South Side Sports Roundup June 19th, 2025

The bar is low, but the White Sox have finally shown small signs of life in recent weeks, with performances from several young players offering glimmers of hope despite a league-worst record. They’ve gone 7-6 over their last two homestands after suffering a three-game sweep to the NL-leading Cubs at Wrigley Field in mid-May.

Leading the charge has been infielder Chase Meidroth, who ranks in the top five among AL rookies in batting average, hits, walks, and OPS. Acquired as a secondary part in the trade that sent Garrett Crochet to Boston, Meidroth is poised to become a fixture in the Sox infield for the foreseeable future. 

Similarly, rookie Shane Smith continues to be the team’s most effective starter in his first big league season. Smith ranks second among AL rookies in ERA (2.37) and strikeouts (64), and third in WHIP. He’s making an excellent case to represent the Sox in July’s All-Star Game.

Speaking of the Crochet trade, the centerpiece of the Sox’ end of the deal is officially in the major leagues, as catcher Kyle Teel made his MLB debut on June 6. Considered one of the top catching prospects in the league, Teel hit .295 with eight home runs in Triple-A Charlotte before receiving the call. He and fellow rookie Edgar Quero will be counted on to hold down the catcher’s spot on the South Side for several years to come.

Of interest off the field, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf announced earlier this month that billionaire investor Justin Ishbia, who purchased a substantial minority stake in the club earlier this year, would be given opportunities to purchase a controlling stake in the team beginning in 2029 and concluding in 2034. While Reinsdorf has refused to call it such, the move has been widely interpreted as a succession plan for the 89-year-old, who has owned the White Sox since 1981 and NBA’s Chicago Bulls since 1985. 

Offseason declarations of progress for the Chicago Sky seem to have been premature. They’ve won just three of their first 10 games of the 2025 season, their first under newly hired head coach Tyler Marsh. Their season opener against the Indiana Fever on May 17th attracted a WNBA-record 2.7 million viewers, but it resulted in a 35-point Sky loss, the first of three defeats of 25+ points through less than a month of play. That’s tied with the 2-8 Connecticut Sun for the most such losses in the league, and certainly not the positive step forward that fans hoped to see early in the season.

“You’ve got to continue to look at the positives for each game,” Marsh told the media after the Sky’s June 10 rematch with the New York Liberty, an 85-66 walloping in front of millions of viewers on ESPN and ABC. “We continue to compete,” he continued. “Once you lose the passion or will to compete, that’s the time to worry. We’re still putting forth that effort and passion for one another.”

Second-year star Angel Reese notched her first career triple-double against Connecticut last Sunday, a 78-66 win for Chicago. Visible improvements in her playmaking and defense hasn’t quite made up for the regression Reese (10.4 PPG, 11.9 RPG, .357 FG%) has suffered in her overall stats after a record-breaking rookie season, but it is a promising sign nonetheless. Poor team-wide defense has been the primary culprit for the Sky’s struggles, however. The 87 points  allowed per game is their worst since 2018, and the offense has been completely disconnected, ranking 12th out of 13 in points scored. 

The Sky play at the Wintrust Arena twice in the coming week, first on Saturday against the Phoenix Mercury, followed by a Tuesday evening bout with the Los Angeles Sparks.

The Chicago Bears revealed their schedule for the 2025 season last month, headlined by a Week 1 Monday Night Football bout with the division-rival Minnesota Vikings to open the year. They’ll also get a Week 5 Monday Night Football rematch with the Washington Commanders a year after a now-infamous last-minute loss sparked a 10-game Bears losing streak that cost head coach Matt Eberflus his job. Rounding out their prime time schedule is a visit to the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles on the Friday after Thanksgiving. 

By opponent win percentage, the Bears have the second-toughest schedule of all 32 NFL teams, making a tough hill to climb for ascendant second-year quarterback Caleb Williams. Speaking to the media at this month’s offseason minicamps, Williams reaffirmed his commitment to the Bears after a controversial report emerged detailing his efforts to avoid being drafted by Chicago. Williams and his family reportedly had major concerns about Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, concerns that were ultimately borne out when the pair were dismissed amid an up-and-down campaign for the rookie signal-caller.

“Those are thoughts that go through your head in those situations,” Williams admitted to media members at Bears mini-camps earlier this month. “[But] after I came on my visit here, it was a deliberate [and] determined answer that I wanted to come here.”

One challenge that will not be surmounted, however, is the one that involves breaking through the barriers required to build a new stadium on the lakefront. The Bears released a statement last month, originally reported by the Chicago Tribune, revealing that the team would be shifting their longstanding hunt for a new stadium back to Arlington Heights. They purchased a $200 million tract of land several years ago in the suburb in 2023. 

This comes more than a year after Mayor Brandon Johnson championed a proposal from the team for a stadium on Chicago’s lakefront, a proposal that was all but shot down last year amid nearly unified opposition from state lawmakers and lakefront advocacy groups. Johnson acknowledged to the Chicago Sun-Times that the team had informed him of their decision to move on, despite his support. That being said, he added, “the door remains open to Chicago.”

Whether the Bears and state lawmakers—whose approval is required for the public funding the team has asked for—agree with that sentiment remains to be seen.