Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Full Show — February 11, 2026

Episode Date: February 11, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote discussed the latest developments in the Bears' stadium saga and welcomed on Bulls forward Matas Buzelis to discuss his Rising Stars honor and the organization's direction.

This hour brought to you by vasectomy clinics of Chicago. The views and opinions of Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grody may change at any time. It's just sports. Okay, thanks.

Bye. Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody. 10 to 2 on 1043, The Score. So I'm just minding my own business on Instagram yesterday, and I'm like scrolling through stuff. And then what do I see? Well, if it isn't our plucky friend, Kayla Kailer, falling down, what happened? I start approaching the scrum.

I can't hear anything. So I go around to one side of him where it's, like, closest to his locker. And there was a folding chair. So I kneel on the folding chair, and the folding chair collapsed underneath me. Oh, man. Yeah, because you should never trust a folding chair, honestly. Good thing I brought my collapsible stick chair. It collapsed right away.

and I went like hands first into his locker. I went straight into his locker and he had a beer sitting there and I knocked his little beer. Oh, no. Oh, you spilled the beer. It gets worse. He was on his way to the pub to have a drink and walked in the door and someone had spilled a beer and he slipped and broke his neck. There's a lot of hazards. There's a lot of hazards post-game in the NFL locker room. There really are.

You have to really watch yourself because if it's not falling into a locker, it's tripping over shoulder pads. No doubt. The amount of times I've been in the path of somebody throwing dirty laundry into the hamper is like every time. Ashton-Catchez, Michael's jockstrap. Between Bad Bunny, poor reporting, and then finishing with spilling Sam Darnold's beer. You had quite an experience. I was like, I need a beer now leaving this locker. I need a beer and a tequila chaser.

And maybe if I black out, I can forget that game. Lila Rahimi, Marshall Harris. Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104.3, the score. Poor Kaling, Kailer. Just tumbling into Sam Darnold's locker and knocking over his beer. Sam, you won the Super Bowl. You don't get your beer. Kailen took it out. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043, the score. And for the second day in a row, we have more follow-up when it comes to discussion surrounding the Bears Stadium. you missed us yesterday and I know there were a lot of people who called, we will take your calls again in this hour.

312, 644, 67, 67 is our number. You do have a vote. You do have a say with us. Even if you don't get to vote on it yourselves in an actual ballot, we at least will listen to you. So just know that. And in the meantime, we got some answers on our afternoon show yesterday, Spiegel and Holmes, who had Cam Buckner on, who is part of the state legislature. He's one of our representatives. and Cam is important in this because he provides answers,

and that's what you want from your public servants. And Cam is sports savvy, as we know. And he understands the discussion, I think, a little bit better from people like us who, you know, know about the bears but don't necessarily know what the other money would go to in a budget. So Cam, I think, provided some valuable answers. You know, before we get to what he said, what were you two's opinions of just Cam kind of clarifying Marshall Harris

and Mark Rody. I loved Cam's appearance because it kind of took us behind the curtain as much as he could because obviously it's an active negotiation. There's only so much that he can say. But when you bring up the reference to having been through something similar when you talk about the Cubs deciding they were going to remake their ballpark and do all the things that they were doing. And in comparison of this, not an apples to apples comparison, but just laying it out,

hey, this is where we are with the NFL and their process. compared to what happened with the Cubs, I thought that illustrated more clearly what this whole process is going to look like and the fact that, hey, we're making progress in this process. That's probably the most important thing. Yeah, I mean, that was the first thing that I jotted down in this, that again, the evidence is mounting from all the different sides of this that the meetings are positive, specifically using words like the most regularity

and clarity there has ever been in the meetings with the bears. So I think it's important to point that out. I thought it was interesting to hear the optimism. Yet, yet, Cam Buckner, sharing with everybody, and we'll hear some of it coming up, on what the concerns are still that are left, which include, obviously, what the state is stuck with and the windfall

and the backfill of the coffers. that's really important to the state of Illinois. And the other part too was that I thought was interesting is, hey, if they moved to the suburbs, if they moved to Arlington Heights, what's left for Chicago in all of this? Where are the benefits then? What are they stuck with or left with or not have the benefit of? Yeah, I like to say it was something that we were taught, like in journalism school. And I was made to minor in political science as part of a journalism major at North Texas.

And I don't normally tout that, but you do end up learning a lot. when I had to take two semesters of urban politics and what that meant in sports arenas and their effects on local governments was one of the parts of the study and a term paper for me. So one of the questions that I always ask in these things, and it's valuable to you is who pays, who loses, who benefits.

And so that's what we're trying to figure out. You know who benefits because we're a sports station and you're listening to us. The Bears benefits. So that is clear. Everything else is where it gets a little more, not blurry, but just you can't, always see. So Cam Buckner

talked to Spiegel and Holmes and discussed what that phrase even means, property tax certainty and how it plays out. When you look at a mega project that size, what the bears are asking for is to be able to know upfront what they're going to pay every year in property tax. What I've said from the beginning is that

while that is not immediate money or a check from the government to the bears, there has to be conversations. about what that looks like. How much is the property tax break? What are they going to negotiate? And the reason that the state has some skin in the game on that is because if for some reason the property tax relief is so big that the village of Arlington Heights ends up coming back to

the state of Illinois to help them back fill the coffers for things like schools and police and fire, then we missed an opportunity to have a robust conversation. So for me, I understand property tax certainty. I understand why you would desire that in a stadium conversation. And I respect what the bears are asking for that. And I think they also at this point, I respect that we have to be prudent when it comes to all of these things to work out for the broader economic picture. You know what? I bet you would like property tax certainty, the listener. I bet anybody who's in our studio right now would like property tax certainty. And you know what else? you probably use your house more than a guarantee of eight or nine games a year.

You know, that's the part of this that makes this hard. It's, yeah, okay, it might create jobs in X, Y, and Z. But, you know, what's the payoff for the state here? And then how does that happen where, yeah, guess what? If the local doesn't have enough money, then the state, as we've seen in prior instances, will have to backfill the gaps. I think the cost certainty from the taxes is something that both sides should be concerned with. just as Cam laid it out because you need to know what you're able to do with that tax money.

And the only way you can know that is how much tax money are you bringing in. So that's where the negotiation to me lies. Like that's the stake right there. Where is that needle moving? Is it moving to somewhere where both the state, aka us, because the citizens are who's left with those kind of, if not a debt, as we saw at Soldier Field, just the understanding that it's got to make sense for both sides. And so for the Bears, we know their playbook. Listen, the Kansas City Chief thing is still like fresh on my mind when I look at all of this.

It's pretty amazing. Yeah. And we'll get to that. So it's got to make sense, though, for both sides. And I think the Indiana introduction, the multiple spots in Indiana that would like to have a Bears Stadium, it's causing everyone to focus a little more, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? Yeah.

Clearly, they've been for weeks now planning what they are going to try to do. Right. And you kind of asked me off the air, I think it was yesterday in Marshall, like where I stand with all of this. Of course, I'd prefer the bears to stay in Illinois. But I would like to hopefully, if the bears do get the opportunity to, if to negotiate the rate with the local municipalities, that's what I want to know more. I want to know more because we joked around about it yesterday, about the steak dinner and that just avoid one steak dinner a month and you'll be covered. I really want to know what is going to be charged of Illinois citizens, people in Chicago. people who don't, are not interested.

So I am very curious to see what that is. I also saw something that really made sense that Cam Buckner said yesterday, that is good for all of this, that he kind of understands what the bears have been doing because it's what the NFL requires, but he shot back saying they need to understand what we are trying to do representing this, the citizens of the state of Illinois. Well, that's it. And it's not just one steak dinner. you said a month.

Tony and Juliet said a year. It's more than that. And we talked about it. There's a lot of published articles about how the money does change up. And we'll get into a little bit more of that in our next segment because Cam Buckner did talk about that part of it. You know, it's the concept of that money goes in other places then. You know, money that was designated for your CTA, money that was designated for your roads,

money that was designated for other things. Police. Yeah, exactly. Fire, school. And let's be honest. The budget has been a mess in this state for a minute. Yeah, and by minutes we mean years. Decades.

So because of that, you know, this is where that comes into play. Now, Marshall, it's your station, ABC7, that had this report saying Illinois leaders say they're working hard to keep the bears from crossing the state line. Sources close to the negotiations told ABC7 that a group of legislative leaders and bears representatives have met several times a week since early December. and that was before the Bears released the possibility of moving to Indiana. That is important context in all of this. You know what we call that? We call that a ramp up in negotiations and discussions. Well, also it could be, okay, did the Bears decide to bring in Indiana after some of the results of these meetings

that had reportedly happened before that took place? Yeah. Again, I just think when you talk about expediting factors, the Indiana thing can only be seen as that. when they come to the table, whether it's Indiana, whether it's Iowa, whether any other states want to get involved in this with their ideas of what they could do to draw the bears to across state lines. You know what I said. If you're really serious about leaving, you play the nuclear option, as we like to say.

