Good morning! I hope those who have the holiday off today read this after sleeping in a little longer than you usually would on a Monday. For the rest of us, welcome back to the grind!

Many of you who read me regularly know that I moved to Vegas a few months ago, so I was not subjected to the polar vortex that the Chicagoland area was this weekend, but I heard it was a brutal weekend of the type that I will not miss.

But despite the bone-chilling cold temperatures and blizzard-like conditions, many brave souls made their way to the Cubs Convention this weekend to get a sneak peek at the newest members who will be calling Wrigley Field home this summer.

New skipper Craig Counsell was in attendance and got a terrific standing ovation when he was introduced to the crowd on Friday.

Still, the name of one person who wasn’t there was mentioned all weekend: Cody Bellinger.

“Before we get to next year, we got to re-sign Belli,” Cubs All-Star shortstop Dansby Swanson told the crowd at one point this weekend. Fans chanted his name as Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts stood onstage during the opening ceremony.

Beyond the excitement of a new season being right around the corner despite the frigid temperatures around the Chicagoland area making it seem like an eternity away, and that’s that everyone in Chicago wants Bellinger back with the Cubs this spring.

“We all love Cody,” Cubs outfielder Ian Happ said. “He’s a tremendous baseball player. He’s going through the process, which is what he’s played this long and this hard to be able to do. He’s going through the full process, and eventually, he will make a decision, and something will happen. But right now, it’s probably the hardest part of the process, being at this point in the year and not knowing where you’re going. It takes a lot to be able to get all the way through that. I applaud him and respect him for going through the whole thing.”

Here’s to hoping that Cubs fans (and players) get a late Christmas present and get Bellinger back before Spring Training starts.

The NFL Playoffs are Providing Bears Fans with Something to Think About

Watching C.J. Stroud’s record-setting performance against the Cleveland Browns this weekend left me thinking: why can’t we have that as Bears fans?

Why can’t we have a true franchise quarterback? One you win because of rather than one that you can win with. The word “development” is thrown around a lot in sports. It means the same thing across the board but differs in various sports.

I tweeted on Saturday, “You don’t develop a QB into a franchise QB. You pick the right one.”

To a certain degree, the character limit cost me the opportunity to add some context to that statement, but I have all the characters that I want here, so here we go.

As much as dumb luck is involved in drafting the right quarterback, there is the development of the quarterback. You can make a quarterback better. You can nurture their skills. You can make the suitable hires. You can protect them with a competent offensive line and make their lives a little bit easier with some weapons around them on offense.

Some people call that development. I don't see it this way. I call that nurturing and investing in your investment, especially when you find the right one. Because a QB that you win because of doesn’t depend on all of those things being present and right. It just makes their lives a hell of a lot easier.

Quarterbacks you win because of can take a three-win team that was a freak-play hail mary away from the No. 1 pick in the draft last spring to the playoffs and then win a playoff game while carving up the league’s No. 1 defense just months after playing his first regular season game in the NFL.

Bears fans are going to hate this one (I know because I, too, felt that pain watching on Sunday), but quarterbacks you win because of can take the league’s youngest offense into Dallas and put up a perfect passer rating while blowing the doors off of the NFC East champs in their building.

Jordan Love had a different road here than C.J. Stroud did. Love sat for three seasons. He has a genius for a play-caller and head coach who has an answer for the most difficult of defensive puzzles. In his defacto rookie season this year, he didn’t light the world on fire out of the gates. The Packers were 3-6, and Love looked like the Bears’ wildest dreams, not the guy. Then, it all changed in a matter of months.

What type of development was done during the week of October 29 that allowed the Packers to win seven of their next ten games and throttle the Cowboys on the road in the playoffs this weekend?

Stroud was the second overall pick in the draft. He was thrown into the fire immediately. He succeeded immediately without the array of weapons that Bears fans argue are necessary for Justin Fields to find “it” after three seasons as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Jordan Love was taken at the end of the first round. Sat for a few years. Also, the array of weapons that Bears fans argue are necessary for Justin Fields to find “it” after three seasons as a starting quarterback in the NFL wasn't provided.

But I think some point of clarification is missing: Jordan Love sat because Aaron Rodgers was there. Regardless of your personal feelings on Rodgers, he’s a Hall of Fame quarterback. Love wasn’t sitting behind just any quarterback as some intended experiment. He was waiting until it was his turn.

Two days. Two examples of the importance of picking a quarterback that you win because of.

We witnessed the opposite as well. Tua Tagovailoa and Dak Prescott were two of the best statistical quarterbacks in football this season. They have a plethora of firepower surrounding them. They both fell flat on their faces this weekend. Those are quarterbacks you can win with.

So the question is not who do you love more, Justin Fields or whatever quarterback the Bears decide to draft if they choose to go that route, it’s this: do you want to continue to hope that the Bears get everything right around Fields, or do you want the Bears to take a swing at a quarterback that makes everyone around him better and wins football games, and hopefully, a Super Bowl.

Too many fans have split the aisle and made this about whether Justin Fields is good or not. He’s good. There’s no denying that. He’s not that good. There’s also no denying that. Are you content with good? Or do you want better than that? Bears fans have been spoiled (in a sick, demented way) the last two years, but No. 1 picks and the chance to take a swing on any quarterback in the draft don’t come by all the time.

Just some food for thought.

Yesterday’s Best

CHICAGO BEARS

• Speaking of drafting a quarterback, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler hears that the Bears will decide to do just that eventually. That’s just one person’s opinion, and I’m just passing it along.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

• Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson is always enjoyable to listen to. He spoke to reporters this weekend in a midseason check-in.

CHICAGO BULLS

• This weekend, the booing of Jerry Krause (who is dead and was represented by his widow, Thelma, on Friday evening) wasn’t a good look for Bulls fans.

CHICAGO CUBS

• I could put 67 links here (ok, that’s an exaggeration) highlighting Brett’s thorough coverage of everything happening at Cubs Con this weekend, but I’ll drop this one and urge you to surf at your own pace today.

What’s on deck?

• The Bulls play tonight in Cleveland. Tip-off with the Cavs is set for 6 PM CT, and you can tune into the action on NBC Sports Chicago.

(Featured Photo: Matt Dirksen/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images)