🎬HIGHLIGHTS

1. Bears building serious momentum

2. It is Andre Drummond time!!

3. A can’t-miss Good One from the Blackhawks locker room!

💎THE FRANCHISES

In-Season

🏈Chicago Bears

TROPHY TRACKER 1-2-3-❌-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

W - Bears 37, Falcons 17

The Falcons came into Soldier Field with playoff aspirations still alive, and the Bears stomped out all hope fairly quickly. The defense continues to FLY around and recorded 4 INTs on the day against Taylor Heinicke.

Justin Fields had one of his best games as a pro. 268 passing yards and 2 total TDs on the day, not to mention a perfect ball over the middle to Tyler Scott for a would-be touchdown. “We Want Justin” chants filled Soldier Field!!

DJ Moore looked elite in the snow with 9 rec / 159 yds / 1 TD.

With the Panthers loss, the Bears OFFICIALLY have the #1 PICK AGAIN!

Season Record: 7-9 (eliminated from the playoffs)

Star of the Week: Justin Fields

Justin looked like a different player out there. His reads seemed quick, his confidence seemed high, and he was ACCURATE down the field.

This was a strong game for him from the pocket. And outings like this remind us all that he is improving, and he is clearly making Ryan Poles’ decisions extremely difficult this coming offseason.

You’re also automatically the star when every single one of your teammates voices their support for you all week long.

Play of the Week: 1 + 2 = 6 SNOW EDITION

News & Notes:

1. As I mentioned, the Bears have the #1 pick. Thank you David Tepper, thank you Frank Reich, thank you Bryce Young. The Bears fleeced the Panthers so much that Tepper was seen throwing a drink at Jacksonville fans on Sunday 🤷‍♂️

2. The Bears will now head to Green Bay to act as spoilers and prevent the Packers from reaching the playoffs. Let’s talk about ruining their season instead of the fact that Jordan Love may be good.

🏒Chicago Blackhawks

TROPHY TRACKER 1-❌-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

W - Blackhawks 2, Jets 1 (OT)

Who else? Connor Bedard nets his first career OT goal! Oh yeah, and he scored the team’s first goal too.

• The Jets had the first 9 shots on goal in the game and finished with 38 to the Blackhawks’ 25

• Petr Mrazek stopped 37 of 38 shots to keep the Hawks alive

L - Stars 5, Blackhawks 4 (OT)

The Blackhawks came through with their second straight hard fought battle. I’m sure Luke Richardson loves to see two good efforts strung together. Unfortunately, the Stars won the rollercoaster of a game with 7 seconds left in overtime.

• Tyler Johnson had 2 goals, including the game-tying goal late in the 3rd

• The Stars dominated at the faceoff circle 42-24

• Taylor Raddysh left the game with an injury

L - Stars 8, Blackhawks 1

Not quite the rematch we were hoping for to end 2023.

• The Stars looked like a team in a different league from the start and scored 3 goals in the first period

• Both Blackhawks goalies saw some action as Mrazek was replaced after going down 6-1

• Tyler Johnson left the game with an injury. How many guys are left on this team???

Week Record: 1-2

Season Record: 11-23-2

Star of the Week: Petr Mrazek

I guess the team isn’t very good when the star of the week gives up 6 goals in a game and gets pulled. But his two previous games this week were IMPRESSIVE. He has improved from last year and has appeared more like the solid veteran presence the Hawks were hoping for between the pipes.

Play of the Week: Connor Bedard OT Winner (with the Vince Carter celly)

News & Notes:

1. Raddysh and T. Johnson were placed on IR. With Joey Anderson, Seth Jones, and Andreas Athanasiou already out, the injuries are seriously piling up.

2. Nick Foligno had a LOT to say after the 8-1 showing against the Stars. Catch a snippet in the SAY WHAT? section below, but he basically said the players need to step up and be professionals. This type of play is unacceptable.

3. Road game losing streak is now at 11 😮

🏀Chicago Bulls

TROPHY TRACKER ❌-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-🏆

W - Bulls 118, Hawks 113

The momentum continues! It was announced prior to the game that Nikola Vucevic will miss some time with a strained groin, so Andre Drummond started at Center and had a LEGENDARY stat line!

• Andre Drummond with 24p/25r/2b/3s

• DeMar DeRozan closed out the game and had 11 points in the 4th quarter alone - Billy Donovan praised DeMar after the game for his leadership, closing abilities, and professionalism

L - Pacers 120, Bulls 104

This was quite a dud after the Bulls’ recent stretch of good play. The guy they should have drafted in 2020 put on a show all night.

• Tyrese Haliburton put up the first 20 point / 20 assist / 0 turnover game the NBA has seen since Chris Paul in 2016 😮

• The Bulls only attempted 27 3s and shot 25.9% from beyond the arc

• Patrick Williams had 22 points, and 6’4” Terry Taylor received backup center minutes for the second straight game 🤔

W - Bulls 105, 76ers 92

The Bulls, behind Andre Drummond’s new presence in the starting lineup, took care of the Joel Embiid-less 76ers fairly easily.

• Drummond 15 points and 23 rebounds!!

• DeMar 24 points, Coby 20 points, and some stifling team defense also led the way

Week Record: 2-1

Season Record: 15-19

Star of the Week: Andre Drummond

The Man in the Middle! That’s how you step up when a key starter goes down with an injury. Love seeing Drummond dominate in the paint every night and share how grateful he is for the opportunity. There was a great moment captured between Drummond and his mom after the Hawks game. And who gets 64 rebounds in just 3 games?!?!?

Play of the Week: Patrick Williams putback

P-Will may keep showing up in Play of the Week. His energy and aggressiveness has shown up all over the court lately.

News & Notes:

1. Vooch’s injury initially had a 7-10 day timeline, so hopefully we see him back next week

2. The Bulls closed out an impressive 9-5 December!

3. Lonzo Ball - yes Lonzo news!! - says he feels no pain and will start running in January. Let’s hope this is the actual comeback!

Off-Season

⚾Chicago Cubs

TROPHY TRACKER 1-2-3-4-5-❌-7-8-9-🏆

News & Notes:

1. As I predicted, not much stirring during the holiday week. Granted, Chris Sale got traded to the Braves, so some people are definitely using the phones.

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

📣SAY WHAT?

😎GOOD ONE ALERT

Colin Blackwell

After a big win where Bedard scored both of the team’s goals, Blackwell passed off the victory-chain in the locker room to Kevin Korchinski. That was the team’s first win since Korchinski returned to the team.

Honorable Mention:

Eddie Jackson - Recipient of the 2023 Jeff Dickerson Good Guy Award

🔥MILD TAKE❄

All of these Blackhawks losses are meaningless.

Obviously, Bedard was not going to be the savior for the 2023-2024 season. And so many of the team’s top prospects were not even going to crack the roster this year. But there were expectations to improve, and Luke Richardson even stated that there had to be higher standards on the ice moving forward.

With that said, the lack of healthy bodies has forced this season to a screeching halt. Corey Perry is no longer on the team. Taylor Hall, who was supposed to be Bedard’s most productive linemate, is out for the year. Five players are currently on Injured Reserve. Teammates are constantly shuffling, and the shuttle to and from Rockford is getting a workout.

This doesn’t matter. I can’t expect winning hockey with this decimated of a roster. Hopefully the young guys improve, Richardson keeps spirits up, and maybe they can pull a Bears move and land the #1 pick two years in a row.