No, but that's- Wisconsin. You threaten Wisconsin. Kenosha's right there. Suddenly the bears can be in, you know, everybody's saying, take them out of there. The force will have awakened if that occurs. Well, the 75-mile radius comes in. to play, right? Is Kenosha, is Kenosha south of 75 miles of Green Bay? Like, that's what I would have to measure.

Yeah, I don't know. I think it is. I think it is. Not Milwaukee, obviously, by Green Bay. I think so. But no, I think all those options mean that the bears are exhausting. Remember, the bears are behind schedule. Let's not forget that. Are they? I don't know about you, but I love buying land and having to stay vacant for three years. I think it's tremendous. Jump on the ground is the phrase that will live forever. I love paying taxes on things that I don't use. Listen, they're not just behind schedule like, hey, we thought this would be going somewhere by now. They're behind schedule in that they made a declarative statement of shovels in the ground, 2025. I don't know if you all know, it's not only 2026. We're in the second month of 20206. Did I tell you?

We're to the three-year anniversary of them buying Arlington Heights. I think I told either of you guys. We changed the name of the podcast from Take the North to Shovels in the Ground. Since they took the north, it's now the Shovels in the Ground podcast with Mark Rodey and Dan Wheater relates until the shovels are in the ground. And then you got to change the name again. So, yes. I still like it when everybody just starts naming sites that they want to put the stadium on. That's still my favorite.

My ex's house. You know, I'm like, what about this abandoned mall? Like, I feel like my ex's house most people can relate to because they've got that one X that they're like, yeah,

they made my life absolutely. My ex does not deserve to have the Bears Stadium built on her site. Yeah. I don't know why you guys think this is a place. even deserve the bear. You don't deserve the bears built in your property. Their house is now gone. Their place of residence does no longer exist.

They had to move. Never forget that. Eminent domain for the whole organization. Bingo. Never forget that our meatball of the year. And I'm aware it's February of 2026. Domain. I'm aware it's early.

But our meatball of the year is the guy who wanted to eminent domain the team. You, sir, you are the winner right now. You're the winner of the year. He didn't say eminent domain for a site for the stadium. He said eminent domain the entire organization. We always say like we laugh with Rome because you know he said for the career I'm like The team for the team

Eminent domain Eminent domain the team It's gonna be my answer for everything from now on Eminent domain that's how we're gonna do it say it like in an intellectual way Do you ever think about Eminet domain that's something you gotta think about you know what it reminds me of is Dwight from the office trying to citizens arrest everybody that's what this is a citizen's arrest I'm eminent domating anything with what authority my own You thought that that was your intellectual property?

Have you ever heard of eminent domain? The bed's right now. The table is cleared. All you have to say is eminent domain and you win your argument, kids. And then you just back it up with the necessary and proper clause. Okay, let's get back to the real stuff here and people who will actually be in a room for a decision. Ken Buckner also explained what has changed for the bears in finding a new stadium location. This is a process, right?

And each part of the process has a different cadence. I think early on they were trying to see what. they could get. I think it was very difficult to figure out where they were going. As you guys remember, they were initially said they were leaving Chicago. Then they came out with a big announcement that they were going to stay in Chicago. Then they came out with another announcement that they were going to leave Chicago. And they came out with another announcement that they were going to go to possibly look at Indiana. Right. And so it was kind of hard to keep tabs on where they were. But I think where we are now is a real honest, honest, transparent conversation

in order to maintain the integrity of those conversations. I'll just, you know, I'll just, you know, I'll say kind of some surface level things about it, but we have spoken to them, I think, with the most regularity and the most clarity that we've been able to get within the last three years. The last three weeks has been clearer than any point of the last three years. I still maintain that everything we're seeing, whether it's this conversation Camp Buckner is having on the afternoon show yesterday, Spiegel and Holmes, or it's us having the entire conversation, or it's Portage Park, for example, having a press conference, or it's somebody in Iowa trying to pitch for the Bears.

All of these things are normal. They just were supposed to have happened before you buy the land. Like, we're reverse engineering all of this. And it's going to work out eventually somehow, some way. Don't know exactly the details of what it's going to look like, but the reality is, should be setting, in for everyone. The Bears are getting a new stadium and it's just a matter

of how much is that stadium going to cost and more importantly, at least from my vantage point, how much is it going to cost you? Yeah, and we took some really good calls on it yesterday. The plot changes on the daily. So let's invite our listeners here to give their opinions as well.

312-644-67 what did you think about what you heard from Cam Buckner, the representative that was not with Spiegel and Home yesterday and where would you like the bears to land? What is your logical answer to that? 312-644-67-667. That's right. That's Mark Grotie. Marshall Harris is here too. I'm Laila Rahimi. And yes, we are both on 670 and 104-3 The Score. We broadcast live from our scores Hyundai Studios brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. Our producers are Ray Diaz,

Tyler Bueberbaugh, and Brandon Fryer. You can join us on Twitch. Don't do what I did. I went to the old Twitch address. It's the score. Chicago on Twitch. That's where you can find us. Our Twitch mob is chatting on the on the Twitch chat over there. You can also find us at YouTube, YouTube, YouTube, TV and 670. The score Chicago is our address there as well. So coming up next, more from Cam Buckner because he's got to be in the room when this happens, so to speak. You know, he's part of these discussions that the state is having and that the bears are asking money from the state. He's part of the one in the group who knows what that actually entails. So as far as

who pays, who loses, who benefits, more on that. And then also what he thought of the most recent stadium discussion that happened close-ish to us when it comes to the NFL. So all that is next. And yes, you can call us 312, 644-67. You've got Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score. Rahimi Harrison Grody. Midday's tidal two on Chicago Sports Radio.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, The Score. And we thought we were going to talk to Modis Buzellis at 11. But it turns out that that's going to be a little earlier. So we'll get into more of what Cam Buckner had to say and how it relates to not just the bears, but other deals we've seen so far on the NFL. We'll do that at 11. And in the meantime, we wanted to get to your calls. 312, 64, 64, 67, 67 is the number.

Let's start with Pat on the south side. Pat, you're on Rahimi Harrison Grody. Hey, what's going on? How are you? So I'm good. My dream scenario would be the Bears buying the old Belmore race course and moving it out south, but I know that's not going to happen. Right now, I would like to see them just move to Indiana.

I would like to see them. The North Carolina politicians, the big middle finger. That's what I would like to see. Pat, we appreciate the call. You broke up there a little bit. The sentiment is understood as far as moving to Indiana. He wanted them with Colin Sexton. Basically, the Illinois politicians is what he said, right?

Make sure I heard that right. Yeah, Colin Sexton flipped off the rim the other day for the Bulls. He was at the free throw line. I guess the Bears put up a semi-middle finger by sending out the note they did in December that they were going to move to Indiana. So everybody is on the same page now, sort of, kind of. in Salem, Wisconsin. You're on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Good morning. Thanks for taking a call. I just want to make this clear that I am a Bears fan,

lifelong Bear fan. And I think Arlington Heights is the best place, given the fact that they've bought the land, they've screwed around for three years. They probably could have had the stadium well underway by now if they would have had all their ducks in a row. But I think in the long run, it's the best place for the Bears. Thank you. Yeah, it makes sense. They bought the land there. They intended on moving there. Then things changed. And you have to start asking yourself, kind of in retrospect, how much have things changed based on the fact that they bought the land there? Like, that was where they wanted and they

didn't have things sorted out. And it's taken, what, three years to sort out the details? Is that basically where we're at? Well, right. It was like we were talking about yesterday. along comes Kevin Warren, who says, in his mind, I wish you hadn't have bought the land yet. Okay, you bought the land. This is not going to be ideal, but I got some ideas. And that's where the wild goose chase for the stadium started with the downtown plan, which I attended. Quite the show. Quite the show, by the way.

And then to Arlington Heights, and then to Indiana, to wherever we are now. Unfortunately, Kevin Warren came, when he started the gig, he came in from, he was behind. He was behind three, four, five runs already. So it was awkward. Let's go with the phone some more. 312, 644, 67, 67. How about Mike and Aurora? Mike, you're on Rahimi Harrison Grotie.

Mike? Yeah, my thought is the bear should take the deal from Indiana and then take their $200 million and become real estate developers in Arlington Heights. then the family would have another business. Okay, that's not a bad idea. It's really not, actually. Get some branding on that stuff. Pre-approved by the Bears?

