77 Hitmen

Wow. Maybe the Bears have finally had it with the Chicago reps trying to stop the package from moving forward. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/illinois-hearing-bears-stadium-canceled-hammond-indiana/ This statement from the Bears reads to me like they're close to agreeing to the Hammond site. IMO, this would be a huge black eye for the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois. "The passage of SB 27 would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date. We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. We appreciate the leadership shown by Governor [Mike] Braun, Speaker [Todd] Huston, Senator [Ryan] Mishler and members of the Indiana General Assembly in establishing this critical framework and path forward to deliver a premier venue for all of Chicagoland and a destination for Bears fans and visitors from across the globe. We value our partnership and look forward to continuing to build our working relationship together."

Great explanation, but it doesn't matter because the same poster is going to continue to throw tantrums and stomp his feet over the 78 site just has he has since news broke about a possible stadium there more than 2 years ago. It's amazing that he's so angry that the 78 is being discussed on a thread about the 78. Others have provided valid points against the Sox moving to the 78, but his comments sound unhinged and this thread would be many pages shorter without needing to respond to his nonsensical rants.

The Science Channel should be on standby to make an Engineering Catastrophes episode for when work starts on this tract of land.

Yep. If they're holding out to get the Bears to pay off the $500M or so in debt for Soldier Field, the team will just build their stadium in Hammond and IL will still have to pay off all that debt. Indiana has dump trucks full of money ready to throw at a Bears stadium. Chicago reps are mad that the team is leaving the city limits would rather have the team leave the state altogether than help them remain in Cook County.

The payments for the Soldier Field renovation were totally backloaded. That's why the debt hasn't been paid down much after over 20 years. The funds weren't misdirected, but the politicians in 2002 who set up this plan wanted to kick much of payments a couple of decades down the road. I don't have any links for this, but I'm pretty sure that's what I read at some point.

I have many fond memories of taking my kids to Sox games when they were little. I'd sometimes take them to the Fundamentals kids area and watch the game from the balcony up there. Enjoy, they'll be grown up before you know it.

Well, the Pope IS a Sox fan.

I suppose the narrative now will be that the north end of the site can support a structure like a stadium, but not the south end?

They should be more watchable, that's for sure. I still think they lose around 90 games, but there's definitely more players worth watching than in the last several years. Off the field, the MLB draft will be exciting, not just for the 1-1 pick, but how the Sox fare in the rest of the draft.

I wonder at what point it gets to the "put up or shut up" point for Jerry, Ishbia, and the White Sox if they indeed want to build a new stadium at the 78. We haven't heard a word about their intentions other than Ishbia's offer to the Pope to throw out the first pitch at a new ballpark. Once the Fire stadium gets underway, the south end of that property isn't going to sit undeveloped forever. Plus, with each passing year, construction costs continue to skyrocket. There's also the matter of the Sox lease at Rate Field expiring in 3 years and I highly doubt Ishbia wants to stay there long-term as he eventually assumes ownership of the team.

No doubt, as big as the Bears are, the Bills mean a whole lot more to the Buffalo region.

Environmental work to begin this week at the 78 in preparation for construction of the new Fire stadium, which is expected to start this spring. https://abc7chicago.com/post/environmental-work-78-site-future-home-chicago-fire-soccer-stadium-south-loop-begin-week/18607090/

LOL - yeah, and the taxpayers are paying $850M for stadium itself in upstate NY. I can live with waiting a couple more years since the Bears are privately funding a new stadium if one is built in Arlington Heights.

The value would certainly skyrocket, especially if the Bears would own that AH stadium instead of just being a tenant. Same is true of the White Sox, which is why JR wanted the state to build him a new Sox stadium and traveled down to Springfield a couple of years ago to (unsuccessfully) win support from lawmakers. The franchise value would increase big time and that would further enrich the Reinsdorf family when it comes time to sell the team. While Ishbia is still paying a lot for this franchise, it would be much more if the ISFA were building a publicly funded new stadium for them.

The first public hearing on the Bears property tax legislation is scheduled for this week. https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/bears-stadium-property-tax-legislation-hearing-illinois-general-assembly/

Article in today's Trib about Cholowsky. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/13/chicago-white-sox-roch-cholowsky-ucla/ This is what his UCLA coach says about him: “He’s an exceptional clubhouse guy,” Savage said. “His makeup, his leadership, his body of work in terms of his work ethic in the weight room, drills, practice, meetings … it’s all about winning with him. “Whenever you have your best player as one of the best workers, that’s giving the right message day in and day out and makes life much easier.”

His offense after coming up last year was encouraging. But I've followed the Sox long enough to temper my excitement until I see how much he can sustain his success. I'm voting 19 or fewer. If he has 19+ HRs by Memorial Day, I'll be thrilled to be wrong about this.

People under age 45 might not really appreciate how Wrigley wasn't always so widely adored and worshipped. That changed in the 1980s with every Cubs game being broadcast nationwide to just about anyone who had cable TV and with Harry Caray as their drunken cheerleader. At least for many years after that, people could say Wrigley was an overrated dump and the Cubs were perpetual losers. That changed when the Ricketts bought the team and poured hundreds of millions into renovating Wrigley and creating Gallagher Way to go with the night life that already existed in that neighborhood. This has made the difference between Wrigley and the "there's nothing wrong with it" Sox Park surrounded by acres of parking lots even more glaring. Plus, the Cubs are no longer perpetual losers who were a laughingstock on the field. This all happened as JR took the Sox franchise into a downward spiral over the last 15 years. It is what it is. Like you said, Wrigley's reputation isn't going anywhere. The Cubs might have their ups and down on the field in the coming years, but I don't see them being perpetual basement dwellers anytime in the foreseeable future. If the Sox want to start drawing more than just legacy fans while going up against the competition from the North Side Bad Guys, they'll really need to make some major changes on and off the field.

Is there anything new in these renderings that haven't already been released? Seems like I've seen these before. When are the Fire planning to break ground on the stadium?

Suburban lawmakers hold a packed rally to push for a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights: https://www.nbcchicago.com/video/news/local/suburban-leaders-urge-lawmakers-to-make-arlington-heights-bears-stadium-happen/3891682/ https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/11/arlington-heights-indiana-chicago-bears-stadium/

Yeah, I thought maybe something eventful happened with 7 pages of posts after only one day of training camp. Nah, it's just endless arguments about past Sox failures.

Fox 32 discussion on the Bears stadium situation. Some interesting points brought up here: - The Indiana site would be in Hammond, by Wolf Lake on what is now a public golf course - Don't know much about the Portage site, but they think it's a pie in the sky proposal. - Not a lot of buildable space near the Hammond site for a stadium district development.

Not gonna happen with the Cardinals, but I wonder if this funding source could help get a new Sox stadium built.

Valid points, though I'd argue that the current stadium has fundamental flaws (and no, I'm not talking about which way it's facing) that can't really be fixed by renovations. But yes, they could build a new stadium across the street and get the design totally right....and it still won't help enough because they'd still be at a location that people just aren't interested in going to for other things before and after the game. There's no good or easy answers for this franchise to grow the fan base after years of neglect under the current ownership. The Ishbias have their work cut out for them.