From the Bleachers

from August 3, 2023

Dead bats wash up on Lake Michigan shoreline

COLUMN BY KURT MARGGRAF IN CHICAGO

The excitement is building for the Chicago Bears and their fans.

Opening day against the Packers is less than six weeks away and all the new Bears have to mesh with the Bears of last year. The Bears couldn’t possibly be as bad as they were last year and just may be good enough to be a playoff team.

Personally, I’m a big fan of Justin Fields, and I’m expecting him to improve, as a passer, by leaps and bounds this season. He’s already a terrific runner and seems to be growing into the the leadership role. If the line gives him more time and the receivers are as good as advertised, the sky’s the limit.

Every August I’m excited about the upcoming NFL season and this year the excitement is even greater than usual. I truly believe that the Bears are at the beginning stages of sustained success. The next Super Bowl or two may be on the horizon. September 10th can’t come soon enough.

Baseball in Chicago is not over yet. The White Sox season, for all intents and purposes, has come to an end, but they are being aggressive by making trades for the future. The Sox have traded two of their best three starting pitchers and two of their top three relievers, and I don’t think they’re done yet.

The team that they put together to win multiple championships never gelled. The talent always seemed to be there but they just couldn’t put things together. Questionable decisions by management, key injuries, and an inability to make clutch plays derailed their championship expectations but hopefully the new wave of youngsters will get them back on the right track.

Last week, the Cubs seemed like they were on their way to throwing in the towel on the season like the Sox, but an amazing thing happened. They beat the Sox twice and won six out of eight against the Cardinals to pull within four games of first and three and a half games of a wildcard berth.

They hit well, pitched beautifully, fielded magically, ran the bases with abandon, hustled, and made clutch plays time and again. In short, they played like a championship team.

The Cubs just told the teams that were pursuing Cody Bellinger that he was no longer available. They changed course and are now looking to add to their major league roster rather than adding more youngsters.

The Cubs front office decided to reward the players who are currently playing so well by going for the playoffs now rather than aiming for the future. In a perfect universe, that’s the way things should always work. The Cubs are far from a perfect team, but if they get into the playoffs, anything is possible.

Colin R. Davis said, “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.”

What’s blue and not very heavy?... light blue!!!

Be kind. Talk to you next week. Peace, love, and happiness.