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The last time the Bears had a season-ending press conference this chill, Caleb Williams was in grade school.After the 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2021 seasons, the Bears fired their head coach. After last season, they explained why they couldn’t wait until the end of the season to do so. After the 2011, 2014 and 2021 seasons, they fired their general manager.Their 2013 season ended on a 48-yard Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass to Randall Cobb with 38 seconds to play that knocked the Bears out of playoff contention. In 2018, their playoff game ended on Cody Parkey’s “double-doink” — and then he went on the “Today” show to talk about it.In 2015, the Bears lost 5-of-7 games to end the season. In 2016, they lost 7-of-8. In 2022, they lost 13 of their last 14. In 2019, 2020 and 2023, they had to explain why they weren’t firing their coach — and what they were doing with their disappointing first-round quarterback.And then there’s this quote from after the 2020 season.“Have we gotten the quarterback situation completely right? No,” then-president/CEO Ted Phillips said. “Have we won enough games? No. But everything else is there.”Wednesday’s press conference, by comparison, could have been held at a day spa, with light music in the background and one of those singing bowls balanced precariously on the podium.As disappointed as Bears coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles were by how Sunday’s playoff game ended, they couldn’t hide how encouraged they were by the direction of the team.Try as Johnson might to declare that momentum dies for every team, every offseason — “We go back to Square 1,” he said — the Bears’ starting point is in a better place than it’s been since they came off a conference title game loss 15 years ago.That’s a credit to Johnson — and his quarterback.“I’m Caleb Williams’ No. 1 believer,” Johnson said. “I have a lot of faith in him and what he’s capable of doing and the player that he’s still striving to become.”End-of-season press conferences are about big-picture issues and the direction of the team. The Bears’ answers to those questions were self-evident Wednesday.Johnson didn’t act like a first-time head coach at any point during the season, Poles said.“His messaging to the team, it moves the team,” Poles said. “They're locked in. They listen. They take it back to the locker room and to the field. The buy-in was incredible.”Most coaches post inspirational slogans on the walls of meeting rooms; Johnson puts them into action, Poles said. Even in exit meetings, players were leaning into the messages Johnson taught them.“There was no hesitation, there was no gray area,” Poles said. “(The players) pushed forward because they believed in what he was saying and what he needed from them, which was incredible.”Johnson focused on three things: Physicality, sound fundamental play and poise. The latter became the Bears’ identity, as they rallied in the fourth quarter seven times. As Poles credited Johnson, the coach praised the GM for bringing in the right players.“They’re wired the right way,” Johnson said. “They thrive in those circumstances. And that showed up for us in a big way. Our coaching staff tried to apply pressure on them early on in the springtime and throughout training camp. And I'm not saying they grew numb to it, but it's almost like they embraced it and, and that they were at their best in those moments. …“Those are the three things that we wanted to be about. I think we brought that to light.”Johnson’s final message to Williams on Monday was to get away from football for a bit. Williams obliged, sitting on the glass at a Blackhawks game Monday night and courtside at a Bulls game Tuesday night with buddy Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Cubs center fielder.Williams deserves a break, his coach said.“He’s done a phenomenal job in terms of staying focused all year long,” he said. “He put in a lot of time, a lot of effort. I thought he grew up as a professional. I thought his communication to the coaching staff…

Survey by organisation, which is led by former Liberal senator Mathias Cormann, says economy is ‘now normalising’, after post-pandemic struggleGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe OECD has called on the government to broaden the GST, do more to reduce greenhouse emissions and adopt ambitious social housing targets as part of its annual economic survey of Australia.Ahead of Jim Chalmers’ fifth federal budget in May, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Australia’s economy was “now normalising”, after struggling through a lengthy period of weak growth following the pandemic. Continue reading...

David Siegel, a veteran producer who worked on films including “The Hangover” trilogy, “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and more, died on Jan. 8 in Los Angeles. He was 70 years old. Over the last four decades, Siegel contributed to a number of the most enduring studio films, collaborating with filmmakers including Kevin Costner, Todd Phillips, Rob […]

The Sky will open the 2026 season with a West Coast trip starting May 9 in Portland against the expansion Fire.That is, of course, assuming the league and the players' union can come to a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.After visiting Golden State, Phoenix and Minnesota, the Sky will have their home opener on May 20 against the Dallas Wings.The league’s other expansion team, the Toronto Tempo, will visit Wintrust Arena on May 27 and Sept. 22.“It’s an honor to participate in the WNBA’s 30th season amid a time of tremendous growth for the league,” Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said in a statement. “We’re especially excited to welcome two more expansion teams to our competitive league, and we’ll be ready to match up against a strong lineup of opponents at home and on the road.” Some of the other major home matchups include the champion Las Vegas Aces on June 28 and Aug. 1, and Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever on Aug. 8 and Aug. 23. The June 28 game vs. the Aces and the Aug. 8 game vs. the Fever will be played at the United Center. The Sky have no back-to-back games scheduled for this season.The WNBA All-Star Game will be held July 25 at United Center.The Sky will end the regular season on Sept. 24 at Washington.WNBA teams will play 44 games over a five-month period with a 17-day break from Aug. 31-Sept. 16 for the FIBA World Cup in early September in Berlin. The league said last year that with the World Cup this season they would keep the schedule at 44 games despite adding two new teams in Portland and Toronto.Training camp is slated to begin April 19, six days after the college draft. The league will have its sixth annual Commissioner's Cup games in June with the championship game slated to take place on June 30.All of this is still contingent on the league and union coming to an agreement on a new CBA. The two sides agreed to a moratorium on free agency, which was supposed to begin earlier this month. The moratorium was needed after no new extension was reached on Jan. 9 to negotiate a new CBA. The WNBA and union are now in a "status quo" period where the old CBA is still in effect and the two parties are negotiating on good faith.Contributing: Associated Press