Maybe they could even lock in a deal on taxes before they take Indiana's deal. Well, that's the whole thing, right? Like, you just mentioned the, I don't know, what do you want to call it? The multi-billion dollar question, Mike? That's it. You just identified the whole reason

that the bears are even in this situation right now. that's what the crux is. So I think that that's something that we need to keep in mind here. It's that concept of property tax certainty. 312644-67 to Indiana and Mark. Hey, Mark. How you doing? How you doing?

Layla and Marshall and Mark, it's great to chime in with you. Good to talk to you, Mark. Yeah, I got an idea to keep the Bears and Arleets and Heights. I think currently there's an NFL. assumption that a team can only take on a partnership of 10% or more. I know, like, Mr. the Aon group and Dan Ryan has 20%. But I wondered if the McCaskey family could recruit another partner to take on 20% such as Mr. Mark Walters of the Guggenheim group and they would raise about $3 billion in

revenue and get the Arlington Heights project done. I think that might have to have a ruling by the NFL, but if we could check on that, that's one way to keep them in how he could ice. Mark, you're not too far off. Yeah, the NFL is, they're allowing private capital to buy in and buy shares of teams now.

Yeah, you can only go up to 10% with private equity specifically, but selling off a piece of the team is a whole different ordeal. They had the chance to do that, and that's why we know the team is valued at $9 billion. $9 billion. When a member of the shareholders

passed away, we found that out because then we had to figure out what were those worth. So I don't think you're too far off in your idea process. We continue on the phones. 312, 644-67-67 to Dave and Skokie. Dave, you're on. Hey, I'm totally opposed to giving large tax breaks to billionaires. I think that they, that there's, you know, that I don't have tax, certainty on my real estate.

I don't know why they deserve it, except that it's power. It's about power. And they're billionaires. So I'm just, I'm just sickened. And if they moved to Indiana, I'm not a bear fan. I've been a bear fan my whole life.

And that's the way I feel. Wait, you said, so you're not going to be happy anyway, either way. Yeah. So you're going to be angry at the tax breaks that the bears maybe will have gotten. And you're not going to watch.

they go to Indiana. Well, I don't, you know, I'm, the negotiations is fine, but I don't, you know, there's no studies that have been done that show that there is a net economic positive to building a new stadium as well as, it's a deficit to Chicago when they leave. So what, what does, as a Chicago taxpayer, Illinois taxpayer, what, how does it benefit me? Right. And that's the question. And that's, that's a fair question.

I want to know more about that, and we are the three of us sitting in here, are all taxpayers of Illinois and Chicago residents. Who pays, who loses, who benefits. That's always what you have to know. Good question. The difficult part in this is we know who benefits. So, like, that's why you're listening to a sports station. That's what makes us tough. And I think the problem is we all understand the default.

The default is we're going to lose. It's almost a matter of just how much are we going to lose to be able to say the bears are, you know, still in charge. It's what they call a lost leader. Well, yeah, and that's it. And it's how much do you want that? And the understanding is, traditionally, is that you look at the guaranteed amount of dates. You start with that as to its viability to a public. So, for example, the Cubs who paid all of their own money to not get any public money

to help in the infrastructure improvement of Wrigley Field and to help with the surrounding area, they have the most days. They have the most days at a guaranteed age. 81. So when you consider that, you have 81 guaranteed days a year that the good in the public is giving back to the public. Then the Cubs supplement that with concerts. They have like the Gallagher way installations that they do, for example, like the Chris Kendall market that we never got to go to guys. What about that sick DJ that played in Gallagher way? Yes, John Summit. Yeah, and he was before a Cubs game in the playoffs. So, you know, there's another set of dates. It's kind of an add-on.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, there was an Anna. But that's a lot. That was a nice little surprise that day. And the Cubs are considered exemplary because of the fact they didn't use any public money and that they get the most use in a neighborhood out of their ballpark. So that's kind of the ideal. And then you kind of go from there as to how much it gives back to the entity that the public money usually goes toward. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that you say exemplary example. example like that that's that's the model right if you're a public citizen and a private billion

dollar company is operating and they're saying we want help you say no and they just continue to go about their business and make money that is that is something that we're not seeing from the bears and we can't even imagine from the bears that's the problem and if you need to understand how much value teams have look no further than the salary cap which has got up a hundred million dollars in the last four years that's wild we're looking at at an over $300 million salary cap for each team. Business has picked up. Let's continue on our phones.

312-644-67-Hosei and Berwyn. Jose, you're on Rahimi-Harrison-Grody. Hey, good morning, team. How are y'all doing? Good. How are you, Jose? Doing well, thank you. I just wanted to highlight a couple things that I think not enough people are talking about. The first is, I mean, number one right, I think from an

Pousaljee point of view, I would love for them to stay at Soldier Field, but if they do have to leave, Arlington Heights makes the most sense for a number of reasons. I think the first one is geography, right? It is actually more central in terms of the Chicago metropolitan area, although Indiana is closer in terms of downtown, right? You think about where O'Hare is located, where Hollis Hall located, and more importantly where actual the population of Chicago areas is more concentrated, right? Cook County, King County.

DuPage counties, these are the most populous counties in the region. So it makes sense from a geographic point of view. The other one is not enough people are talking about how much it's going to cost to remediate that land in Indiana. We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up that land, and not to mention the fact that it'll still be surrounded by a heavy industry, a very polluting industry. So I think people have this idea that it's like, oh, yeah, the lakefront is open.

Let's go develop that, and it's really not the case. So I think, yeah, Arlington Heights makes sense for a number of reasons from the short term and the long term, because then they would, of course, open or would own their own facility. Jose, that's a great call. Yeah, thank you. That's a really good point about the remediation of the land. And that was an issue with the Michael Reesite was when that was suggested trying to figure out

whether or not, you know, that was a viable piece of land once you had to consider what went into developing it from an environmental standpoint or an access standpoint. Those are all things that really do indicate a cost. It comes down to do we really believe that Indiana, after hearing from Camp Buckner yesterday and just understanding how this process is going, how much longer is Indiana a viable option? And we know the deadline, February 27th for the end of state legislation down below Illinois, but also as they move further and further, it seems like they're going to get to a point rather quickly where it's Illinois or bust. Well, you know, there's also the phrase follow the money. Where's the most money located toward this topic? Arlington Heights.

You start there. Then you start following wherever else they needed to go. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104.3, the score. We thank you for all of your calls. We are a little bit kept to the Bulls practice schedule this morning because we get to talk to Modis Bezellis ahead of his third straight rising stars event. So we are excited to do that. So once practice wraps up, we get to talk to Modis,

and we are waiting for him now. So we might have to do a little pregame show, a little Modis Buzellis interview pregame show. We'll get back into more about the stadium at 11 o'clock, and next up is Modus talk on the score. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harrison Grody on 1043, the score. Here's Yemasele at the foul line.

The Diff shows four under the paint. Right side, Bozellis, four, three. Right down the pipe. Modus Bezellis with his third triple. He's born in 15. 104, 102 Nets. And it's a 5-0-1 by the Nets. Well, about that 5-0 run, yes, the Nets ended up winning the game,

Chuck and Bill. But the good news is we got to talk about it regardless, and we get to talk about it with one of the guys who played in it coming up. This is the Modis-Buzzellis interview pre-game show here on 104-3, the score. And our 6-30-texter asked a good question. and what's the over under on the guest actually showing up? Listen, I thought it was a pack that we were never going to bring up the Joe Kim Noah and Devin Hester. Devin Hester show again.

But I'm pretty sure we're good because it's modest. We're just depending on the results of Bulls practice, the shoot-around today ahead of their game tonight against the Boston Celtics, which you can hear right here on 104-3, the score, by the way. Modis had 21 points in his last outing, and we're talking to him because he's made his third straight Rising Stars game. That's a big honor when you consider how the NBA looks at the potential of those players and who's played in the game. Yeah, he had actually 21 points against the Nuggets on Saturday. Only 18 points on 5 of 15 shooting the last time out. But the good news is three of seven from three. And he's hit 37 percent of his threes as his playing time and his shots have gone up.

Consider this. Last year he averaged 6.9 shots a game. This year, that number is up to 11.4. So he's taking almost twice as many shots this year. The three-point percentage is up to 37% from 36.1%. He has some things to work on. He's averaging a block and a half per game, which leads all Bulls. But the four blocks he had in that game against Brooklyn just shows you what he could become.

I want to make sure people understand this. This man is 21 years old. He is still young, very, very young, although he's playing his third year of professional basketball. because remember before these two years with the Bulls, he played on a G-League team, the G-League Ignite. So he's played professional basketball for quite a while, but this has got to be the most, almost shocking time of his career. Because the last time he was out, he was playing with a bunch of guys he hadn't played

with before last week. Six new teammates is last time out. It is crazy. Like you go back to the, I think the Toronto game last Thursday was the first game where they were just out of everybody. MacMachung, Yuki. Here comes MacKlung, and I'll ask Modus about this if we have time. I just remember thinking, oh, man, so there's two slam dunk kings.

