Did the Chicago Cubs Sell The City's Soul To Break The Curse?

On the night of November 2, 2016, the Chicago Cubs, at the time the most cursed franchise in American sports, broke the Curse of the Billy Goat by winning the 2016 World Series. After rallying from a 3-1 series deficit and winning a legendary Game 7 to capture their first championship in 108 years, the Cubs looked like baseball’s next dynasty. They were also a representation of the city’s great sports fortunes in the 2010s. The Blackhawks had just completed a dynastic run of their own, winning three Stanley Cups between 2010 and 2015. Between 2010 to 2017, the Bulls had some great seasons with Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler. Even the Bears, despite only making the playoffs once, had some solid seasons between 2010 and 2013.

Fast forward to 2025, and Chicago sports are now unrecognizable. Aside from the Cubs, who are middling in mediocrity, all of the city’s teams are struggling. After extensive research, I believe the 2016 Cubs are the reason for the city’s painful sports decline. Let's dive into how each team has performed since that legendary night in November 2016.

The Cubs Went From Potential Dynasty To Middling In Mediocrity

After their championship win, the Cubs appeared to be on the verge of becoming baseball's next dynasty. They boasted a roster full of young stars like Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber, and Addison Russell. It seemed reasonable to believe that they were about to enter a decade-long window of contention with the potential for multiple championships. Unfortunately, that vision never came to fruition.

In 2017, the Cubs experienced a typical World Series hangover but still managed to win the NL Central with a 92-70 record. After defeating the Washington Nationals in the NLDS, they were run out of the NLCS by the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. The following year, despite winning 95 games, they faced an up-and-coming Milwaukee Brewers team that forced a tiebreaker game to determine the NL Central division winner. The Cubs lost that game, as well as the Wild Card play-in game against the Colorado Rockies. Since then, they have only made the playoffs once, during the shortened 2020 season, when they again won the NL Central but were eliminated in the Wild Card round by the Miami Marlins.

After the 2020 season, the Cubs dismantled their championship core, most prominently trading away Rizzo, Bryant, and Baez. Except for 2023, when the Cubs won 83 games and contended for a Wild Card spot before a September collapse kept them out of the playoffs, the team has struggled with mediocrity. They have not been bad enough to have higher odds of winning the draft lottery, yet not good enough to consistently contend for a playoff spot. President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer and Tom Ricketts, the face of the Ricketts family ownership, have been reluctant to spend big on free agents, with the exception of the recent $177 million contract given to shortstop Dansby Swanson. Despite acquiring star outfielder Kyle Tucker in a recent trade, there is an understanding that he will likely be a one-year rental, as he becomes a free agent after this season and could demand a contract as high as $450 million—an amount the front office is unlikely to pay. Since 2016, the front office, particularly the Ricketts family, has seemingly adopted a mindset of “we won our championship; let’s just focus on making a profit.”

The White Sox Showed Potential, But Nothing More

Since 2016, the White Sox have experienced three seasons with 100 or more losses. More on those later. After a tumultuous 2010s decade, the Sox returned to the playoffs in the shortened 2020 season, but they lost in the Wild Card round to the Oakland Athletics. 2021, however, turned out to be a great season for the Sox. Led by a promising young core that included Dylan Cease, Andrew Vaughn, Luis Robert Jr., Lucas Giolito, Gavin Sheets, and Tim Anderson, they won the AL Central with a 93-69 record. Much like the 2016 Cubs, there was optimism about a long window of contention due to their emerging talent. Unfortunately, their success was short-lived, as they were eliminated in the 2021 NLDS by the Houston Astros. The 2022 season saw a decline, with the team finishing 81-81 and out of the playoffs.

About those 100-loss seasons: the first occurred in 2018 while the team was still undergoing a rebuild. However, the 2023 and 2024 seasons have been particularly difficult. In 2023, they lost 101 games. The following season saw them set the MLB record for the most losses in a single season with 121. A significant factor in these struggles was that their young core did not develop as expected. Most of the players from the 2021 team are no longer on the roster. Ultimately, the White Sox proved to be nothing more than a flash in the pan.

