Chicago Sports House

When it comes to baseball in the city of Chicago there's not a lot of history of winning for either the Cubs of White Sox. These two teams though, have both been able to get the job done and win a World Series each in the last 15 years.  The Sox stopped a 88 year drought when they won in 2005, and the Cubs snapped the longest drought in major sports history by ending a 108 year drought in 2016. These being the only two World Series champions any of us have probably seen in our lives I figured we should compare the two. Pitching: Starting with looking at the pitching, the Cubs had a rotation consisting of Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel. Arrieta was coming off winning a Cy Young in 2015, and Lester and Hendricks finished 2 and 3 respectively in 2016. As a team including the bullpen the Cubs pitched to a 3.15 team era which led the league by a wide margin. On the other hand the Sox had a rotation of Mark Buehrle, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, Jose...

Over the years we have seen the White Sox struggle with attendance as compared to their north side counterparts. Some of it has to do with the low quality of the team in past years, but the main problem to me is the location of their stadium. I do think this problem can be solved. I think the main way to solve this problem would be to move to a new stadium that is easier for the fans to get to. The Sox play on the south side of the city which is viewed by many as not the best part of the city. Also it is very hard to get to Guaranteed Rate Field for those who want to go to games but live in the suburbs. People from the suburbs account for a large portion of Sox fans, and I think they can do a better job at accommodating these people.  Unlike Wrigley Field, Guaranteed Rate is hard to get to by train or bus. This is a problem because I know that many adults like to consume beer at these games and without a train or bus to get them home they can’t do this and therefore may view it as ...

Baseball is coming back, but I still feel the need to rant about some of the latest Cubs news, mostly about the team owner Tom Ricketts. While the Owners and players were at a stand still, a lot of it seemed to stem from owners like Tom Ricketts.  One of the reasons we saw Tom in the news was because he said the Cubs really don’t make a lot of revenue. This simply cannot be true for a team like the Cubs and Tom knows it, he was just trying to get fans on the side of the owners to pay his players less money. Every single game at Wrigley is a sell out or a hair from that, and that's not even counting the money from overcharged beer and hot dogs. Between that and the extra revenue they are bringing in from merchandise sales it is crazy to think a team with a fan base like the Cubs is having trouble breaking even. A team like the Sox hasn’t claimed this and they have trouble filling up their ball park, the Cubs do not.  I could understand Tom’s point if he was the owner of a small...

A lot has happened with the Bulls since this quarantine started. While many teams have experienced no change the Bulls made a big one by firing Gar Foreman and bring in Atrturas Karnisovas as the new Vice President of Basketball Operations. This position was formerly held by John Paxson, who now has a different role with the team so time will tell his involvement.  Many Bulls Fans, Like myself have been waiting for someone new to be in charge for many years so I would have been happy with anyone. Karnisovas though isn't just anybody, he is well respected around the league and viewed by many as a great signing for the bulls. The only problem I have with it is John Paxson's involvement.  Paxson seemed like he would be fired with Gar Foreman, but instead owner Jerry Reinsdorf will keep him with the team as a senior advisor. Time will tell but I’m definitely worried that Reinsdorf just hired Karnisovas to appease Bulls fans when really his guy John Paxson is still in charge. After...

For this blog I wanted to do something slightly different. I decided to interview a life long Chicago Bears fan about all the ups and downs that come with being a fan here in Chicago. Also because I am only 21 years old, I wanted to interview someone who knows more about the team from before I was alive. Because of all this I decided to interview one of the biggest Bears fans I know, my own dad. And now for the interview: Me: “ To start off I just want to ask how long you have been a Bears fan?” Dad: “ Really for as long as I can remember, so being born in 1965 probably somewhere in the 70’s is when I became a big fan as a kid.” Me: “Obviously you’ve seen a lot more Bears football than me, what is your favorite Bears memory ever?” Dad: “ That’s an easy one and anyone my age I think would have the same answer, the 1985 Bears. Between the defense with guys like Singletary and Richard Dent, and then Walter Payton on offense.I have never been more in love with a football team than that yea...

ESPN's Jeff Passan wrote a great article detailing baseballs return. Finally the day all of us baseball fans have been waiting for, baseball is officially back. For a while it looked like we would be lucky to get any baseball at all in 2020, but that worry is gone now as at least we will get a game season.  As detailed in the article the MLB and MLB Players Association have agreed to terms on a 60 game season, and a report date of July 1st for extended spring training. I know that a 60 game season is really short for baseball, but my thinking on it is that I'll definitely take it over nothing. Also according to Jeff Passan in the article, the teams will only play games against their division opponents, and teams in the same geographic division but opposite leagues. So for example the Cubs will play all their games against NL central and AL central division teams. What this means is, we are going to get some exciting and meaningful games between the Cubs and Sox this summer. The...

Today, We are going to look into Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant and his journey to where he is today.  Kris grew up in Las Vegas, and even played baseball as kid with now major leaguers Bryce Harper and Joey Gallo. I don’t know if you can put together a better little league team than that.  After high school Kris went on to continue his baseball career at the University of San Diego, where his talent really took off. By Kris’ junior year he was arguably the best hitter in all of college baseball by a large margin. This season Kris hit an absurd 31 home runs in just 62 games, think about that he was hitting a home run every other game.  After his dominant season came the 2013 MLB draft. All Cubs fans should be sure to thank the Astros for passing on Bryant and essentially handing him on a silver platter to the Cubs. The Cubs took Bryant with the 2nd overall pick and from then on he flew through the minor leagues.  By 2015, Bryant was finally ready to make his major le...

