Joe Rickley

Christian, husband & father. Nebraska born & raised. Sports & political opinions are mine. Die-hard Huskers & Bears. Colossians 3:17 🇺🇸 🗽 🌽 🐻

[C3 @C_3C_3]

Over the last 20 years…

Elections decided on Election Night:
Republicans: 52%
Democrats: 48%

Elections decided AFTER Election Night:
Republicans: 20%
Democrats: 80%

This is totally insane.

Nothing to see here…

[Yogi @Houseofyogi]

Chicago lost the Bears this week. A team that's been in the city since 1921.

They didn't lose them to a bigger market or a better deal. The Bears decided they'd rather be a tenant in Indiana than deal with Illinois for one more year.

Think about how badly you have to run a place for that to be the smart move.

They lost them for two reasons.

The people running Illinois would rather villainize a builder than keep one. And they're bad at their jobs.

In 2021 the Bears spent $197M on the old Arlington Park racetrack.

Before they could break ground, Cook County valued the empty lot at $192M (Bears said $60M). They were salivating at the chance to extort a building that didn't even exist yet.

That fight dragged on for years.

The Bears were ready to put $2B into the stadium. All they wanted was a promise the county wouldn't reassess them into oblivion, plus $855M for infrastructure everyone uses. Roads, transit, utilities. A $3B project, two thirds of it private money pouring into Illinois.

Springfield had since 2021 to get this done. They dragged it to the final night of session, passed it through the Senate at 3:39AM, and the House went home without voting.

So now it's all gone.

The funniest part? This started because Cook County tried to grab the tax early. They knew a built stadium would pay $53M a year. Now they get under $4M on a vacant lot. No jobs, no buildout, no new anything.

Congrats on fighting for scraps and losing the whole prize.

Pritzker: they're "an $8.5B valued business" that doesn't need propping up.

But be smart for a second. Almost every NFL city throws in public money for a stadium. Not charity. The return is real. Tourism, hotels, restaurants, jobs, game days, property tax on a huge development. The math works.

Indiana did the math. While Illinois sat on it for years, Indiana passed a bill in months, put up $1B, and took the team.

And the Bears took a worse deal to get there. In Illinois they were going to own their stadium. In Indiana they rent it from the state. A team that wanted to build its own home gave up ownership just to escape Chicago.

Nobody won but Indiana. The Bears lost their stadium. Illinois lost the team, the $2B, and $53M a year in taxes.

Pritzker after they left: "I wasn't willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team."

There it is. "Billionaire-owned."

That's how Democrats talk about any business right before they run it out of town. Call them a billionaire, act like you're saving working families, take a victory lap while the tax base drives across the state line.

Meanwhile they're running the whole state into the ground. And you already know how this ends. You're living in it.

Pensions are $143B in the hole, worst in the country and not close. You pay $6,285 a year in property taxes, double the $2,969 national average, for a city that's $1.15B in the red. The mayor called its finances "the point of no return."

When you run things this badly, you sell what's left.

They leased the parking meters for 75 years to Morgan Stanley and a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi. Took $1.15B and burned through it in two years. The investors already made it all back, with 58 years left to collect.

Sold the Skyway. Sold the downtown garages. Every asset that made money, gone for one check.

But a fixed property tax rate for a team that's been here 106 years? That's "propping up billionaires."

Companies are leaving. Boeing for Virginia. Caterpillar for Texas. Citadel for Miami. In 2023 alone Illinois lost 56,000 people and $6B in income to other states. The ones who left earned a third more than the ones who moved in.

Indiana didn't outbid anyone. AAA credit, 16 years straight. A $676M surplus. Fourth-lowest debt per person in the country. They just weren't a disaster.

Illinois could have collected $53M a year. It chose zero. Ignore all the bad management but make sure to stick it to those evil, pesky billionaires.

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

He got 0 out of over 24,000?? I mean…at least sprinkle a handful if you’re gonna cheat.

[C3 @C_3C_3]

Spencer Pratt got 0 out of 24,000 votes in a late night LA ballot drop.

0/24,000

A guy getting around 30% support got 0 out of 24,000.

Astronomically small probability of happening.

Impossible.

California no longer even hides it.

Doors need to be kicked in.

[Taylor Lewan @TaylorLewan77]

Might be the best commercial for a video game we’ve EVER seen.

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

@MJTruthUltra @sully40272 Gonna have to beat the cheat.

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

@CrackSandwich58 @theblockspot Haters gonna hate!

[Jacob @Jacobtheclipper]

Remastered full HD footage 🔥

Over 30 years later and NOBODY flys like Mike did 🐐

[Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter]

The #Madden27 Cover:

[Jacob @Jacobtheclipper]

Wemby crying and hugging his teammates with so much joy.

Bro might save this heartless league with his passion.

Havn’t seen someone be so obsessive to winning and love for the game since Kobe.

He made a fan out of me this year 🤝

[Bears Nation @BearsNationCHI]

The Chicago Bears have a QB as the Madden Cover Athlete

What. Is. Life.

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

😂

[The Best @TheBestqueenx]

No DNA test needed lol.

[NFL @NFL]

This @CALEBcsw throw at OTAs 😮‍💨

(via @ChicagoBears)

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

@greg_price11

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

Uhhhhh 😂.

[Greg Price @greg_price11]

Reporter: "What do you say to President Trump saying he's a lifelong Knicks fan?"

Hochul: “I’d ask him to name the starting lineup of the 1993 Championship team and see how he does."

The last time the Knicks won a championship was 1973.

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

You will never EVER see @shaiglalex battle like this. He would flop 12 times until a foul is called. #SoWeak #SGA #NBA

[Kobe Bryant Stories & Motivation @kobehighlight]

When Kobe and Carmelo Anthony met in the NBA playoffs 🔥

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

Ludicrous to believe this is a good idea. Especially after clearly seen “non-profits” incredibly fraud the system. New York will have to learn the hard way.

[Brecca Stoll @breccastoll]

NOW: Mamdani says his admin will transfer ownership from bad landlords to non-profits.

“For buildings that have suffered chronic neglect, we will work to transfer ownership to responsible stewards.

Stewards that include community land trusts, non-profits, or even the tenants themselves.”

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

Getting sick of this stuff. SGA is a great ball player, but I don’t wanna watch him.

[Hater Report @HaterReport]

SGA just fell down on the shot completely UNTOUCHED

This is the most SHAMELESS basketball player I've ever seen and the refs keep letting him get away with it

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

@mitchjackson @JaxsonDart @Giants You honestly don’t deserve to be a football fan in general with this kind of take. You’re soft. Weak. Probably quadruple jabbed.

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

@1NCRDB1 You’re REALLY gonna sh!t when you find your Head Coach loved this.

[Joe Rickley @JoeRickley]

@SStricklandMMA You guys all got bamboozled. Massie is a loser.