Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - 5 On It: Now Iowa is trying to lure the Bears?

Episode Date: February 11, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote discussed a variety of sports topics in the 5 On It segment.

I'm Dr. Mary Claire Haver, and my new podcast, Unpaused, is the place for bold, unfiltered conversations about what it takes for women to thrive in the second half of life. Listen to and follow Unpaused, available now wherever you get your podcasts. The score! It's time for five on it. Rahini Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. Number one. A bill in the Iowa State Senate was introduced Tuesday seeking an expansion of its,

economic growth attraction program with the goal of luring an NFL franchise to the state, specifically the Bears. On a scale of 1 to 10 on the newly created no chance in Helmeter trademark, where would you rate just how unlikely it is that the Bears would select Iowa as the site for a new stadium. Iowa, that's right, Iowa. That song was sick, by the way. I don't know what it was, but I like that.

That was the Vince McMahon intro song when he wrestled on W. That's incredible. Maybe they should have been watching wrestling. 10. Yeah, there's always time to start, Groves. Just saying wrestling is always there for you. Ten, what are we doing here? Also, I know what you're doing, State of Iowa.

I've seen your Hawkeyes play. You're like, oh, what's this offense out of the bears, huh? Huh? A little forward passers to you, a little trick play. Teams gaining yards. You took this as an opportunity to rip the Iowa Hawkeyes. So, no, no, you don't get to steal the bears just because the Hawkeyes don't do enough on offense. I sat in the crowd, watched them play Michigan State this last year, and I had to listen to the fans beg for you to pass the ball.

And that doesn't necessarily mean that you get to steal another team who actually throws it. And I know Iowa State is also good, and I understand that their coach left to go to Penn State. So I'm going to give the cyclone some love here too. But no, now, now, just because the bears have more offense than the Hawkeyes. doesn't mean you get to steal the team. I bet you had a good time there, though. I bet you had a good time on campus, though. I did.

And they had an amazing comeback, actually. And my friend was like, what do you bet this ends up like the Bears? And I was like, there's no way. And then it ended up like the Bears. And I felt stupid. I don't know that Anthony Heron is going to take too kindly to you taking Iowa's offense and raking it over the colds. He knows he played for the defense.

He was where it was at. That's fair. That's fair. Go back to the meter, though. So on, A scale of one to ten on the newly created No Chance in Hades meter. Who actually sings that song? Where's my Shazam?

It's a good question because they had like, I believe, in my mind, in my memory of watching it as a kid, WWE basically had like a house band. And they had like a lot of songs you hear have that guy's voice on it. Are they still touring? Everybody's still touring somewhere. I'll get to the bottom. Okay, please, thank you. But the number I'm putting on this, one to ten, 100.

Not even trying to be hyperbolic. Ain't no way. Ain't no way. Des Moines? I get it. This is the Iowa Cubs. This isn't a jot through the summer. This is football and football season,

and it's the Chicago Bears. That being said, I'm really excited about the Portage, Indiana thing. Just for the spectacle of it all. We're eagerly, eagerly awaiting to be able to tell the news from the press conference. That's going on right now. Yeah, it's a 100 for me, Groot. Same. May I use your 100? Yes. Yes. Is there enough left for me? Sherry is caring. To use 100. I'll look at it slightly differently. I will say, I will hit them with

a hundred to ten, whatever you want to say. Iowa is our friend, though. I love Iowans. I think there's some of the nicest people in the country, probably. I go Iowa, Minnesota, just in my travels about the United States. And I have a lot of ties. My nephew went to Iowa. My brother went to University of Iowa. So I've been, I've spent a lot of time at all of the Iwis. They're very nice people. And that's all I wanted to say.

No, there's a lot of Hawkeye fans listen to the score too. I found that out of my travels. Tons of people from Illinois go to Iowa. Great my Shazam. So that was actually the lead singer of the DX band, which was used for WWE intro. A lot of the WWE intro songs. His name was Chris Warren.

He passed away in 2016. RIP, man. You made some jams, baby. He's dead. What's his name? Chris. That's right. Chris Warren.

I'm starting to Chris Warren cover band. That's what's going to happen here. Or maybe I'll see if Spiegel. They'll become Chris Warren tributosaurus, one of these nights. I love that. I'm working through this. Draft Kings has Bears quarterback Caleb Williams' odds to win NFL regular season MVP for the 2026 season, listed at plus 1,500. are you buying or selling Caleb as an MVP candidate next season?