Because, you know, Modis was in the slam dunk competition. Last year he loves a good dunk for sure, and we know that Mack McClung has won multiple, right? Three slam dunk contests. He's the three-time reigning champions. But in that game, Modis had a badass. one hand jam. And I couldn't help the thinking, Modis is like, see what I got? I got a little something for you there, Mac McLung. See what I did?

There's my dunk. And I don't necessarily know that in this modern era of the dunk contest, your first doubting is going to go well. It's okay. So, yeah, I think it's kind of a mulligan. It is. Yeah, I'd love to see him in there again. He's got the hops. He's got it. Well, at least he can peer pressure Mac McLong. Right. Isn't that the whole point of being on a team together is to bother somebody else?

Or compete in a friendly way, get the most out of each other. That's what I thought Buzellis was doing. It's like, why not? None of us knows each other on this court right now. I'm going to show Mack McClung how to dunk right now. And frankly, for all of the Bulls transition and what's gone on with the team, it is important that they are represented at All-Star weekend with a rising star and at least somebody who we, there are a few people who you can guarantee

or at least count on or view as a guarantee when it comes to who's available on a team and in the NBA that changes faster than almost anywhere else but at least I know that Modis is one of the players that Arturis Carnasovas and Mark Eversley seem to have at least set maybe not a cornerstone but you know that's somebody who they have priorities on keeping for a while

just because of what you said too he's young like they can withstand it's a rebuild They can withstand the rebuild Are you seeing the quiet part out loud? I am. Okay. Like, you guys don't want to say it. That's fine.

You know, I don't want to talk about certain things either with me. So it's cool. But, like, it's a rebuild. Inner Billy would agree with that, by the way. So, yeah. Oh, wait.

Is your, your realized character? Oh, you don't think this is a rebuild? Do you see what's on this court right now? Whoa. Do you see all the second round pick? Here's what I'm going to push back against the rebuild.

But no, I'm saying, like, modest can withstand a timeline. though. Yeah, he can't. Of having that. His modest's timeline is so long. He's got time.

That he has time to develop with this team and will still be a part of something even after they adjust this roster. I would like it to be a rebuild, but unfortunately, it's looking more and more like a retool because they have competent basketball players who are already years into their NBA career. They just lost to the nets. What does it take for you to like think that it's a rebuild? Can they like not hold on to the basketball physically?

like what? They got a turnover every possession? If you'll allow me to finish, I'll explain what the difference between a rebuild and a retool is. I saw a rebuild. I worked in Philadelphia, where they won 10 games all season. That's what a rebuild looks like. It looks like a bunch of G-League players who could not find a spot on an NBA team.

They have competent basketball players who just haven't had a chance to play together. So when I say it's a retool instead of a rebuild, if you want to rebuild, you go get players who are not good. You bring up the Windy City Bulls and Lachlan Oldbrook plays 25. plus minutes a night. That's what a rebuild looks like. This team is clearly trying to, yes,

evaluate some of these players they got who are on expiring contracts and some who are not. We talk about restrictive free agents and everything with Jaden Ivy and the like. But at the same time, if you want to rebuild, you go get worse players. They didn't go get worse players at the deadline. They are position lacking when you talk about their bigs, but it's not like they went out and got terrible players to play basketball. Are you going to be emotional? watching Nikola Vouchovitchevich tonight. Well, you'd be excited for Anthony Simons get in front of the Boston crowd?

No. No to both those things. You're not feeling any of that? I will watch out of duty to understand what's going on. I am looking forward to seeing in a Celtics uniform. Probably the same old Vooch. You know, we know Vooch what he's all about.

Food's not being asked to do too much because Vooch is coming off the bench, which is what I said he should have been doing before he was traded, coming off the bench. No, I feel like all of that fair. It's just, I think it's, I just feel like it's more of a rebuild and everybody's allowed to have their own opinion. Well, to find what rebuild is to you. That's, maybe I'm, maybe I'm misunderstanding your words. I, why? I think it's just that they traded away a ton of players. They decided to pick up

other, other expiring deals. They're trying to figure out who fits on this team. And so when you do that, when you take down most of your roster, especially the stars that built the first part of the regime when you consider Zach's max contract, DeMarterozen who they traded for, Nicola Vucovich who they traded for, other key pieces of that, yeah, I would say that when you decide to rebuild your entire roster

practically outside of like Gideon Modis, that's a rebuild. Would you have called it the rebuild when they traded away, Demar de Rosen and Zach? And is that not the same thing then? I didn't think so because they still had Vouch. So just Vouch being gone makes it a rebuilding your mind because

of that original iteration of the four players that he brought in. Well, and Kobe and I.O. You know, that's, that's the majority of the players, especially your starters, you know, who you had on that team. So as long as the guys who were not here when he started, Arturis, I'm saying, after the Vooch trade, we'll say. Is that a pretty clear line of demarcation? For me.

Okay. So as long as those guys, one of those guys was here, it was not a rebuild. but as soon as those guys are gone, that's what makes it a rebuild to you? Like I said, majority. Okay. So when the majority of the guys who were there for, say, like the 2021 season were part of the team, you know, Vooch, Damar, Zach, even though Zach was previous to them, Kobe, I would assume it was somebody they drafted and developed.

You know, that, for me, it was a numbers game to get to why I call it that. Yeah, and I think the reason I call it a reits hole and not a rebuild is because when I think rebuild, I think you are going for lottery guys because you're playing guys who are not good enough to win in the NBA. I think they got way too many guys on the roster who are good enough to win in the NBA. When I say win, I don't mean win the championship or anything like that. I'm just saying win, let's say,

two-fifths of your games, 40% of your games. That's still too many wins. If you're winning two out of every five games, you're winning way more than the teams who are winning one out of seven games or one out of eight games. Those are the teams at the bottom. I don't think that once Billy Donovan's had some practice time

with these guys, they're going to play it. Unless they make the conscious decision to sit guys. Well, like we were talking about, like, exemplary for the Cubs when it came to amount of guaranteed events and what that means for the public. The exemplary rebuild is the process, Sixers. That was so dedicated that the NBA had to stop it mid-process. I think that is, you are correct in that. Sam Hinky lost his job.

Is it possible that, because this is what I think it is, I think their plan going into this was to break it up. to break. I don't know if they know exactly what they think. I think it's possible they can be heading into a rebuild, but they do have all of these assets still, even if they are second round assets and real players on the roster. I don't know if they know what it is. I don't think they have a clear cut plan. I think that's why people are so frustrated with what just happened. The plan was to break up what they saw. And then let's take it from there. Then let's see in the next 30 games what they have on the floor. Do you trust their eyes? what we want to do. That's the question. Do we trust our tourists and Mark Eversley to be the ones to guide the assets the Bulls have? We are waiting for Modis Buzellis. We thought we would get him at 1045. That's why we delved away from Bear's Stadium talk. We now understand he will be with us at the top of the hour here. Practice is practice, guys. I can't predict when it ends. So Modis Buzellis next,

right here on 1043 The Score. This hour is sponsored by Riverfront, Chrysler Jeep, Dodge Dramp. Vazelis Kinnak's on a left link three. Which Vizelis said that I, Bill? He's starting to warm up

a little, but he's three of ten now. He's got 12 points for rebounds. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score, and we're awaiting Bulls practice to wrap up in Boston because we are going to get to talk to Modus Buzellis,

who is playing in his third straight Rising Stars game. I don't know that I should admit to this, but I think I'm going to. Marshall and I were talking about the process Sixers and how that is truly the, uh, the hardest of rebuilds in the break. And you, I left in October of 2020 or 2015 to come here. So I didn't have to deal with it the entire time.

You, you did a hard time. Yeah. I reminded you of the Markell Fultz trade where they traded up with the Boston Celtics from two to one. And when they traded up with the Boston Celtics, they broke one of the Cardinal rules in basketball, which is don't trade with Danny Ainsh, the Sixers, who had to give up draft capital to get that number one pick, took Mark L. Fultz. And the number two pick that year was Jason Tatum, and as they say, the rest is history. History, history. Like, we were talking about how the

process was so intent on rebuilding that the NBA stopped it mid-process. But that's because it was four years in. Yeah, you can only go about a half a decade of just losing in bad situations. I was telling Mark the story of tickets were so cheap that you would go on Stubhub or whatever the local site was and you would pay fees for a row of tickets and the actual tickets themselves cost a total of a dollar. That's bad. You think you're tanking? You haven't seen a tank. Yeah, that's what real tanking looks like.

