{"id":206775,"date":"2026-06-08T21:21:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T02:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=206775"},"modified":"2026-06-08T21:21:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T02:21:30","slug":"random-thoughts-bears-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/06\/08\/random-thoughts-bears-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: Bears and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The latest installment of Random Thoughts includes congratulations and well wishes, a stunning ruling, the Chicago Bears and NFL cities and a team that\u2019s moving on up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to all local track and field athletes who competed at the OHSAA track and field state championships in Columbus this past weekend. There were record setting performance and an all around good showing but a very talented group of athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good luck<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best of the luck to the Delphos St. John\u2019s Blue Jays, as they try to win another state championship. On the heels winning the Division VII boys hoops title, the Blue Jays are in the Division VII baseball state semifinals and will face Tiffin Calvert at 10 a.m. Friday, with the winner moving on to Saturday\u2019s championship game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCAA took one on the chin on Monday, when a Texas judge ruled that Texas Tech star quarterback Brendan Sorsby can indeed play this season, after he was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA for betting on his own team while he was at Indiana and after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It just doesn\u2019t make sense \u2013 the NCAA is quite clear about gambling, especially on your own team. Even betting on your team to win is a big no-no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if you\u2019re not a fan of the NCAA, the ruling seems to make little sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bears on the move<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on which report you read, the Chicago Bears are on the move to Hammond, Indiana. Some reports say it\u2019s a done deal, others indicate the Illinois legislature could still somehow make a play to build a new stadium in the Land of Lincoln. Personally, I still don\u2019t completely believe it\u2019s a done deal but it seems very close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the new stadium is built in northwest Indiana, the team will still be referred to as the Chicago Bears. It did get me thinking though \u2013 what if teams were listed where they actually play? Here\u2019s how the NFL would look with stadium locations and their respective teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

AFC East<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orchard Park Bills, Foxborough Patriots, Miami Gardens Dolphins, East Rutherford, New Jersey Jets<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFC North<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns (Brook Park Browns in 2029), Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFC South<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Nashville Titans<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFC West<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denver Broncos, Inglewood Chargers, Kansas City, Missouri Chiefs (will become Kansas City, Kansas Chiefs), Las Vegas Raiders<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NFC East<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philadelphia Eagles, Arlington Cowboys, East Rutherford, New Jersey Giants, Landover, Maryland Commanders (to be Washington DC Commanders in 2030)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NFC North<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chicago Bears (Hammond, Indiana Bears?), Green Bay Packers, Minneapolis Vikings, Detroit Lions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NFC South<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlotte Panthers, Tampa Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NFC West<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seattle Seahawks, Inglewood Rams, Santa Clara 49ers, Glendale Cardinals<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving on up<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lutheran East High School in Cleveland Heights has won four straight OHSAA boys basketball titles and five of the last six. The last two titles have come in Division V. Now, the school has made the decision to move to Division I for the upcoming season to compete with the big boys. OHSAA rules allow schools to re-classify to Division I if they so chose, but just one other school has done it \u2013 Cincinnati Elder, which went from Division II to Division I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Lue\u201d shouldn\u2019t have any trouble competing against Division I schools. Since no one at the smaller school level wants to play them anymore, the school has scheduled big schools for years. Not only have they scheduled them, but they\u2019ve beaten them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, if you have thoughts or comments on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports The latest installment of Random Thoughts includes congratulations and well wishes, a stunning ruling, the Chicago Bears and NFL cities and a team that\u2019s moving on up. Congratulations Congratulations to all local track and field athletes who competed at the OHSAA track and field state championships in Columbus this past weekend. There […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 03:05:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206775"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206775\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206776,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206775\/revisions\/206776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}