How many times have you heard a Chicago sports fan say “There is always next year”? Well, there’s a reason we named ourselves that. Right now, though, I am telling myself that about the Cubs, Bears, and Blackhawks. Let me tell you why.

The Bears did the right thing (finally) and spent money on the best coach available right now. Ben Johnson just signed a 5-year, $65 million contract– and that’s on top of bringing in great candidates for the coaching staff. I am hoping the culture shift is real with this complete overhaul. Even if they suck again next year, we can’t blame the front office because they made the right move– the move that every fan wanted. Now, go build the trenches and make the playoffs already.

The Blackhawks youth movement has begun. Even though they suck right now,  at least the games are entertaining– frustrating, but entertaining. Connor Bedard is an absolute stud, and now he is getting reinforcements from the Icehogs like Frank Nazar, Colton Dach, and more recently, Landon Slaggert. Not just offensively either– the defensive core is coming together too and it looks promising. Although the rebuild has been difficult, Kyle Davidson has shown that he can draft talent. Bedard and Nazar already in the NHL, Artyom Levshunov is knocking on the door, and currently there are 5 prospects on the Hobey Baker Nominee List (the award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s ice hockey player). The Blackhawks have one of the best pipelines in the NHL, and pretty soon, the pieces will be put together.

On to the Cubs, the reason I am the most excited. Still don’t know if I should be. Owen told me that at this point even joking about having high expectations seems like a mistake. I mean I don’t disagree but I can’t help myself.

The 2025 PECOTA Projections for the Chicago Cubs are crazy. The Cubs are projected to win 90.6 games and to win the Central Division by at least 10 wins. The last time the Cubs were projected to win this many games was 2016. That year they were projected at 92 wins and they won 103. On top of that, over the last three seasons, PECOTA has undervalued the Cubs-

2023- Projected 77, finished 83

2022- Projected 70, finished 74

2024- Projected 80, finished 83

You getting excited yet? No? Well hang on, I am not finished. 90.6 wins is projected to be the third most in the ENTIRE LEAGUE. These projections also give the Cubs an 87% chance to make the playoffs and the 5th best chances to win the World Series at 7.1%.

Would you like a cup of kool-aid yet? I am drinking too much. I haven’t even looked at individual projections yet and I am already way too excited for this season.

As hard as it is to stay patient, (especially recently in Chicago) there is at least a vision for these three teams. I should mention that the White Sox farm system is looking very good as well. However, the last time the Sox traded an ace to Boston and got a promising return… well you know how that panned out. You can have all the talent in the world, but it all starts from top. And sitting at the top of all that is Jerry Reinsdorf.