The Bears Were Nothing More Than A Flash In The Pan

During the Cubs' championship run in 2016, the Bears were struggling and ended up posting a franchise-worst record of 3-13. After finishing the 2017 season with a 5-11 record, the Bears experienced a remarkable turnaround in 2018. For the first time since 2010, they won the NFC North, ending the season with a 12-4 record. Although the team was limited offensively due to the weaker skill set of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, a dominating defense more than compensated for it. They were led by All-Pros such as linebacker Khalil Mack, cornerback Kyle Fuller, and safety Eddie Jackson. The coaching staff was exceptional that year, led by rookie head coach Matt Nagy, who earned the Coach of the Year award, while legendary defensive coordinator Vic Fangio oversaw the defense. Unfortunately, their exciting season ended after Cody Parkey’s infamous double doink in their playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

In hindsight, the double doink may have cursed the Bears. Fangio left after the 2018 season to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos, and the defense never regained its elite form. Nagy struggled to address the team's offensive issues and, despite achieving a winning record during his tenure, was fired after the 2021 season. His successor, Matt Eberflus, performed even worse, managing only 14 wins in his three seasons as head coach. In 2024, Eberflus became the first coach in Bears franchise history to be fired mid-season. After Trubisky failed to meet expectations, the team drafted quarterback Justin Fields, who also did not meet expectations. Consequently, the Bears used their 2024 first overall pick to select quarterback Caleb Williams. Currently, the Bears' future appears promising on paper, centered around the combination of Williams and new head coach Ben Johnson. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds. In my opinion, they have the best shot to turn around Chicago sports.

The Bulls Went From Promising To Awful

The 2010s started off strong for the Bulls, who secured seven consecutive playoff berths from 2008 to 2015. During this period, Derrick Rose won an NBA MVP award and the team reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2011. However, after Rose suffered a career-altering injury in 2012, Jimmy Butler emerged as the team's promising young star. Nearly six months after the Cubs won their championship, the Bulls made the playoffs as the eighth seed but lost in the first round to the Boston Celtics.

Following the 2017 season, Butler was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Zach LaVine. Since then, the Bulls have missed the playoffs every year except for the 2021-22 season. Led by LaVine, along with new acquisitions Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, and DeMar DeRozan, the Bulls briefly had the best record in the Eastern Conference that season. However, Ball suffered a devastating knee injury midway through the year that significantly impacted the team. They made the playoffs but dropped from the first seed to the sixth seed, ultimately losing in the first round to the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bulls have since posted two consecutive disappointing seasons and currently hold a record of 29-39, though they are in contention for a play-in spot due a weaker Eastern Conference. DeRozan and LaVine were traded to the Sacramento Kings midway through the season, signaling the beginning of a lengthy rebuilding process for the team. Their best hope of turning things around is to "Capture the Flagg" this offseason, aka win the draft lottery and gain the rights to draft Duke basketball phenom Cooper Flagg first overall.

The Blackhawks Went From A Dynasty To Awful

After winning the Stanley Cup championship in 2015, the Blackhawks made it to the playoffs in the following two seasons but lost in the first round each time: first to the St. Louis Blues in 2016 and then suffering a sweep at the hands of the Nashville Predators in 2017. The Blackhawks have struggled significantly since that loss to the Predators, posting a losing record every year except for the 2019-20 season. During that year, they made the NHL bubble’s expanded playoff tournament and even secured a first-round series victory against the Edmonton Oilers. However, their performance has declined again since then.

In the 2022-23 season, the Blackhawks only won 26 games, but that led them to win the Connor Bedard sweepstakes. Unfortunately, Bedard's first season saw the team finish with an even worse record, as they won only 23 games that year. Currently, the Blackhawks have managed to win only 20 games and were eliminated from playoff contention on March 20. Additionally, longtime franchise star Patrick Kane was traded to the New York Rangers in February 2023.

If you’ve gotten this far, do you recognize a trend? Since November 2, 2016, Chicago sports have been in a downward spiral. The 2017 Cubs are the only team to win a full-season playoff round during this time (sorry, Blackhawks fans). Aside from the Blackhawks, who have experienced a steady decline, each Chicago sports team has had moments of promise. The 2018 Bears, who looked like Super Bowl contenders. The 2021 White Sox showed signs of having a promising young core but promptly fizzled out. The 2021 Bulls appeared to be early NBA Finals contenders before injuries ruined their season. Finally, the 2023 Cubs contended for an unexpected playoff spot before collapsing in the season’s final month. Ultimately, these moments have been nothing more than teasers for fans, as the teams quickly reverted back to mediocrity afterward. Currently, the Cubs are the city’s best team, which sounds impressive, but compared to nearly a decade ago, they are just mediocre in a city plagued by overall sports struggles.

In a way, history made peace with the Cubs and their fans on that fateful night in the fall of 2016. The sports gods finally decided it was time for the lovable losers to experience a taste of glory. However, it came at a tremendous cost: the city’s sports soul. I believe that one of two things happened that night. Either the Cubs went to the sports gods and said, “Please let us win a championship; we’ll do and give you anything you want,” or they made a deal with the devil. Either way, Chicago sports are in a bad place right now, and fans can point the finger at the Cubs for that.

Serafino Diaz is a writer at Chaotically Intolerant, Phoenix's finest Vikings, Bucks, and Cubs fan, traveling everywhere I can.