Bye, because all he has to work on is the mundane. He doesn't have to work on the special. He's just got to work on some more plays with structure and his receivers have to catch the ball. Don't listen to me about it. Ben Johnson said it in his interseason press conference. That's why I said it. I'm just repeating head coach.

So if that's the case, I like his chances. He doesn't have to work on the special. He has that part down. He just has to work on like the plays and structure, which is coachable. So when you consider that piece of it, why shouldn't he be? If he had the completion percentage, he probably wasn't going to get to Drake May's completion percentage in the regular season. That was outstanding.

Say he has a 65% completion percentage. What does that do for his yardage? And what does that do for his MVP candidacy? As long as the Bears are winning games, I got to go by on the plus 1,500. In fact, I am going to place I wager today if I can get that plus $1,500 on Caleb Williams. I know it's far out, but I have a bonus bet I have to use. So that's what we're going to do. Listen, Caleb Williams has the weapons.

He has the improved athleticism, awareness, whatever you want to call it. It felt like at the end of the season, he had finally mastered Ben Johnson's offense. Year two is only going to be better if he can, hey, Go to reach for that C over there. Oh, I got you. Yeah, yeah. If he can go ahead and just stay healthy. There we go.

I like his chances. The only thing he can't do is play left tackle. So that's my one reservation on this. But I figure that Ben Johnson and Ryan Poles will somehow figure this out. Well, I knew this was going to happen. I might have even talked about it yesterday. And I know I talked on Take the North. And that is we are heading into a bare season.

We are going to hear things like this. We are going to answer questions like this. This can the bears go? It's what we do after bears have successful seasons. We take it to a 10. So this question is perfect for it. And to answer the question, yes, a candidate. I would not sit here and select or predict Caleb Williams to be the MVP,

but to say that he can't be a candidate, I think for MVP would probably be crazy at this point. So yeah, I do think he could be a candidate. I'm buying. Number three. It's five out of nine. 1043. the score with Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody. And if you listen to our 11 o'clock hour, 1125, there was some discussion about Matt Shaw.

So here's a little more on Matt Shaw. Do you think a solid spring training from Cubs infielder, Matt Shaw, would make him an attractive enough of a candidate to garner trade interest from teams around the league? No, I don't think it would, because I think he already is attractive enough to garner trade interests from teams around the league. And that was reporting by our own Matt Spiegel. Yeah, let's be honest here. Matt Shaw has many years of control.

He's already got gold glove caliber defense at third base. You could talk about his offensive approach is still on the come, but that's okay. I think there are many, many teams right now who would take a shot, a stab at Matt Shaw. The problem is the Cubs know this, and so the price that they're asking for him is probably way too high. I don't think anything's going to change as far as this go, because if he's good enough to quote quote, make himself more attractive, he's also good enough to just be on the Cubs and be a cost controlled option for the Cubs. So the answer is no, but not because I don't think that he can get to where teams want him. I just think he's already an attractive enough guy to garner the interest.

I think that's, yeah, that's how I feel like. Matt Shaw's years of control plus the upside he had in the second half of last season. That's enough to have teams be interested in. What have we said about third base? It's not just a problem offensively for the Cubs or wasn't previous to the Alex Bregman signing, previous to Matt Shaw's upward surgence when it comes to offense. Third base was a problem league-wide in offensive production. And frankly, probably remains one this year. That's a position of need. So when you consider that, his value inherently goes up just because of that. And then whether or not the Cubs want to keep him, it really comes down. of the question we asked a little bit earlier on the show.

How much is Matt Shaw's value worth when it comes to his years of control and what other teams think his upside is? They already traded away one third baseman for Kyle Tucker. So when you consider that, they understand the value of who that position can be, what that position can mean, and then also what the upside is on some of their prospects. A good spring training certainly wouldn't hurt for the Cubs and making Matt Shaw more attractive to the rest of the league. We all look at spring training differently, and obviously every GM understands that and knows him. But I think we're all landing in a pretty similar

spot right here. The Cubs are not trading Matt Shaw unless they get a lot back, and that's because of what you guys have indicated, the years of control, the fact that he was a first round talent who still may have a really high ceiling that none of us knows about right now. So he's a valuable piece. If you can get something really good for him, then you trade him. Otherwise, He is perfect to have on this team in terms of a depth place or a guy that gets a decent amount of playing time depending on what Craig Counsel wants to do. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. As far as spring training performances go and raising your value, I have three words for you. Gage, Tater, Workman.

