GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

I hope you had a great weekend! Nothing beats preseason football on the TV after a hot summer. Well, as long as you’re a crazy, obsessed, die-hard fan like me. Otherwise, I’m guessing the preseason isn’t for you…

But hey, Ben Johnson looks like a real NFL head coach!

CHICAGO CUBS

L - REDS 3 CUBS 2

SHORTHANDED STARTERS

• Deadline acquisition Mike Soroka left after 2 innings with shoulder discomfort, and Reds starter Nick Lodolo left in the 2nd inning with a blister

• Ben Brown pitched well in emergency relief (4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K)

• Unlucky Cubs: Dansby Swanson missed 1st base when hustling out a grounder, and Ian Happ lost a ball against the left side wall

L - REDS 5 CUBS 1

A POST-DEADLINE DUD

• Newly acquired Reds starter Zack Littell threw 7 innings of 1-run ball

• New Cub reliever Andrew Kittredge gave up 4 ER in just 0.1 IP to ruin Shota Imanaga’s strong start (6.1 IP, 1 ER, 7 K)

W - CUBS 6 REDS 1

SEIYA LATER, REDS!

• Seiya Suzuki went 2-for-2 with a HR and 2 RBI

• Cade Horton extended his scoreless inning streak to 23.1 - the longest ever by a Cubs rookie! He threw 56 of 67 pitches for strikes in another masterful start (5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K)

• Kittredge threw an immaculate inning in the 7th! What redemption from the previous night!

L - CARDINALS 5 CUBS 0

SILENCE IN ST. LOUIS

• The Cubs offense fell flat AGAIN. Brutal game with 7 hits, only 1 walk, 0-for-9 with RISP

• Michael McGreevy came into the game with a 5.08 ERA and dominated the Cubs (6.0 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K)

W - CUBS 9 CARDINALS 1

THIS. IS. BUSCH. STADIUM.

• Michael Busch made a statement with a leadoff double and a 3-R HR in a spirited offensive explosion

• Colin Rea had his best start in the last month (6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K)

L - CARDINALS 3 CUBS 2

STRAIGHT TO THE LOU

• Cubs 9th inning was a mess: Justin Turner pinch-hit for PCA and flew out, Jon Berti pinch-ran for Happ and was called out on a steal thanks to a questionable review, then they wasted 2 hits that would have driven in Berti

• Shota struck out a season-high 9 hitters in 6.2 IP (3 ER)

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Matt Shaw

5-for-15 (.333 AVG), 3 HR, 5 RBI

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Willi Castro diving catch

Placed Mike Soroka on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder strain, recalled Nate Pearson

Kittredge threw the first immaculate inning by a Cub since Hayden Wesneski in July 2022

Miguel Amaya will return from injury at some point in the upcoming series in Toronto!

Old friend Julian Merryweather went to the dark side…he signed a minor-league deal with the Brewers 😒

Speaking of - I’m so sick of the Brewers…they have magically won 9 games in a row, have a 37-12 record since June 10th, and are now 6 games ahead of the Cubs in the division 🤮 This is a historically good stretch of baseball. It needs to end!!

SCHEDULE 📅 T/W/TH/F/SAT/SUN

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

PRESEASON: BEARS 24 DOLPHINS 24

Ben Johnson’s (preseason) head coaching debut continued the undefeated streak. Don’t you remember the dominant 2024 preseason Bears?!?!?

• Tyson Bagent played the whole 1st half. He made impressive throws but was sloppy at times (13/19, 103 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT)

• Case Keenum (8/10, 80 yards, 2 TD) and Austin Reed (5/10, 41 yards) split time in the 2nd half

• Cairo Santos hit a 57-yard field goal at the end of the 1st half after Luther Burden wisely got out of bounds with 1 second left. Santos’ regular season career long is 55 yards 👀

• Austin Booker’s motor continued to shine, but his pass-rush moves leveled up. He had 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 6 tackles, 3 TFLs, and 4 QB hits!!

• Noah Sewell (2023 5th round pick) was flying around and made a huge goal line stop

• Dennis Allen sent an all-out blitz on 4th and 15 towards the end of the game, and Alex Cook strip-sacked Quinn Ewers on the play. I don’t think we have to worry about prevent defense on Hail Marry attempts this season 🙂

• First preseason tie for the Bears since 1973!!!

