By Tavin Harshfield

Tues March 11, 2026

As the 2026 NFL offseason kicks off, free agency is upon us with many teams making big moves and signings, including our very own Chicago Bears, making many signings and trades to get deeper into the playoffs after a great season last year. 

The Chicago Bears moved quickly after the surprising retirement of Drew Dalman and sent a 2027 fifth-round pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for center Garrett Bradbury. After that, they signed safety Coby Bryant to a 3-year deal, worth $40 million, as the safety status of Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker remains up in the air. The signing of Coby Bryant was a great signing as it gives them a safety blanket in a Super-Bowl-winning safety with great coverage. 

With the loss of Tremaine Edmunds, they signed linebacker Devin Bush to a 3-year deal worth $30 million. A great replacement at linebacker as he is a speedy and ball-hawking athlete, and the only player to have multiple pick-sixes last season. Signing defensive tackle Neville Gallimore on a 2-year deal for $12 million adds a good depth piece to replace Andrew Billings, who left in free agency. They are also signing Kalif Raymond, as he has been a great return specialist to help with returning kicks and punts on a one-year deal. Resigning Braxton Jones and Case Keenum was a great move to retain good depth pieces on cheaper deals.

By Lanie Griest

Wed February 11, 2026

Ilia Malinin is representing the USA figure skating men’s division for the Olympics, but what got him here, and how does he feel about it?

Malinin began skating at 7 years old in the rink with his parents, who used to also be figure skaters, as a coach. Ilia went on to become the youngest male Olympic-level figure skating champion in 2022. In the years following, he went on to be the fifth man in Olympic history to get over 300 points in one competition in 2023, as well as the first person to land a quad axel. In the following years, he completed many more feats, including being the first person to ever cleanly land seven different quadruple jumps in a single program in 2025 and only getting less than third place in any competition 8 times in his whole career, going on 11 years with 4 of those times still being within 5th place. Needless to say, he is an incredibly skilled athlete.

Ilia Malinin has expressed his deep excitement for representing the USA for the 2026 Olympics and said it was a major honor as well as a significant moment in his career. He has said that he shares his pride with his teammates to all be working together to win gold for the USA and has shown enthusiasm for possessing a leadership role in doing so. 

Ilia Malinin is one of the most prominent modern male figure skaters, and many are eagerly keeping up with his competitions at the winter Olympics. Whether one is interested in figure skating or not, he is a name that many people know and like to watch in action.

By Tavin Harshfield

Thur January 15, 2026

The Chicago Bears claimed the number two seed in the NFC North with their win over the Green Bay Packers back in week 16, meaning they will host their playoff game. Once seeding came down to it they have their third meeting in the past month with the Packers, so far splitting the season series 1-1, they host the Packers for the NFC Wild Card game. Going into halftime they were down a whopping 21-3 after a slow start. Coming out of halftime defense made stops and they slowly started cutting down their 18 point deficit beginning in the fourth quarter. With a late touchdown by the Packers it seemed to be over but the Bears climbed back as they have all season with the most comeback wins in a single season in NFL history. A late touchdown to DJ Moore put them up 4 with a minute left and with only a few seconds left the Packers took the last snap and could not convert a touchdown on the play completing the Bears ultimate comeback win advancing them to the Divisional Round against the Rams this Sunday at 5:30.

By Tavin Harshfield

Thu November 13, 2025

The Chicago Bears are 6-3, second in the division, for the first time since 2018. First year head coach Ben Johnson has led the team to drastic changes as second year quarterback Caleb Williams has made a giant leap in his development leading them to multiple comeback wins so far this season. The defense has been huge for their success so far as Safety Kevin Byard and Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds both have 4 interceptions tied for the league lead. Caleb Williams and his second year man Rome Odunze have connected for 559 yards and have been electric so far this season. They have a tough schedule ahead of them but with them winning 6 of their last 7 games, they have been on their best as of late and look to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2020.

By Tavin Harshfield

This year’s World Series features two powerhouse teams in the LA Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Dodgers cruised their way to their second straight World Series appearance, losing only one game through their first three series, sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS. As the Blue Jays on the other hand, took the Seattle Mariners to 7 games with a clutch 3 run home run by George Springer in the seventh inning to put the Blue Jays on top 4-3 which ultimately led to them winning the ALCS and heading to the World Series for the first time since 1993, which was also the last time they won the World Series. Also, winning in 1992 made them the last time in history that a team won back-to-back years. They look to stop the defending champion Dodgers from breaking that feat. 

By Tavin Harshfield

Mon October 20, 2025

The Blue Devils needed to win the remainder of their schedule, which included a game at home versus Manteno and an away game at Herscher. The first of those came at home, in the annual "Rumble of Rt. 50" matchup against Manteno.

At halftime, the Devils were down, needing a good second half to continue their playoff hopes. They did just that with big-time games from Alex Chenoweth, who threw for 130 yards and a touchdown on 9 completions, and he also added 50 yards on the ground. Nick Cronin caught 4 for 77 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 61 yards. And a late touchdown by Tucker Cain put the Devils on top.

Unfortunately, Manteno drove down the field late and came out with a score. Alex Chenoweth drove the Blue Devils down the field with less than two minutes left, only needing a touchdown to win. And with the last play of the game needing 5 yards, they unfortunately couldn't convert, ending their playoff hopes. It will be the first time in 6 years that they haven't been in the playoffs.

By Tavin Harshfield

Thur, September 25, 2025

For the first time in 5 years, the Chicago Cubs clinched a playoff spot with a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-4. The past five years have been through ups and downs, even starting with the last time they made the playoffs in 2020. That was the COVID year and a shortened season, but they unfortunately lost in the NL Wild Card (1st Round) to the Marlins. 2021-’24 was a rough go as they finished under .500 in the ‘21 and ‘22 season, and they went 83-79 two years in a row, in the ‘23 and ‘24 season, both missing the playoffs. 

But this year was something different, as before the season started, they traded for star player Kyle Tucker and the emergence of MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong. They ended the first half of the season going into the All-Star break with the second-best record in the National League at 57-39 and three All-Stars in Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, and Mathew Boyd. Pete Crow-Armstrong started for the National League in Center Field, and Kyle Tucker started in Left Field for the team as well. 

After the All-Star break, they started off hot, holding the best record in the league, but as the season went on, they fell into second place in the division against the surging, red-hot Brewers, who have just clinched the division. The Cubs clinched a wildcard spot and are looking to secure home-field advantage for their playoff matchup on September 30th, with their matchup TBD.

By Tavin Harshfield

Mon September 8, 2025

The Blue Devils picked up a Week 1 win against Granite City 48-7 with Coach Tolly winning his historic 53rd game for the program. 53 wins is now the most wins in school history, making Coach Tolly Tsiamas the winningest head coach in program history. 

Apostolos Tsiamas, Tolly,  became the head coach of the Blue Devils in the 2015-2016 season and ever since then he has led them to 6 playoff appearances in the 9 seasons he’s coached. Now in his tenth season the Blue Devils look to make another playoff year, winning their first game of the season along with the 53rd win for Coach Tolly in his time with the program. He now has a career coaching record of 53-43. 

When asked about this season he said, “We’re really young this year, We’ve only got about 10 seniors on the team, so we have a lot of juniors that are going to be playing for us. We’ve just got to concentrate and focus on getting kids up to par and getting ready to play varsity football, with a lot of them not having done it.” 

With that being said this young Blue Devils team may go through some growing pains in the first few weeks, but look to get rolling to clinch their fifth straight playoff berth in the coming months.