And there was a believe it or not, it's hard to even think about it. But there was a time when Cubs games tickets were a joke. when Theo Epstein, ironically, and Jed Hoyer had taken over and what was a blatant rebuild of the team with some of the players that were on those rosters and you could go on Stubhub and find Cubs tickets for a dollar. Which is kind of awesome because... Kind of.

Yeah. No, it is. It is. Because at that point, you're just hanging out and there's a game in front of you. Right. Because you can't be committed to the result because the result will probably not favor the home team. And then that's when you get to see talented players from other teams.

There's still a major league baseball team on the field. Right. And you get to see, you know, Brian LeHare playing first base or, you know, Big Frank. Not that big Frank. My first assignment for Comcast Sportsnet, the company, like the entire company, because I spent time in Philly with Marshall. The company. I was in Houston.

Prior to that, I was here in Chicago for many years, was covering the Astros' last series in the National League against the Cubs here. And it was the first meeting of 200 lost teams in like 50 years or something. And Luke Stuckmire goes, and we're just the reporters to do it. I was like, is your team bad? I am here. I am here to cover your team. What are the special stories on that team?

So Marshall's like, here's Nate Shearholz. Marshall's like, you know, there's other, there's talented teams on the other side. And I'm like, well, not always. Not always. No, you're right about that. Boy, that's agonautic. That's a painful story. A couple of 100 lost teams.

It was one of those, where were you, like, were you there moments? Like Jake Flanagan, who now runs CHGO was also at that game. And he's like, oh, man, the only tickets we could get to this were the Cubs season were the tickets to the Astros game. I was like, oh, me too. Yeah, I can't imagine the play-by-play announcers for those two. coming together in the press box and both just looking at each and sides and saying, oh, man, it's been a season, commiserating, shaking their head. They're great jobs.

Like, you're never going to get somebody who is a head of play-by-play to be like, life sucks because life is pretty cool doing that job. But when you lose 100 games in a baseball season, that's tough for everybody in the traveling party. I love the idea that both teams get paid. Both teams are professionals. even when there's bad players on your team, they're trying to get things done. They are.

And we are happy to report that Bulls practice has wrapped up. Shootaround is over in Boston. And now joining us on our Circus Sports Illinois hotline. Download the Circus Sports app today is the three-time rising star. Modis, Modis, thanks for coming on. No problem. Thank you guys for having me. All right, first things first.

I've gotten a hot news tip, Modis. I hear that you like to have some food after shoot around. What's your go-to to get the hotel spread going? I'm going, it depends on what time it is. If it's in the morning, I'm going with the eggs scrambled, four eggs with cheese, probably sausage mixed, and some pancakes. I love pancakes. Nice.

Load them up with butter, syrup. I mean, you really load those pancakes up. I'm not going to lie. I've never had butter on my pancakes. What? I don't know. Is it good? Yes.

Wait, what do you do? This is important news here. I just go with syrup. That's it. Now, how much crap have you gotten throughout from your family growing up? It's like, come on, young, modest. A little bit of butter, and you're like, no thanks? We never had butter for the pancakes in my house when we were younger.

That means you're a healthier household then. That's what I'm hearing here. You're young and can burn a lot of calories, man. Like, for those of us who can't, we need you to try to mix it up a little. You know what? That's what I might start doing. I might start doing it from this day moving forward. Modis, I'm very curious because you obviously have been selected for a third straight rising stars game. To my knowledge, you're the only player who's ever been selected to play in three straight games because, of course, you played in the G League and the first time you played in your rookie season,

now in your second season. Do you know if you're the first guy to play in three straight? I think, no, I think some other guys have done it. I think Scoot Henderson has done it. Okay. There's somebody else, I can't recall, but it's honestly a blessing, and I'm, you know, super excited. Do you feel like it's changed the way you look at either All-Star weekend or just like the game itself, the way the NBA is always tweaking with the rules and selections and how we come up with the teams who play? I wouldn't say that, no. I'm just very excited to be in L.A. and participating against, you know, the best players and, you know, getting to see all the

those bad guys who are stars in the league and, you know, learning from them. Well, congratulations for being in that again, because, of course, we all want you to be a star. Along those same lines, have you considered or will you consider doing the slam dunk competition again, maybe sometime down the line? Because I was thinking about you in that game against Toronto, the one that that Mack McClung played in with you, And I'm thinking about McClung because he's the three-time dunk champion. And then you have a sick one-handed jam in that game. And I'm thinking, oh, we got two dunkers right here.

Have you thought about that? And while I'm at it, what did you think about Mack McClung? Actually, you know, we have two dunk contest champs on our team. And Freddie Simon is also another one. That's right. Nice. We have a couple. We have a couple guys.

But, yeah, honestly, you know, I'm definitely would want to do it. again. I'm just, you know, listening to my body this year. You know, your body is a temple, so you have to take care of it. And, you know, Matt McClong, he's a great guy. He's, he works extremely hard. He, you know, to be where he is for that long, you know, in the G grinding every day, and the guys don't know how tough it is. So props to him, he's, he's an amazing, I'm going to call him a vet. He's been, you know, doing it for so long, and he's, I give him all the props, and he's an amazing person. You know, Modis, you bring up something pretty compelling when you talk about just the effects that that can have on your body. Playing in a Rising Stars game is obviously a little bit different of an activity compared to the dunk contest.

What was the lasting effect for you when it came to just having to recover that, you know, being younger, being still new to your process? Like, how did you physically feel after competing? And what have you heard from other people about how it takes it out of you? You know, it's tough, but, you know, I'm not the one that. I'm not one to back down from anything, but I try to play every single game in the NBA. And I have done it this year. I did it last year.

And I want to play every game and, you know, knock on what I have. And, you know, I'm just listening to my body. Your body is very important. You know, if you're hurt, you can't do anything to help the team win. And I just try to just try to listen to my body. I know you're listening to your body.

I'm more just interested and fascinated with how you're handling what's happened over the last week surrounding the trade deadline. So many teammates gone, so many new teammates. What has that process been like for you? I mean, Billy Donovan out of the nine guys you used in the last game, only six of them were your new teammates. Only three guys from, you know, before a week ago had you played with. Yeah. It's definitely tough. You would think, you know, you can just grab a bunch of new.

guys and then just start winning and have a spark right away, but that's just not how it works. You know, you have to grind through it. You have to all be on the same page and what we're doing. And, you know, it's been tough for me. I lost a lot of friends, but it's just the business of basketball. And it is what it is. I just accept it and move forward. And, you know, as soon as the trades happen, I have to move on to the next game. And I was ready to play against Toronto Raptors right away. And you just have to have a short memory. Yeah, modest, the graphic that I saw on the CHSN broadcast. You've had 34 teammates since being drafted by the Bulls in 2024.

What do you think about that? Honestly, it might sound harsh, but it is what it is. That's just how it is. And you have to be ready to play every night. And I'm thankful to even share the court with all those teammates. I remember playing with Taylor and THT, being from Chicago, Javon, all those guys. They mean a lot to me. But right now it's a new squad, and we have to move and turn the page.

Yeah. Yeah, it's tough, man. Life is a professional athlete in all of the sports. You're talking about your Chicago teammates at I.O. Dusumu, one of those. I can't help but thinking about the day of the Bears Packers playoff game. You guys have a game that day. You guys come in rocking Bears' jerseys. I know that, hey, we're all.

all upset. The Bears didn't advance, but do you guys get a chance to watch the Super Bowl on the NBA circuit? Like, did you guys come together in any way, shape, or form? Yeah, we actually, we actually did. Since we got our new guys, we all try to, you know, build some chemistry, watch the

game together. We all ordered food and it was a good time. I think we jelled well together. And that helped that definitely helped our team. modest you know i think we we've seen a pretty cool like young sports click coming together you know between you caleb williams peak row armstrong there might be a good vibe going with the young athletes in this town yeah those are my guys um uh i try to connect with all of them i told them

uh we should definitely do a dinner me um Caleb PCA and um badard and uh we're we're definitely going to do that but those are those are all my guys they're doing amazing and they're representing Chicago well. Love it. Certainly the future and modest. I know it's been a rough time for you guys, not just the trade deadline, but the fact that you lost five in a row, eight of your last nine. People in Chicago are starting to use that T word, the tank word, if you will.

How do you block out the noise and how do you continue to get better, even though you've got all these new teammates? And we know that your, Arturich, Karnassova, said that you're trying to get out of the middle. Yeah, we're definitely trying to do that. And, you know, it's going to be hard at first. You know, we lost our, I don't know how many games in a row, but we have to be better and we're going to have to figure it out sooner or later.

Now, wait, hold on. Where are you guys going for your dinner? You got to let us in on a little bit of a secret here. I don't know when we're doing it, but as soon as everybody's free, we'll try to work something out. But they're definitely, you know, I ask them about it.

