What a weekend.
With the summer sports lull firmly in the rearview mirror, and three of Chicago's sports teams in full gear (with two warming up), there was a lot to stay on top of:
Bears
Aaron Rodgers, man. The Packers great showed the Bears just how far they need to go before they can compete in the NFC North. It might have been a soul-crushing loss, but there were a few sterling-silver linings for Da Bears. Khalil Mack was so good that he went out there and did something that no one else had done in almost 40 years. He and Roquan Smith put together one of the more fun two minutes in recent Bears memory. Mack was so dominant that he even caught the eye of one LeBron James. They may have caught an L, but Vegas is buying hard on the Bears after last night's performance.
Cubs
Did the Cubs even play this weekend? They were supposed to play a four-game set against the Nationals in D.C., but Mother Nature had other plans. The delays were so bad that the two teams actually spent more time waiting to play this weekend than actually playing at all. It was a confusing four days that had people up in arms about how the delays were handled. When they did play, though, Victor Caratini supplied one of the best bat flips of the season. The eternal optimist would say that all that rest gives their bullpen some much-needed relief, and could be the reset that a key pitcher, like, say, Carl Edwards Jr, needs to turn his season around. The etneral pessismist would say that the time crunch already puts pressure on pitchers, like, say, Brandon Morrow, who are running out of time to return to form.
White Sox
NFL
GM Rick Hahn came through with the Friday afternoon news dump of the season, announcing that Michael Kopech had significant damage to his UCL. That likely means Tommy John and no more Kopech until 2020. There's optimism, though, that Kopech will return just as good - if not better. The injruy does affect the team's rebuild plans, however, as well as changing what Hahn and Co. need to address this offseason.
Other
The Bulls' Jabari Parker reacted to the tragic death of rapper/producer Mac Miller, and John McDonough on Corey Crawford talked about turning the page on a 'painful' season.