Daily Herald opinion: A glum sports picture: Chicago’s pro teams were a lump of coal this year; stadiums won’t change that

For those of you scoring at home, 2024 was a rough year for Chicago’s pro sports teams. If it wasn’t the worst ever, it’s definitely in the team picture.

Chicago team’s fired more coaches — five — than made postseason appearances — two. Only one of the eight major franchises had a winning record — the Cubs — and they still missed the playoffs.

Maybe it’s a good thing that you have to go out of your way to catch these teams on TV right now.

It hasn’t all been bad, though.

As we have chronicled this past year, we had some outstanding prep sports moments to celebrate and we know we’ll have plenty more in 2025.

The Schaumburg Boomers, Kane County Cougars and Chicago Dogs all played winning baseball this summer.

So we had a few winners to cheer for.

But, the Second City was a second-rate pro sports city in 2024. We wish there a glimmer of hope in 2025, but we’re not sure about that.

The Bears stumble into 2025 with questions about who is leading the search for a new coach, where/if/when they’ll start construction on a new stadium and who will try to keep quarterback Caleb Williams upright next season.

The Cubs traded for all-star Kyle Tucker and traded Cody Bellinger. Maybe the young prospects will flourish and manager Craig Counsell can lead them back to the playoffs next year.

About the only thing the White Sox have done since setting a record for most losses in a season is change the name of their current stadium while trying to get taxpayers to help pay for a new one. If you like watching teardowns and rebuilds, this team is for you.

The Blackhawks are rebuilding around Connor Bedard and a bevy of other young players. Maybe it will lead to Stanley Cup glory again, but it’s a few seasons away.

The Bulls seem destined to flirt with .500 all year, make the play-in tournament and miss the lottery.

We hope the Sky can build around Kamilla Cardosa and Angel Reese and become a playoff contender next year.

On the soccer front, the Red Stars made the playoffs last year after missing them in 2023, so there might be a little hope there. The Fire went out and hired former U.S. national coach Gregg Berhalter. Maybe he can turn that franchise around.

Instead of talking about new stadiums, maybe these owners should focus on putting a quality product on the field.