That ruined spring training for you, didn't it? Didn't help? Who's going to be the next Gage Workman? That's the real question I can anybody Scott Kingery You can't predict these things You can never predict these things

Can you do that if you're already established Because Gage was a work five A rule five guy I have to see I have to look through it I'll get back to you on that answer Gage workman Thater

Why do you not the Tater He provided us a lot of content This time of year last year We got through a barge thanks to him Him and the idea of Nick Chob Going to the Bears Remember that? Those were the daste

Yeah That sounds like a radio show, a sports radio show, Tater and the Chubb. And the Workman. I heard what I said after I said it. Tater played for the White Sox last year too, right? Didn't he want revenge on the Cubs? Didn't he say that? He didn't I get revenge on the Cubs.

Who's got revenge for Gage, though? Who's venged Gage, Tater Workman? Marshall is always looking out for Gage. I pretty much say Tater and Workman like it's one last name now. Tater Workman. Do you know where he is now? What organization he is a part of? Is he back with the Tigers?

He is with the Tigers. All right. Now do your mean Mercedes. That is so random. Where are they now? Now do Diane Visayato. The Yerminator? Is that the player you want back?

Like when we talked about, Alexei Ramirez playing for Cuba? I bet he's playing somewhere. He's playing in Venezuela. He's playing in Venezuela. He's playing in Venezuela. Okay. How old is your mean Mercedes these days?

32. He should have been. on our, maybe he was playing internationally. I don't know. Remember we're talking about that yesterday? Yeah. Sorry about that. Your main Mercedes in the brain. I'm Sally Helm with the podcast History This Week.

In each episode, we serve as your eyes and ears into history's biggest events, major elections, world wars, scientific breakthroughs. But we also bring you into the smaller behind-the-scenes stories, the unsung heroes, secret meetings, even personal grudges that changed the course of history. History. Listen to and follow History This Week, an Odyssey podcast in

partnership with the History Channel. Available now for free on the Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts. Number four. The Bulls take on the Celtics tonight. Pre-game starts at 615 on 104.3, the score, and the Bulls Radio Network. Shout out to Chuck Bill and Alyssa.

Are we more likely to see a Nikola Vucovich revenge game? Shout out Vucci Main. Or an Anthony Simon's revenge game tonight. I think Anthony Simons probably goes off for more points individually than Booch. Is that wild? I don't think that's wild, but I think revenge game implies the dub.

And I think the Celtics are getting the dub. And I could see Vooch having 15 and 8 off the bench because he's one guy who had to fit into a highly successful system with the Celtics, whereas Anthony or the Anferno as he has been referred. Yeah. Has had to slip in along with several other players, seven players in total. into a brand new system, they still know nothing about because they haven't had any practice time. I don't think Vooch needs a revenge game. I think Vooch is perfectly happy that he's been traded to the Boston Celtics.

Don't you? I mean, hasn't Vooch for the last two years been like along with all of us kind of thrown at like, what are we doing? What are we doing here? What do you want for me? What do you want from this team? Is this team going anywhere? Do you want to trade me?

Do you not? I think he got a little bit of closure and he gets to go to Boston. The Vooch's thank you game or the Vooch closure game. What do you want to designate this as? Yeah. would be different if it was at the United Center, I suppose, but I just don't think Vooch

is going to come at the Bulls very hard. Don't mind me. I'm just refreshing to see if the news is broken yet out of Portage. Oh. Is there any quotes coming out of Portage right now? News Channel 3, WWMTTV from West Michigan

reports that in anticipation of increased traffic, the city of Portage released a traffic plan to manage the upcoming grand opening of their raising Canes. See, they are Bears Stadium ready. They already have a Raising Canes. Oh, my goodness.

I have so much to say about that. I mean, I'm glad that they, that is, if you want to know what cities are supposed to do, frankly, it's stuff like that. That's the job. I hope that Raising Cains has a double drive-thru because that's very efficient because, as we know, Kane's big

drive-through crowd. Listen, there's two things I know. Chicken Place drive-thrus at lunchtime. Abject chaos. And you should probably have a plan to, like, manage the ingress and egress around them. That's fair. Late night as well. Raising Keynes is open until 2 a.m. or 3 a.

