his life after an ALS diagnosis in 2021. This video is must-watch - it spotlights his struggles, his support system, and his desire to be a Hall of Famer.

🔥MILD TAKE❄

The Cubs will make more moves.

At Cubs Convention, Jed Hoyer said they were in the “4th or 5th inning of the offseason”. That was one month ago.

Since then, the Cubs signed Hector Neris. And…that’s it. No other major league moves. In a whole month.

I bet most people are berating Jed, thinking the team doesn’t want to win, thinking Ricketts doesn’t want to spend.

But I believe Jed. The Cubs will add more talent before the season begins.

This market pacing is ridiculous, and I hope MLB adds some kind of signing deadline in the future. Pitchers and catchers report this week, and tons of free agents are still sitting at home. Whether the asking prices are too high, teams are too stingy, or something in between, there needs to be a change.

The Cubs can’t control the market, and they are only going to make smart value plays. You don’t set the market. If you do, you’re not a good executive.

To me, the Cubs need 2 more hitters and more bullpen help. Leaving a spot in the rotation for Wicks/Assad seems reasonable to me, so I’m not sure any rotation move would be for anything more than depth. If the plan is to play Morel at 3B, then they have a glaring hole in CF and at DH. Maybe a Jorge Soler reunion would make sense???

Nobody wants to see an incomplete team show up to Spring Training. But I do think the Cubs will add more talent before Opening Day.