The Chicago Bulls picked up their final win of the season, 115-105 against the Philadelphia 76ers; however, it would also be the Bulls final game, as for the second time in 12 seasons, they failed to make it to the NBA Playoffs.

Twelve days later after the Bulls’ loss, the defending NHL champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, ended their season abruptly in St. Louis with a heart-breaking loss in a highly anticipated Game Seven matchup against the Blues.

Although they won the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013, and 2015, this was the Blackhawks’ earliest playoff exit since the 2007-2008 season.

“It’s tough for real sports fans to see their city’s teams end the season early,” Tommy Kreutz, Div. 768, said. “The Bulls not making the playoffs for the first time in seven years– it’s tough for all sports fans to see stuff like this, especially with the bar, for Chicago sports, set so high.”

With the United Center all but done hosting these teams for another year, two more of Chicago’s professional sports teams have taken center stage.

The Chicago White Sox have not just exceeded expectations, they have destroyed doubts stemming from last season’s struggles, when they finished 76-86.

The Chicago Cubs have asserted their role as the best team in baseball, and both these teams have found themselves on top of their respective divisions and leagues.

“I think it’s really good for the city, as a whole, and especially for us as students,” Zachary Zelner, Div. 763, a big Cubs fan living on the North-
side, said. “We have had to deal with an interesting year in CPS, with talk of budget cuts and the strike, but this is something that can take our minds away from all the messed up stuff with CPS.”

Looking at it from a diehard fan’s perspective, it will do more than dis-tract the city, but even bring the city together and in some cases, even split up Chicago.

“With a lot of the fans, it will be healthy competition based in the deeply rooted North/South rivalry,” Mr. Telles said, hinting at the rivalry between the White Sox and the Cubs that will be very popular this  season. “With a few others–the diehards and the haters–it may turn to an ugly civil war of spite. It will be great for the city. You will see the city go black and blue. It will be fun.”

The Chicago White Sox have faced many skeptics this season, many baseball writers saying that their early success is a fluke.

“Considering they had the toughest schedule in baseball through April, mostly division games and only one off day (fewest in the majors), the hot start shows a lot of these fired up Sox,” Kreutz said, silencing and shutting down the skepticism about the White Sox.

“The kind of start the Sox have shown is no fluke, and they show no signs of falling off course,” Kreutz said. The Cubs, on the other hand, won their last World Series in 1908, giving them by far the longest championship drought for any team in any major professional sports league. Despite the drought, the Cubs have entered the 2016 season with high praise, being given the best odds out of any MLB team (+300), according to ESPN, to win the World Series in 2016.

“The team seems pumped to break the losing streak,” Telles said. “Further, they have a manager in Joe Maddon that fosters the perfect mix of focus and fun that will keep this team in a winning frame of mind. To put it simply, this is the best Cubs’ roster I have ever seen; if they can’t win a World Series, nobody can.”

The Cubs are very good, but there are still skeptics, and still many people who believe the Billy Goat Curse can overtake the extremely talented team.

“Yes, the Cubs look good – damn the Cubs are good – but in a League where they are most likely going to face either the Mets or the Nationals, and then face the champion of the American League, to me that seems like a lot to ask from such a young team,” Kreutz said. “And yes, pressure of the Goat has a lot to do with it.”

As dominant as the Cubs have been in all facets of the game, and as impressive as the White Sox have been to this point, not even the best sports analysts can predict how far they will go. The Blackhawks were coming off of a championship and the Bulls had not missed the playoffs in seven years, yet both those teams faced harsh realities as their seasons ended.

Regardless, as Kreutz said, “Whatever happens, it will make baseball fun to watch in the eyes of this ADHD-ridden generation of the unsatisfied, where baseball is often thought of as ‘boring.’ I would take that over either of Chi-town teams taking home the pennant.”