Oh, really? Depending on the spot. I didn't know that. Depending on where. So for anyone who just is tuning in, the, that's a good reason. Portage, Indiana is making a push for the bears to build a stadium there. So good luck to them. More on that at one.

Yeah, we're trying to figure that out. Yeah, we're monitoring. I'm actually monitoring the news. Good reset, Ray. Number five. This is 500 at 104.3, the score. And this is our final question. The Texas Rangers are giving away.

No chance. Oh, God. No chance. Okay, here we go. The Texas Rangers are giving away a Nolan Ryan bloody lip replica jersey on May 29th. Is this the greatest giveaway of all time? And if not this, then what? Oh, I see you gesturing to me because I grew.

Ruppie, Texas Rangers fan. Laila Rahimi. Frankly, for a long time, the best picture they had was even just the concept of Nolan Wright, even though he had long left the organization. It is a good giveaway. As far as the greatest of all time, I don't know. There's been some amazing giveaways that teams have done. So the better question is, how do you feel about having a replica of blood on your person?

You know, like, are you squeamish? Then you probably don't love the idea. If somehow they could do a giveaway, like, with Robin Ventura and the headlock, you know, now, maybe now we're talking. That's the thing.

But like the hawk nesting doll that the White Sox gave away, for example, or even the 108 bobblehead doll. The fact that they gave away a bobblehead doll devoted to a section of dudes who willingly watched the game

from seated behind a foul pole is pretty amazing. So I don't, I don't know. I feel like I've seen some good giveaways in my day. I got the answer. My favorite anyway. Pat Hughes sweater giveaway day.

They actually gave away a sweater based on Pat Hughes's awful taste in sweaters. It's a beautiful thing. How did Pat He used to feel about that? I own one. Pat is what you call a gamer when it comes to stuff like that. He said, whatever you need to do, that sounds good to me. I've got all the sweaters. We can do whatever you guys want to do.

So my guess is Pat was very agreeable with it, as he tends to be. Aw. Yeah. He's an agreeable man. Hello, Pat Hughes. Is the Raising Cains paying for the stadium? I'm sorry, I'm still working on this. Will there be a raising canes inside the stadium?

There better be. I think this is the topper for me because selfishly, my favorite childhood athlete growing up was involved in the play that created the bloody lip. It was a grounder back to Nolan Ryan, which he did not handle very well, hence he ended up with a bloody lip. It was off the bat of one, Bo Jackson.

We didn't love Bo Jackson. Amen. People who don't know any better. He's your favorite. player's favorite player. Exactly. Right? At this point,

Bo Jackson. Yeah, he's a legend. He is. White Sox. Well, I will tell you, if you don't mind, I'm going to throw one in. Grotty, you had my favorite Cubs one, of course, the Pat Hughes Swear.

But there is a favorite White Sox giveaway that I have, and it was 2017 when the White Sox gave away the White Sox gave away the Hawke Harrelson alarm clock. The Hawk clock. That's right. And it released six of Hawks, well-known broadcasting calls. Stretch.

You can put it on the board. Rack him up. Mercy. He gone. This ball game is over. He did. That was the alarm clock. You could wake up to those.

That's amazing. Whoever, hey, text in 312, 644, 67, 67. If you have a Hawk alarm clock that you wake up to, to this day, text us in. Oh, that would be great. I actually, I think I have the, I know I have the Hawk Nesting doll. I don't know that I got the Hawk clock, but I need to look. Amazing. Amazing giveaway.

Let me tell you about Rico Petricelli. That's what I like. like philosophical hawk alarm clock as opposed to the... Like when he compared Chris Bryant to Todd Frazier, remember that? Oh, yeah. Let me tell you about Diana to Seattle. I know you're talking about your main Mercedes. KB got put on the 60-day aisle to start the C.

Oh, I feel so sad for him. Who? Thanks my heart. Yeah, Chris Bryant. Oh, that does suck. Should we go philosophical hawk with Danny Parkins? I mean... Wow.

Looking for something smart, soulful, and full of heart. I'm Jen Hatmaker, host of For the Love, the podcast where we talk about what really matters. Love and family, faith and purpose. Every week, I'm joined by incredible guests for honest conversations that invite all of us to live with more intention, more laughter, and more connection. Join us on For the Love wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.