The White Sox go into 2020 with expectations of winning for the first time in many years. We haven’t seen the Sox make the playoffs since 2008, the hope is that this can change this year. Also with the season looking like it's only going to be 60 games, it could be a very interesting season. Going into the season, the Sox strength seems to lie with their offense. Both Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada are coming off breakout years, having Sox fans expecting more in 2020. The Sox also return the consistency of Jose Abreu in the middle of their batting order. The name I’m most excited to see this year has to be Luis Robert. Robert will make his Major League debut when play resumes, and he comes to the south side as the number three prospect in all of baseball. With both speed and power he should bring excitement to the Sox offense in 2020. The biggest question for the Sox this year has to be their pitching. The ace for the Sox is going to be Lucas Giolito, who is coming off a breakout se...

Today I have decided to give you my list of top five Bulls players since the year 2000. Derrick Rose: For me, number one was a no brainer. Although injuries really cut short his prime in Chicago, I think that most of us Bulls fans can agree that he was by far the best player we have seen in a Bulls uniform since the days of Jordan and Pippen. In 2011 he became only the 2nd Bull ever to win MVP of the league, and when you're on a list that only includes the great Michael Jordan you know you did something special. Jimmy Butler: For the number two spot, it took me a lot more thinking than number one. I considered a few players, but ultimately landed on Jimmy Butler for this spot. Maybe the Bulls biggest draft steal ever, Butler grew from bench player to superstar while with the Bulls. His last few years with the team he was a bona fide two way star, scoring at will while also playing fantastic defense.  Joakim Noah: Probably the most loved Bull other than D-Rose since the year 2000. ...

     With most of the pieces settled for the upcoming season, I figured that I would review the Bears 2020 off-season. There is both good and bad, so let's see how they did.      To start off, we have to talk about the trade for Nick Foles. The Bears sent a 4th round pick to Jacksonville for the former Super Bowl MVP quarterback. Personally, I love this move. While Foles still comes with question marks after a disappointing injury riddled year with the Jags, I think he still brings much promise to this offense. I also am all for getting another QB into this system after the disaster that was Mitch Trubisky last year for this team. As fans we have been starved for a solid QB for so long that I am happy that they are at least trying to add one.       Next the other huge move the Bears made was adding pro bowl pass rusher Robert Quinn to the team. The Bears inked him to a 5 year 70 million dollar contract. This is another move that I love f...

Although the 2020 MLB season is still not a sure thing, we did at least have the 2020 draft to follow this past week. While the draft was shortened to just five rounds there is still a lot for us to discuss. 1st Round : With the 16th overall pick in the draft, the Cubs selected high school shortstop Ed Howard. To my delight the Cubs stayed local and took hometown kid Ed Howard out of Mount Carmel High School. Like myself, you might remember Ed from the famous Chicago Jackie Robinson little league team that went on to win the U.S. championship at the Little League World Series. Now 18, Ed has all the tools to become a great prospect and be the Cubs everyday shortstop in the future. Being only 18 it will be at least a few years before we see him at Wrigley, but he has a ton of future potential.  2nd Round: In the 2nd round, the Cubs selected Dallas Baptist lefty reliever Burl Carraway. Viewed as the best reliever in the class, I think the Cubs possibly got a heck of a steal with this...

Before we go too in depth, I thought that I would share a blog with you guys just going over what state we find all five major Chicago sports teams in. Just as a guide to what we will be talking about here at Chicago Sports House. We will start with the Cubs. The Cubs: Since winning the World Series in 2016 the Cubs have been a perennial playoff contender, but they did miss the playoffs for the first time last year since 2015. The star power is still there though as they return Javy Baez, Anthony Rizzo, and Kris Bryant to go along with many other solid pieces. If there is a 2020 season we should expect them to be in contention for the NL central crown. The Bears: Coming off a Disappointing 2019-2020 season the Bears look to rebound by making some major off-season moves. The team made a move to add former Super Bowl MVP winning quarterback Nick Foles to compete for the starting job. Hopefully for us Bears fans Foles can bring a spark to an offense that desperately needs it.  The Sox...

     Hi everybody!, I am Mike Morici and welcome to the Chicago Sports House website. As the author of just about everything you will read here I figured I should introduce both myself and the site to you.       At Chicago Sports House, the plan is to do the best to cover all that is going on in the Chicago sports world, from the perspective of your everyday fan. I hope to both entertain and inform you about all the highs and lows that come with being a Chicago sports fan. I intend to give you very knowledgeable writing, but I also want the tone to be as if it's a conversation you're having with one of your friends about what's going on in Chicago sports.      To introduce myself, I have grown up and lived in the Chicago area my whole life and I also now attend Illinois State University. I have been following Chicago sports for as long as I can remember and have been through all the highs and the lows that come with that. I’m a lifelong ...