Chris

Accounting professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. For more of my annoying thoughts on Chelsea, follow @PPSMChelsea

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

Peter Tom Willis

[Windy City Gridiron @WCGridiron]

Our guy @iamcogs asks the question: Who is your all-time favorite Bears Quarterback? https://t.co/f3C8zQOP9d

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

@DarrylConrad That’s where the Sports Authority would have helped - they could have locked in a value/rate for 40-50 years (Bears would want zero, but wouldn’t have to be).

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

@DarrylConrad TBF it’s just not about paying the whatever the property taxes are today. It’s that, currently, Arlington Heights could reassess anytime they wanted. Every year, in theory, they could increase the value 3, 4x times and the Bears would have little recourse.

[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.

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

That's before we even consider the Jets/Giants that aren't even in the state of New York.

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

This is silly - the Dallas Cowboys don't play in Dallas, the Miami Dolphins don't play in Miami, San Francisco 49ers don't play in San Francisco, hell (if we are getting technical) Green Bay Packers are in Ashwaubenon sans a stupid annex.

[Matt Ramage @mattramage]

If I was Indiana I’d say you absolutely have to change the name. Also why would the Bears want to claim Chicago when they don’t want you. Indiana residents can pay taxes but keep Chicago name? lol. Hilarious

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

The amount of people trying to twist this so that Kevin Warren or the Bears have done something wrong is insane. Illinois legislatures had 5 years to pass a simple bill that says Arlington Heights can negotiate property taxes with the Bears. 5 years. And Illinois failed.

[Ben Devine @Chicago_NFL]

For those who want Kevin Warren fired, here’s the reality:

He just brokered the best stadium deal in modern sports history. He will be in massive demand and this will be a huge benefit to him wherever he goes next.

That’s the reality!

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

Oh geez, what a loss. Best of luck to Coach Fischer!

[UW-Oshkosh Athletics @UWOshkoshTitans]

Brad Fischer Stepping Down As Head Women’s Basketball Coach 🏀

Fischer is departing Oshkosh as the winningest head coach in program history after 14 successful seasons to accept an opportunity at the Division I level

@UWOWBB1 | #GoldStandard | #d3hoops

https://t.co/AgJd5QP673

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

@CFCBears TBF - Springfield didn’t need to. All they needed to do was leave it up to Arlington Heights to fight out the details. They couldn’t even accomplish that.

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

Next time my wife orders me to clean-up cat vomit or take out the trash, I’m going to say, “I’ve voted to advance the idea” just to see her response.

[Chicago Bears @ChicagoBears]

Statement from Chairman George H. McCaskey and President & CEO Kevin Warren:

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

@walterfootball I remember a time when Green Bay might have been the smartest run organization in the NFL. That time is in the review mirror and Packer fans are having a hard time adjusting to a new reality.

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

This is how all parades should play out - you might get candy, you might get kicked by a walking robot. Life in 2026.

[Breaking911 @Breaking911]

A robot wearing a blue clown wig in China appeared to strike a young child with a spinning kick, causing the child to double over in pain.

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

@walterfootball He's also turning 28 next week, so the odds of that "potential" being realized are pretty slim at this point.

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

By Mr. Bukowski's count, I believe the Packers now have 3 of the Top 15 wide receivers in the entire NFL.

[Peter Bukowski @Peter_Bukowski]

We talked about this very thing on today’s @lockedonpackers but I expected them to wait. Thought it would be for more too.

But as I said on the show, the Packers LOVE Watson and he was a top 15 WR last year.

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

Love Smith needs a statue out front of whatever stadium the Bears move to.

[Let Ryan Poles Eat @POLESPLSEAT3]

Crazy to think that if Davis Mills didn't complete a 4th down prayer that Ryan Poles would be flipping (and eating) burgers rn

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

Lovie Smith needs a statue out front of whatever stadium the Bears move to.

[Let Ryan Poles Eat @POLESPLSEAT3]

Crazy to think that if Davis Mills didn't complete a 4th down prayer that Ryan Poles would be flipping (and eating) burgers rn

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

@ass_deans I think we need a 4-hour faculty meeting (in-person, of course) to go over them.

[Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter]

Caleb Williams is the first Bears player to appear on the cover of “Madden NFL 27.”

More via @CourtneyRCronin:

https://t.co/LXuxaNIlYU

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

@KangintheNorth @MichaelGus57 They'll give it a week or so to see if there is any chance a special session will be held, but I'm guessing they'll announce Indiana by mid-June.

[Chris @UMPunk_101]

@TheEmilJay Beefcake and Valentine were a surprisingly decent tag team. BTW, anybody looking for a fun read - check out Beefcake’s autobiography. Fantastic stuff.