BONUS PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Tyson Bagent TD to Maurice Alexander

Tuesday’s practice was PHYSICAL by design. The beat reporters called it the “most tackling” and “most intense” they’ve seen at a live Bears practice in the last decade or more. Players were getting after each other, mouthing off, and taking some liberties after the whistle. Both units, offense and defense, had good moments!

Wednesday’s practice ended with the defense playing offense and vice versa. The defense won the challenge by moving the chains on a Nick McCloud catch 😂

Thursday’s joint practice with the Dolphins:

• Impactful day for the defense! INTs by Jaquan Brisker, Kevin Byard, and Tremaine Edmunds, multiple sacks, and they were the most physical and successful unit on the field

• OK day for the offense, featuring a big throw and catch from Caleb Williams to Olamide Zaccheaus and one from Tyson Bagent to Colston Loveland

• The teams avoided major altercations, but there were a few minor dust-ups. Two Dolphins were even going at it…

Kyler Gordon and Roschon Johnson were injured in practice this week - sounds like both were minor

Kevin Warren reiterated that the Bears hope to break ground in 2025 on a new Arlington Heights stadium

George McCaskey’s nephew, Edward McCaskey, will fill Virginia McCaskey’s seat on the board of directors

Signed TE Thomas Gordon, waived TE Jordan Murray

Vikings WR Jordan Addison will officially be suspended for the first 3 games of the season, meaning he will miss Week 1 on Monday Night Football vs. the Bears!!!

Next Up ➡️ Preseason Game #2 vs. Buffalo Bills - Sunday, August 17th @ 7PM

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

OFFSEASON

August 8th (8/8) was officially declared Patrick Kane Day in Chicago!

CHICAGO BULLS

OFFSEASON

Dalen Terry (now #7) and Jalen Smith (now #25) traded jersey numbers with each other! Will it be first initials next? Positions? Glasses or no glasses?

This season’s Statement Edition uniforms are bringing back the red pinstripes:

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

Matthew and Ashley Boyd

The new Cubs ace is delivering a Cy Young season, but the Boyds’ true passion is to help those who need it the most.

They helped launch Kingdom Home in Uganda, which is a safe home for kids who may otherwise be in danger of being taken by traffickers.

Read the whole story about their mission here:

MILD TAKE

The Cubs offense will turn it around.

I get it - we’ve seen this movie before.

The offense broke in 2018. They were stagnant in 2021. They had nobody left in 2022 and desperately needed sluggers. They collapsed in 2023 and couldn’t keep up in 2024.

But this team is different.

They had 5 superstar-like hitters in the 1st half with a wRC+ of 130 or more. They only had 1 hitter below 100, and that was Matt Shaw, who has been RAKING in the 2nd half.

They scored 10 or more runs 16 times in the first half alone. The lineup is deep 1 through 9 thanks to the surprising catcher group and massive development from youngsters like Michael Busch and PCA.

Every team goes through slumps. Why do so many fans believe they won’t turn it around? Probably because they’re scarred. I get it. But this is the deepest position player group in all of MLB, and they can gnaw away at any pitching staff on any given night. When they’re playing well, they draw walks, they work deep counts, and they hit timely homers.

They’re a group of winning players, and they’ll figure it out.

Scoring 3 runs or less 8 times in 21 2nd half games is brutal…but it’s temporary. The Cubs will be back.

HITTING THE LINKS

Kevin Fishbain - How Bears left tackle Ozzy Trapilo got his start in football, and the legacy he follows (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - Inside Jeff Blashill’s plan to begin teaching Blackhawks 'winning habits' in training camp (Chicago Sun-Times)

Jason Lieser - Bears K Cairo Santos' 'relationship' with Soldier Field (Chicago Sun-Times)

Scott Powers - Why Blackhawks first-round pick Anton Frondell plans to stay in Sweden this season (The Athletic)

Chicago Cubs - All Access | All-Stars in Atlanta (YouTube)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

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Thanks for reading! Today is my birthday! Just another reminder that I’ve never seen the Bears win a Super Bowl…