They're definitely interested in doing that. But it'll be exciting. I don't know what food they like or anything, but that's something that we'll have to figure out. Do you have a number one spot? Say it again. I was just asking if you had a number one spot you'd like to go. That's tough.

Honestly, I go to Oakville like every day. when I'm in after lunch. Okay, so that's... The one on the Green Street. Yeah, in the West Lute. Yeah, that's a great five. You would catch me there if it's like two or three in the afternoon, probably. Good to know.

We can bug modest at the Oakville. As long as they don't serve butter. No, I love butter now, just not on my pancakes. Oh, okay. I got you. Please don't put butter on your pancakes on account of us. Yeah, don't. You get to try it, I think you'll be okay.

We'll do. Modest, thank you so much. Congratulations again on the Rising Stars game. Thanks, Modis. Thank you guys again. I appreciate you for having me. Thank you. Thank you.

Safe Travels to L.A. That's Modis Puzellis, letting us in on a little bit of the, where you can find Modis at the Oakville. See, I worry that he shouldn't have to get too much away. Oakville, you guys are going to have to hook him up with a private area now. That's a young man's mistake. right there. You're going to have to screen models.

That's tough. That's, that's, no, but seriously, that's tough. And that idea of that dinner, like, that's paparazzi style here in Chicago. If you saw those four guys walking around, like the camera phones would be out instantly. For one of them, let alone all of them together. I was so curious if they had a plan as to where they wanted to go. Yeah, I don't think they're going to give that, give that. Well, I'm sure they'll take pictures from wherever they are.

They should. They should. They should. the many hours later. Yeah. That's the trick. You do it after like you've changed scenes. You know?

So like if you're there, don't post while you're at the scene. Right. Post after you've changed the scene. Right. Then nobody will come and find you. Yeah. Unless they want, hey, maybe they want the attention. They're accessible stars and that's okay.

Next thing you know, we're posting pictures from years later. Not me. Not me. Oh, goodness. No, it's great to have Modis on. I'm glad we got to talk to. him. I feel bad for him. He's about to have some rough sledding, if you will, because they're not winning. He couldn't tell you how many games in a row they had lost. That's a, that's a pretty

formidable sign of how bad things have been on the court. Just play ball. Just get out there, get to know your teammates. Get your shots up. Get your shots up. Just be you, Modis. Well, the other thing, too, is you can just tell how the game is slowing down for him a bit, especially in the downhill aspect of his game. I think that's something that we've seen improve when it comes to modest. Yeah, if he, like I said, if he continues to bulk up, maybe add more syrup to the pancakes, whatever, butter, or have protein pancakes. Creatine pancakes. Creatine pancakes. All of it, then maybe, you know, he gets strong enough because he's just a little bit lacking in that strength area, both offensively and defensively. And that's something he's got to really work on that

and tightening his handle, in my opinion. The butter is really the key to the whole thing. I mean, like, I've had pan-y, like, they're not bad without the butter, but it really, it changes the whole. I don't like tough, dry pancakes. They need to be soft and the butter softens them up. That's, yeah. Full flavor too. That bite right in the middle. Yeah. Yeah. That's an excellent assessment. And I prefer my syrup warm also, not just room temperature syrup.

I didn't even think about that. So thanks to Modis Buzellis for coming on with us on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. I have a question for Ray and our crew. I know that we had to pause our stadium discussion and we didn't get to all of the Cam Buckner comments on the afternoon. show. Do we want to get back to that or do we want to stick to our original plan? I think we stick to our original plan. Okay. It's baseball time. Speaking of the afternoon show, Matt Spiegel let loose some information regarding the Boston

Red Sox that not only mentioned one cub, but two. And you might guess who they might be interested in. So let's have a discussion about that and listen to what Speaks had to say next. Rahimi Harrison Grody. The great Kevin Harlan. I just pulled through the Taco Bell, dry, and I've got a couple of big, nasty Supreme burritos right here waiting to beat.

You know, the first thing they ask you now, are you using the app? No, I just want my burrito. I don't want to use an app. Bring a lot of mild sauce because I'm going to squirt it all over the plate. Put some hot sauce off on my burrito, baby. Rahimi Harris and Grody,

midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on the score. The 2-1 delivery, contrarish lines one, caught by Horner through the first. They double up, Juryo! Getting over. Zach Zademan on the call. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. And guys, don't be bugging Modis Buzellis of the Oakville now, okay?

He blew up his spot on his own. We got to have a code here. We can't be bugging him when he's there. You just gave it away again, though. I know, but I'm just saying. No, don't bug him. Don't. Actually, he seems like the type of athlete or human who would be amenable to somebody coming up to him and saying,

hello, Modis. He'd probably say, hello. Good to see you. Because he's 21 and not yet jaded. I appreciate the youth. He's in his prime. He seems like a very nice person. He does. And it was nice of him to even say that. So meanwhile, you know, Kevin Harlan's going to Taco Bell and Modis is at the Oakville. I like it. There's levels to this. There are. People need range. Dang it. Yeah. Kevin Harlan certainly has range. That's what I've learned from our conversations with him. Gift to us, Kevin Harlan telling us about his life every day. We love it. So you just heard the baseball call. Guess what?

People are reporting and talking in Arizona. And before they do that, there's also some news about really one of the biggest questions we're going to have until we have a certainty when it comes to how this Cubs infield is settled. Alex Brebman gets signed. Matt Shaw has many years of control. He's trying to develop. Nico Horner has a massive amount of value. When you put it all together, it creates a lot of questions to this roster and how it's going to shake out. even in spring training.

This is going to be one of those things that we're going to be tracking every single day to try to figure out a good problem. Is there more talent than the infield positions allow? So Matt Spiegel yesterday on Spiegel and Holmes shared the information he received on the Cubs regarding Nico Horner and Matt Shaw. Take a listen. Nico Horner going to get traded? He has not.

And I don't think he will be. I think we can close the book on the idea that Nico was going to get. dealt because the last team that desperately needed a second baseman and an infielder really to try and sort it out was the Boston Red Sox. And some stuff went on this week. The Boston Red Sox did call the Cubs about Nico Horner. They ended up talking more about Matt Shaw than Nico Horner. And then the Boston Red Sox traded with the Brewers for Caleb Durbin.

That fills their need. They did not get what they wanted from the Cubs in terms of Nico and the Matt Shaw conversations apparently did not go well enough for both sides to consummate something there. But I think we can sit in good thought that Nico Horner will be a member of these Chicago Cubs. We can relax about that. The Red Sox are your friends. They took Caleb Durbin from Milwaukee. Get them out of there. I like this news from Speaks because, let's be honest,

none of us wanted to see Nico Horner traded if we were invested in the Cubs success in the 2026 season. It was never going to make sense to me to trade him before the season even started. Now, at the deadline, that could be different. I'm not saying it will be, but it could be different. But like you want to start off feeling like you are full bore, full go. And Nico Horner, not in this lineup, to me, was going to be a failure on the Cubs front office. Well, it's the dichotomy of you have more qualified infielders than you have positions available,

and you have a player arguably at the height of his powers right now. And that's what makes it so tempting. And then that also makes me understand more. The bigger question I have with this isn't just what Nico Horner's value is to the Cubs. It's what are Matt Shaw's years of control to the Cubs? How much do they care about those? Because in previous years, I would say that those may matter. more than anything else as far as a player's value is concerned.

And when I hear that from Matt Spiegel, I think there might be a different tune now as far as that is concerned. Like, do you guys think it's enough of a game changer here? Talk about the Matt Shaw part of it? Oh, yeah, because, I mean, literally yesterday, I was saying I don't know how the Cubs at this point, just as a player, what they project out of Matt Shaw, based on one season.

Do they still look at him as a core member of their team? Did they look at him? Is it just even a valuable bench player who doesn't play every day? Like I don't know how they project him. Now, based on what Spiegel reported, it does sound like, okay, the Cubs might be willing to shop Matt Shaw and officially because Alex Bregman, because Nico Horner, there may not be a spot at the inn for somebody like that. Although, first round pick, don't know what he's going to be. There is value.

Matt Shaw. Not just value because of that, but also because, let's be honest, there's going to be some type of work stoppage next year. Nico Horner, last I checked, is a free agent at the end of this. Sure is. And you have Matt Shaw under many, many years of control. So that's not something you just go around giving away. Again, you hit the hammer out. Value. Yeah, with the value of first round pick. This guy was drafted to be someone. He's already shown you as a glove gold, or excuse me, gold glove finalist, how good he can be. Now, that's it is, you know the upside. You also have a little bit of upside for just getting regular reps, right? Like, that's the part of this that also helps in the equation. So that's why this is a, it's fascinating to play out and see, understand in real time what's going on with how they value this. So here's another thing that happened today. Craig Counsel has spoken in Mesa. And listen to what Craig Counsel had to say about where Alex Bregman. might fit into this thing.

