Ed S

Sports are cool

[Perfect Game Scout @PG_Scouting]

Alex Ringleb (‘29 NE) with a triple to RCF. Projectable frame w/ good strength to all fields and controls the lower half well. @PGMidwestBB #BeastOfTheEast

[Perfect Game Scout @PG_Scouting]

Cruz Humbert (‘29 NE) with a PS HR over the LF wall. Projectable frame w/ fast hands and good strength to all fields. @PG_NewEngland #BeastOfTheEast

[Perfect Game Scout @PG_Scouting]

Caden Cizek (‘29 NE) with an opposite field HR over the RF wall. XL frame w/ fast hands and good strength to all fields. @PG_NewEngland #BeastOfTheEast

[Perfect Game Scout @PG_Scouting]

EJ Sempek (‘29 NE) drives a double into CF. Quick hands and a compact swing produce a strong barrel, driving the ball with authority for extra bases. #BeastOfTheEast @PG_Uncommitted @PGMidwestBB

[Perfect Game Scout @PG_Scouting]

Ej Sempek (29 NE) hits a deep fly ball into LF for an rbi double. See the ball deep and extends the barrel well through the zone. #BeastOfTheEast @PG_NewEngland @PG_Uncommitted

[Jacob Infante @jacobinfante24]

In the 21st century, there have been 28 tight ends in the NFL with 60+ targets in their rookie season.

#Bears TE Colston Loveland's 1.7% drop rate is the lowest of ALL of them. Elite hands.

[Max Markham @MaxMarkhamNFL]

Leonte Carroo on his experience with Bears HC Ben Johnson:

“[He ripped Jarvis Landry] then points at himself and goes “I know I’m going to be in a gold jacket… I know that about me.”
…Then he would leave the facility at 1AM and be back at five.”

Johnson was an assistant.

[Next Gen Stats @NextGenStats]

The Bears’ 2026 draft class ranks as the most athletic class league-wide by average NGS athleticism score at 83.

Each of Chicago’s first six picks earned an NGS athleticism score of 76 or better.

@ChicagoBears | #DaBears

[Kent Murphy @KentMurphy]

Dad how good was Yadier Molina?

Dad:

[Chris Emma @CEmma670]

Kalif Raymond on rejoining Ben Johnson and a culture with the Bears: "I’ll never forget the first day he had everybody saying, 'Good. Better Best.' You’re not used to doing chants and everything like that. And then we started winning. And then he started doing it here and everybody’s winning. So, I’m like, 'Well, we better be good, better, best, then.' It’s a testament to who he is. He’s not taking his shirt off because he wants to look good. He’s taking his shirt off because he probably slept three hours that week and put all the work in to go win the game. It’s a testament to who he is and I’m proud of him."

[Ed S @esbears34]

@BearsEmpire_ Dexter - we know what he is

Grady - played hurt all of 25, will that be any different in 26

Turner - serious injury in midseason, assume not better in 26

Booker is the WC - could he improve in 26?

Draft picks - wild cards you can’t count on as rookies

FA signings - depth

[Ed S @esbears34]

@DaBearsTakeOver My take on his moves

JJ - not his pick, but did resign him below market $

Gordon - top 5 NB when healthly, that is the issue

Brisker - top 10 when healthy, that is the issue

Stevenson - avg starter

Smith - good backup

Frasier - TBD

I like the Bryant pickup

[Ed S @esbears34]

@_NickWhalen If I was betting, Grady and Dayo won’t be on the team after the 2026 season. Turner is a draft pick so he will get through 2027 season to prove himself.

Grady - old and coming off long lasting injuries

Dayo - terrible when healthy and coming off serious mid-season injury

[Up & Adams @UpAndAdamsShow]

Shane Lowry GUARANTEES the Chicago Bears will win the Super Bowl within the next few years 🗣️

@ShaneLowryGolf | @heykayadams

[Papillion- LaVista South Titan Baseball @PLSTitansBB]

Welcome to Team23!!!

[104.3 The Score @thescorechicago]

Mully sounds off.

[104.3 The Score @thescorechicago]

.@ProFootballTalk on the NFL not awarding the Bears compensatory picks: "This is one of the most ridiculous unforced errors I've ever seen the NFL commit.

"If they had just given the Bears the compensatory picks, who would've complained about it? Would anyone have been upset?"

[Felix Prehn 🐶 @felixprehn]

BlackRock now owns more single-family homes than any landlord in American history. 340,000 houses. Buying 3,000 more every month.

They're not buying them to live in. They're buying them so you can't.

Here's a number that should make you physically uncomfortable. In 2010, institutional investors owned less than 1% of single-family rental homes in the US. Today it's 5%. Sounds small until you realize that's $120 billion in residential real estate controlled by three firms: BlackRock, Blackstone, and Invitation Homes.

They started during the 2008 crash. Millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure. Those homes went to auction. BlackRock and its subsidiaries showed up with wire transfers and bought entire neighborhoods in bulk. In some Phoenix zip codes they bought 90% of the foreclosed homes in a single quarter.

Homes that families lost for $80k in 2009 are now rented back to those same families for $2,400/mo.

That's the business model.

Wall Street figured out single-family rentals generate 12-15% annual returns when you combine rental income with property appreciation. Better than the S&P average. With near-zero rates from 2009-2022 they borrowed billions at 2-3% and bought assets appreciating at 8-12%. Free money machine.

And they don't even need prices to go up. They just need you to keep paying rent. When you can't afford a down payment because institutional buyers inflated prices, you rent. From them. The same people who made buying impossible made renting mandatory.

NAR data shows first-time homebuyers fell to 24% of all purchases last year. Lowest in 43 years of tracking. Average first-time buyer age is now 38. In 1981 it was 29. A whole generation priced out and funneled into rental contracts held by Wall Street.

It gets worse. They're expanding into build-to-rent now. Purpose-built neighborhoods where every single home is a rental. Not converted. Designed from the ground up to never be sold. Lennar, second-largest homebuilder in America, sells 20% of its new construction directly to institutional landlords. Houses built for Americans, sold to Wall Street before the foundation is poured.

How to position around this.

You can't beat them. But you can own what they own. Invitation Homes (INVH) is the largest single-family rental REIT. American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) is number two. When institutional landlords raise rents 8%/yr and vacancy rates sit at 2%, these companies print. If the trend disgusts you, at least profit from it.

For builders feeding the machine: D.R. Horton and Lennar. They sell to institutions at full price with zero marketing cost. Guaranteed bulk buyers for inventory. Sweet deal if you're a shareholder. Dystopian if you're a 32-year-old trying to buy your first house.

And if you believe the political backlash eventually restricts institutional buying (Oregon and Minnesota have already proposed legislation), homebuilders focused on individual buyers in affordable price ranges stand to benefit most.

i track institutional real estate acquisitions and rental REIT positioning through tradevision. the numbers are accelerating. blackrock's home-buying subsidiary just raised another $4 billion for 2026 acquisitions. they're not slowing down.

(wall street crashed the housing market in 2008. then they bought the houses. now they rent them back to the people who lost them. nobody went to prison for any of it. interesting times.)

[Harrison Graham @HGrahamNFL]

League needs to abolish the rule if they don't actually care about it and clearly they don't. Makes no sense.

[Silvy @WaddleandSilvy]

It's complete bullshit that the #Bears didn't get comp picks for Cunningham.
It doesn't pass common sense test.
It creates loopholes.
Unintended consequences shouldn't happen w/ important rules like the Rooney rule in the #NFL.
No wonder they still can't figure out what catch is