Chicago's sports media are rank(ed)
And just the thought of an Ian Happ extension is terrifying
With the Bears' season over and spring training still a couple of weeks off it can be hard to fill out a sports page, apparently. Because it's this time of year when the only sports media columnist in Chicago, Jeff Agrest, does his annual "power" ratings.
The last two number ones were Pat Hughes in 2024 and Adam Amin last year, so you can see just what kind of star power we're dealing with here.
Am I bitter that in the years he's been doing this that so many talented media figures have gone unrecognized, like Pat Benkowski, or the guy who thought up the Webio pyramid scheme or whichever day laborer Chuggo has covering the Bears this week? Sure.
It would be one thing for Agrest to compile a list of the "best" but he takes the fool's errand to maximum lengths by literally ranking them from 1 to 20.
Would I attempt such a thing? Probably not, considering that I feel like the pool isn't deep enough for 20. Maybe three? Not 20.
Boog Sciambi gets the top spot. This has more to do with the Cubs finally fielding a playoff team than it reflects any true new level of excellence from the Booger.
If you watched games in 2025 and thought that Boog was better than in his first four seasons with the Cubs, he has his new permanent replacement to thank.
I will admit that I experienced a new appreciation for Boog because of the large number of games that he wasn't there and his oblivious, often shut eyed replacement Alex Cohen was. Nothing makes you appreciate a competently called baseball game like incompetently called ones, and that's what we get whenever it's Alex's turn to the be one sweating through the polo shirt.
