Nine short months ago Double Overtime was it’s own thing. However, over the last nine months it has become the Sports page of Binary News. Over the next three weeks I will be posting some of the articles I wrote this year which I took most pride in. Today’s article was originally posted on March 19, 2024 and I had forgotten to include mention of the Chicago Blackhawks. As a result, I’ve added my thoughts about their current rebuild at the top of today’s article. The MLB Winter meetings start on Monday, I’ve also updated the sections about the Bears, Bulls, Cubs and White Sox.
At one point or another over the last five years all five of Chicago’s teams was rebuilding their roster of core players. However, on the North Side they have been calling it a “retool” not a rebuild. While the Blackhawks, White Sox, and Bears are both clearly rebuilding as I write this. And the Bulls are started their second rebuild in five years over the summer.
Chicago Blackhawks
I am not a close follower of hockey however I do love sports, especially my Chicago teams and always root for them to not only be competitive but also to make the playoffs. When the Blackhawks had the #1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and drafted phenom-to-be Connor Bedard they had already decided they were going to be rebuilding around younger talent before the draft started. The fact of the matter is once they knew they had the #1 pick it would have been utterly stupid of them not to go into full rebuild mode knowing that without a doubt they would be able to get Bedard and then build around him.
After winning just 23 games last season, the Blackhawks have won 8 in the first couple months of this season and General Manager Kyle Davidson decided he’d seen enough of Head Coach Luke Richardson. As a result Luke was handed his pink slip. So critics would say this means the rebuild is over. However, I do not think that at all. I think the Blackhawks still have a long way to go before their latest rebuild is over.
Chicago Cubs
This spring the Cubs are 15 and 8. Three days after Spring Training Games started on February 23rd they officially brought Cody Bellinger back on a three year deal with two opt-outs. While this is wonderful because fans have been calling for it since October. However, the Cubs are two starting pitchers short in the rotation after news came out last week that Jameson Taillon will start the season on the ten day Injured List with back issues.
We are 10 days from Opening Day and there are still two start pitchers out there. Their names are Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery. I have pointed out many times since October that both have suffered a laundry list of pitching related injuries throughout their careers. Also, while the Cubs are going right up against the Collective Bargaining Tax (CBT) thresh hold they won 83 games this year and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year. Right now, rumor has it that Jed Hoyer and General Manager Carter Hawkins are in talks with the White Sox to bring Garrett Crochet to the north side and are also the favorites to sign the star pitcher Roki Sasaki out of Japan who is only 23 years old.
Here’s the thing folks: It is clear that Hoyer and Hawkins are expecting, their man, Manager Craig Counsell to depend on their young arms again in 2025. Sadly, that could end just as badly as things have the last four seasons.
Chicago Bulls
Lonzo Ball returned after his 1,000 day absence following his knee injury which looked like it would be the end of his playing career. After playing in only 3 games a the start of the season he missed nearly a month with a wrist injury before returning last Wednesday and getting into the last three game. He now questionable for tonights game with knee soreness. Him and Zach LaVine are in the last year of their contracts and it is very likely the Bulls will move on from both when this season ends and build around hometown kid Matas Buzelis.
Here’s the thing folks: No one expected Ball to return even though he was saying all summer he’d be back this season. As a result, the Bulls were already in the early stages of a rebuild and will likely be in full rebuild mode come next June.
Chicago White Sox
Late in the season before setting the all-time record for losses the White Sox fired Pedro Grifol and named Grady Sizemore. During the early part of the off-season they went out and hired former Cubs coach Will Venable. Since then they’ve been awfully quiet though not making much movement worth noting to improve their roster and aside from possibly trading Crochet this winter it likely to stay quiet on the south side because Jerry Reinsdorf refuses to spend on players and field a competitive team which means Chris Getz has his hand tied and will be forced to field a minor league team again in 2025.
Chicago Bears
I do not follow football very closely since the Bears have been quite a miserable team to watch since they were in the Super Bowl in 2006. However, for the second year in a row they had a high draft pick. This year they had the first overall pick. After trading Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers Ryan Poles drafted Caleb Williams with the first overall pick. They are currently 4-8 with Williams as the starting Quarterback having lost their last six games. They fired Matt Eberflus following their Thanksgiving day loss and are likely to miss the playoffs this year. Unfortunately, though, this is how rebuilds go. Coaches get fired because they are on a different page than their boss and the team is not playing competitively as a result. red last season.
With that… it’s time to watch the Chicago sports scene take off again.
If you cannot play with them, then root for them.