Of course, yeah, that's a possibility. But it's not, Alex is the third baseman. I think that's just a season thing. And you play it, play it, see how it goes during the season. But yeah, that's certainly one of the ways we can go. Wait, what's the, we didn't get the beginning part of that. What was he talking about? So apparently there's a possibility of Alex Bregman moving to D.H.

Ah, okay. So he's saying there's a possibility. that he could be DH. Okay. Now, I didn't take that as to he's going to be the DH. I took that as get him off his feet a few days, DH him and Matt Shaw get some reps. They have that luxury with the extra end filter.

Yeah. Yeah, I need more on that one. Yeah, I couldn't tell from the context. It sounded like Craig was saying, yeah, that's, yes, we'll play him at DH sometimes. Exactly. Well, and I didn't know if there was a question there that was going to be included. So we're chopping this audio up and remixing it for you,

not necessarily remexing it. We're just trying to get it on the air. Real time, because that just happened a little bit ago in Mesa. So there is a possibility that Alex Bregman could DH, which would also make it make sense. You know, if you're trying to get people regular reps,

if you're trying to get everybody fitting in, you know, I know there's been some discussion about Moises by Asteroz and all of this. But Alex Bregman, at least, immediately is a much better prospect, if that's where he's going to go. Yeah, I mean, Moises by Asteroz, Evan Alcantara.

Do we start to talk about James Trianta, like some of the bench guys that are on his team. Let's not get too far down that bench. I know, I know. This is the time to do it, though. This is the time to do it. You get too far down that bench, and then you're left with those options as regular players because of injuries.

Things are not going to go the way you think they are, or you had hoped they would go. Well, and that's why I love the Matt Shaw part of this, that it puts him in the problem, because they couldn't quite figure out Matt Shaw last year. The ups and downs were real, and that should be allowed for a rookie. But the signing of Alex Bregman put everybody in their proper slots of importance in terms of people are not over-promoted. It might have been an over-promotion to think that Matt Shaw is an everyday player at this point.

Now you don't have to think about that. Well, there's more. Oh! Yeah, so Craig Counsel also today spoke on Matt Shaw getting work in the outfield. I think Matt kind of heard what he wanted. What he was hoping to hear is that we're going to play him in multiple positions. And I think he was, you know, in his mind ahead of it a little bit and excited about it. So it really just, I think the outfield is the thing that's going to be newer for him.

You know, there's a number of positives we have working for us. One, Matt's a really good athlete. I think he's demonstrated that. I think he's demonstrated. He demonstrated last year a position change. and very much, I think we all saw it improved as he worked, as he put in work for it. That's a very positive step. He's going to have some work to do this spring.

He's not afraid of that. He's a worker. He loves that part of it. He loves the challenge of it. So this is not on my top three list of things to worry about, I'd say. I think Matt's going to do this great. And we were a healthy group as a position player unit last year. Very healthy group.

You know, if that happens again, great. But I think you anticipate probably a little more happening. And that's where Matt's going to be very important. Oh, man. Okay. So does that change your mind when you hear that? When he said not top three, I was like, is it number four? That's the first thing that comes from my mind.

It's not necessarily. Like, this is not, honestly, guys, this is not even top three. But I'll answer your little question. Maybe, but top three is just too narrow of a focus. It's so funny, man. I love it all because it's like, okay, so it's there, but it's not there. Right. It's going to take a lot of work.

Look, we've seen it before infielders converted to playing outfield. We've seen it on the Kyle Schwerber is an example. He was a catcher. They had to teach him how to play left field. I'm not saying he'd ever be yet. Yeah, that's fair, Leila. It did not start well. No, it didn't.

No, it didn't. Some of us didn't think he was going to make it, but he did. Ian Hap is a great example. Ian Hap played in field. He played a couple games, I think, at second base on the Cubs watch, but he's become a gold glove left fielder. Is it easy? Probably not easy, but it would seem that Craig Counsel,

not on his top three list, thinks that this could be your versatile player. We have luck in our game. Did anybody follow up and ask him what the top three is? Did anybody go that far? We need that. Okay, so what are your top three? What should be his top things that he is most concerned with on this team right now? Like something that he can be hands on with.

What would that be getting PCA back together? I would argue it would be the health of fill in the blank. Like that's number one. Like health, maybe health overall is like number one. Want to make sure we're healthy as we start spring training. I'm going to make sure Kate Horton's good to go. Justin Steele is coming along nicely. Is that what you mean guys like that?

The rotation is what he, that should be, you're right. Getting the starting rotate after what happened, after the Cubs fizzled out last year with the pitching, that probably should be number one. Well, what about also the, what about also just the availability of pitching?

Like if that was really his main concern was they didn't have enough pitching. And he didn't specify as to whether or not it was starting or relieving. Based on their actions, you would think it might be relief. But Edward Cabrera and maybe Zach Gallen. Right. We still don't know what's happening with Zach Gallen. So is pitching still the main priority for him?

At the moment. Jed focused on as well. Well, I guess the bullpen is probably something that he's anxiously await. Well, at least putting it together. You know there's Daniel Palencia. You know that Caleb Thielbar is back. Ben Brown always there. Always there for you.

Always there. Good old Ben Brown. Yeah. Ben Brown is always there. therefore our discussion, it feels like. Porter Hodge, does he become something? So, so as a manager, ultimately. I hope he becomes something different than what he was at the end of last year, I hope so too. Yeah, I mean, but good arm. Okay. So maybe it's the bolt pet. So here's what we do. We get Connor Bedard, Modest Buzellis, PCA and Caleb Williams together at this dinner. And then now that

we've got Buzellis and we're like, hey, who told you about better on your pancakes? It was us. You owe us. And they're like, can you get PCA to ask Craig Counsel what his top three concerns are? That's how we'll get it done. What do you guys feel about the efficiency of this process? I like the length to which you went, and it seems logical to me. I like the one favor I need is for you to ask PCA to ask her counsel to tell us. Listen, the PCA thing for me is the number one, like, question going into the season. What version of PCA are you getting?

Because I think that is the difference maker. Even with Alex Breggman, if you just get standard Alex Breggman production, if you don't get first half PCA or something, something closely resembling it and you get something much closer to second half PCA, I think the Cubs are going to have a problem. Guys, I think we have to do the Dare to Dream segment at some point. Just like municipalities in Northwest Indiana and Iowa, just like every Bears fan who wants Max Crosby.

At some point, we're going to have to dare to dream. The PCA is adjusting his pitch selection and that he has made the off season adjustments that we have requested of him as a hitter. A blue-haired kid hits the ball really hard. Dare to dream. You know what I am most curious about going into this Cubs season? Like which player I am most curious about? Someone on Pat Murphy's team?

No, not somebody on Pat Murphy's team. Caleb Durbin? No, I don't concern myself with the brewers or predictions. We know. I don't, because I stay out of Milwaukee business, although I am glad that they, because Caleb Durbin is really good. What is Michael Bush's ceiling? Because he at times, and you can make a case that he was their most

productive player last year. When allowed to play? When allowed to play. Like what is, like, what do you have 31 home runs last year? Give me 40 bombs. What is that man's ceiling? I'm very curious about that. That, I mean, are you kidding?

That's, first it was just get him to play every day. Now we've got to figure that out. And if his ceiling is anything like his playoff performance, sign me up. Right. Like, what, who are you, Michael Bush? I don't know who you are yet. Who are you? I am.

I'm Batman. I'm not Batman. But I'm not the Joker either. Are you weed man? No, that's Wheder. That's Dan Weider. You're definitely a superhero. No, I'm not a superhero.

I'm just regular guy. I like regular guy. I can blend in with the crowds. You can do both. Hoodie up and then nobody even knows I'm coming in the street. Come on, Marshall. Is this like when Joelle and Bede would be out and about and he'd put his hoodie on and we're like you're seven feet tall, Joel and Bede, like everybody knows it's still

you with your hoodie? Listen, Joel and Bede, so many Shirley Temple's a little time. Now that's a metabolism. Oh, yeah. We'll tell you that story. In the meantime, I think we have to do this. It was the least likely place I think I've heard a confession. Oh, your Olympic story.

