👋 Good morning!
Kudos to Major League Baseball for at least trying to make the Home Run Derby watchable again.
The idea behind a split-screen to ensure we could watch the ball fly was a good one — it could’ve been great had the camera operators actually been able to track the ball in midair.
The format still needs tweaking, and we can ditch contact-first middle infielders going forward, but it was better than the last few.
And if ESPN really wants to boost ratings next year, bring Chris Berman back-back-back-back to the broadcast — it isn’t the same without Boom.
Hoge. Jahns. CHGO.
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Guaranteed concern.
We’re one week from training camp kicking off for the Bears at Halas Hall, and all three second-round picks from their 2025 class remain unsigned.
Just how concerning is this? Let’s take a look:
Some background details: The Texans fully guaranteed the contract of WR Jayden Higgins, the No. 34 pick in the 2025 draft, just before rookie minicamp in May. Then, the Browns followed suit, agreeing to fully guarantee the contract of LB Carson Schwesinger, the No. 33 pick.
Why is that a big deal? They’re the first second-rounders in NFL history with fully guaranteed rookie contracts. Now, every other second-rounder seemingly—and understandably—wants a piece of the guarantee pie.
To this point, 32 picks from the 2025 NFL Draft remain unsigned. Two of those 32 were drafted in the first round. The other 30 were chosen in the second round, meaning Higgins and Schwesinger remain the only second-rounders under contract.
What does this mean for the Bears? Plain and simple, without signed contracts, Luther Burden III, Ozzy Trapilo, and Shemar Turner won’t be able to participate in training camp.
Bears fans have seen rookie holdouts in the past, most notably when Roquan Smith sat out until the middle of August before putting pen to paper. Smith, the No. 8 pick in 2018, then began his rookie season on a pitch count.
So, what’s the endgame? It depends on who flinches first. I doubt it’ll be the Bears, which isn’t ideal considering Trapilo should realistically be competing for the starting left tackle spot in camp.
But if I had to guess, as long as one other team caves on the guarantee before training camp, most others will, too, and it’ll become an unwritten standard for the second-round picks going forward.
Feel free to add this to the list of concerns: We still haven’t seen Burden on the practice field since rookie minicamp. And any additional time away from the field only sets the rookie receiver back even further.
Again, I don’t think the Bears are the team to flinch in this debacle, but at some point, and much sooner than later, they’ll need their second-rounders on the field.
GO DEEPER: Could it be the Bears? After all, aligning Ryan Poles with Ben Johnson was a notable shift from the organization’s status quo.
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SEASON OPE-NER: Nothing like kicking things off on a Tuesday afternoon against the reigning champs. That’s exactly how the 2025-26 season will begin for the Blackhawks, who’ll open their centennial season on the road against the back-to-back champion Florida Panthers on October 7 at 4 p.m. CT.
Yep, that says 4 p.m. CT. Now, I’m sure it’ll be a few minutes past the hour if Florida has some sort of elaborate banner-raising ceremony. But a mid-afternoon puck drop is one hell of a way to market the league’s season opener.
SURPRISE SURPRISE: According to hockey insider Elliotte Friedman, the NHL is expected to keep the draft’s new decentralized format for at least one more season with some additional tweaks to improve the flow of the first round.
The format, which debuted last month, was a pretty big flop among fans, but team executives overwhelmingly enjoyed the privacy of their own war rooms as opposed to sharing the floor of an arena with every interaction under a microscope.
ERRORS & OMISSIONS: From yesterday’s newsletter, the White Sox’s first-round pick on Sunday night was shortstop Billy Carlson, not Billy Conrad.
Rank Week continues tonight!
Mark your calendars 🗓️
— #CHGO Sports (#@CHGO_Sports)
6:32 PM • Jul 14, 2025
We kicked off our Rank Week programming last night with the Top 10 What Ifs in Chicago Blackhawks history.
Tonight, we’ll explore the missed triumphs and near-disasters of the Chicago Bulls!
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Top 10 ‘What Ifs!’
7:00 on YouTube
⚾️ MLB All-Star Game
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POSTGAME on CHGO Cubs YT