Hey, hey, hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, hey, yeah, hey, yeah, hey. Oh, I didn't want to give a... Sorry. We got to do it next, because there's more to it than we even think. Uh-oh. What time is halftime here on Rahimi Harris and Grady. We began at listening to State Representative Cam Buckner, who was on the afternoon show yesterday, trying to explain what.

what's going on with the state of Illinois and what the latest is in their meetings with the bears regarding the stadium. We also have some news that we are expecting from Portage, Indiana, at the top of the hour, so we will keep you posted on that as well. Can't wait. Then we heard from you because, you know, your tax dollars matter to us. Like, I care about what you're doing with your money, not like details, but I just want you to have it. So we took a lot of calls. And then we also had the Modest Buzellis interview pregame show. then we had the Modest Bezellis interview. Then we had the Modest Bezellis interview postgame show.

And it was all about butter and a lack thereof on pancakes. That is Modest broke that news to us. He does not put butter on his pancakes. Lots of syrup. No butter. You might say we buttered him up to begin the interview. We did. Well, Oval mixed in there too. Yeah, exactly. He hasn't ruled out maybe doing the slam dunk competitions. Just listening to his body for right now. And we all want to know when the cool kids dinner happens between him, Connor Bedard, Caleb Williams, PCA. PCA. And he seems to be rolling with the punches, as Marshall asked him the questions about the rebuild and just what's going on. No, those were great questions. They had to be asked, and he's handling it the only way he can.

And that is to just be like, well, it is what it is. To Marshall, it's not a rebuild. Retool! Too many, too many good players on the roster. What about renovate? Is that it is? It's a renovation. It's definitely a renovation.

Okay. Like, you're keeping the house. You're not stripping it down to the studs? Definitely not stripping it down to the studs. I'll say this. I don't see any gold walls going up. Gold columns. That's not what I'm seeing here. Fair enough. In the meantime, I'm glad you brought up a precious medal. It's not a gold medal.

It wouldn't be a day, any and why, if Mark didn't try to silence of the lambs one part of our show. It just triggers me when I hear the name precious. Wait. Oh, wait. So, in the most unlikely place of confession, perhaps, is the love. of a Norway Olympic athlete who won the bronze medal and after Stirlahom, Lagrade won the bronze in biathlon, he proceeded to then just keep talking. And that's where he admitted to cheating on his girlfriend.

Oh my goodness. I don't necessarily know that I would put the two together, but I didn't win a biathlon, so I don't know how that feels. What's crazy is he seems so emotional and you think it's because he got a medal, but that's not why all why he is emotional. He was at the finish line in front of a camera from Norway's NRK TV on Tuesday, February 10th in Italy after winning a bronze medal in the 20 kilometer biathlon final, telling his country and the world that he recently cheated on the love of his life.

Good God. There is someone who may not be watching it today. Half a year ago, I met the love of my life, the world's most beautiful, finest person. and three months ago I made the biggest mistake of my life and cheated on her. I had a gold medal in my life, he continued. There are probably many now who look at me with different eyes, but I only have eyes for her. I don't quite know what I want to achieve by saying it here now.

I would say yes, we don't know either. But sport has taken second place in recent days. So now you're disappointing her and your country. And to finish it, he says, I wish I could share it with her. So gold medal, sport is silver. And then he ended up with the bronze. And also with a story that honestly made his ex-girlfriend very comfortable. She has since commented on this.

So apparently she talked to the Norwegian tabloid VG on Wednesday. Ooh. That's today. Quote, it's hard to forgive. Even after a declaration of love in front of the whole world, world, end quote. She said, I did not choose to be put in this position, and it hurts to have to be in it. We have had contact, and he is aware of my opinions on this.

So that's my question. Did she require him to make this public apology? No, no, no. I don't think she's happy at all, but now the whole world knows her business. So she's embarrassed, as she should be. Yes. Right. Like, it's bad enough that she was cheated on.

Oh, and then you told the rest of the world, so she has to be the sympathetic figure who was cheated on. Well, that's it. It's like, okay, so let me get this straight. You cheated on your girlfriend. You're guilty about it. You're acting guilty by telling everybody else what's on your mind in that moment. And you're saying that sports in your job, the one that you can only do every four years to represent your country outside of the world championships, you've now, you've now also botched that as well. Sport has taken a second place in your life because you feel so guilty about cheating. So maybe you would have won the gold medal if this hadn't happened. Do you want to know how long it'll go was that he told her about the cheating?

Because remember, the cheating was six months ago. Yeah, I would, actually. He told her a week ago, and she has since made it clear that she's very much still upset about the whole situation, because it's only been a week. So this is not his only brush with the news. Oh, I know where you're going now. Yeah, old Sterla. This is an old Sterla's only brush with the news. Where is Sterla from again?

Norway. Okay. While preparing for the event in December, December 20th. because like I said, there are the world championships. Sterla accidentally discharged his rifle in the team hotel in Switzerland instead of performing the required safety check without live rounds. Oh, I'm only handling a gun. What's a safety check between friends?

This guy's not smart is what I've taken. It's time for the girlfriend to get away from old Sterla. I think she has. And that's why Sterla is on international television on all the social media channels professing his love for her and declaring that. It was the biggest mistake he's ever made. I know all I got out of this was that Norway biathlon is pretty, uh, pretty forgiving. That's really where I, like, that's pretty much what I came up with here.

It's like if, if they are, they are pretty understanding of old Sterla's life. You know what I mean? I don't know that his job fate would have been as, as, as, uh, guaranteed in the United States. I just, yeah, this, this would be a top tier made for movie success. that this was a U.S. athlete. It did remind me of when Kobe was having the press conference after his cheating and sitting next to his wife and just pouring his heart out, basically, and just making me think that she probably required that.

The Mia Kulpa. Yeah. Like if we're going to do this, you need to go all the way. Did you see the ring he got her after that? Yeah. That might have been a bigger requirement. Yeah, she had a list of things. Oh, you want back in?

Here's a list of things you need to do, Kobe. That is legendary. Yeah, that's one of those jewelry pieces you don't forget. Here's what you need to do, Sterla. Starla? Sterla. Sterla, here's what you need to do. Here's the list of requirements that we have for you.

Unless he's got generational wealth. I don't think Olympic athletes have the same financial pull as maybe a Kobe Bean, Brian. Well, Starla was Rex Cuandoz wife on Napoleon Dynamite. I have no idea why I remembered that. I think Sterla should do a podcast just on how awesome his girlfriend is. Do you think that would help? I don't know. I just, I don't know what her list.

I'm trying to be reasonable because he's not Kobe. Can't afford the ring. What are the list of things that I can do to get back in your good graces? What are you doing next, Sterla? That's the question. And how can I avoid it? 3-2-3 on the text line. If he did this here, he'd be a millionaire.

Cheating and a weapons violation? America, hero. What is next indeed, Sterla? What do you got? Somebody did in Utah. Three-two-three is a little too on the nose there. Can we get? We get Sterla an assistant, a life coach.

That's what Sterla needs. Can Norway provide Sterla with a life coach? Based on 323's text, he'd take political office, I guess. Coming up next year on Rehemi Harrison Grotty, it's time for five on it. We'll do that next. It's time for five on it. Rahimi Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today.

On 104-3, the score. I got five on it. 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 it.

That was the Vince McMahon intro song when he wrestled on WWE. That's incredible. Maybe I should have been watching wrestling. Ten. 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. opportunity to rip the Iowa Hawkeyes. So, no, no, you don't get to steal the bears just because the

Hawkeyes don't, 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, uh, the, uh, cyclone some love here too.

But no, now, now just because the, 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 1 to 10 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 when I, in my mind, in my memory of watching it as a kid, WWE basically had like a house band. And they had like some, 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, 1 to 10, 100. Not even trying to be hyperbolic. Ain't no way.

Ain't no way. Des Moines? I get it. This is at 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 you the news from the press conference. That's going on right now. But yeah, it's a 100 for me, Groke. 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 100 to 10, 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.

soda 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 Iwas. 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. Take my Shazam. So that was actually the lead singer of the DX band, which was used for W. intro. A lot of the W.W.E. intro songs. His name was Chris Warren. He passed away in

2016. R.I.P. 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. Number two. Draft Kings has 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 buy 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 2 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, I like his chances. The only thing he can't do is play the 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 about on Take the North, and that is we are heading into a bear season. We are going to hear things like this. We are going to answer questions like 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. I do think he could be a candidate. I'm buying. Number three.

It's five out of it on 104. 3, the score with Leila 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, unquote, 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 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 it.

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 them,

it really comes down to 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, 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, working. That ruined spring training for you, didn't it? It didn't help. Who's going to be the next Gage Workman?

That's the real question. Can't anybody be? Scott Kingery. You can't predict these things. He can never predict these things. Can you do that if you're already established? Because Gage was a rule five guy. I have to see.

I have to look through. I'll get back to you on that answer. Gage Workman. Thater. Why do you get the Tater? He provided us a lot of content this time of year last year. We got through March thanks to him. him and the idea of Nick Chubb going to the Bears.

Remember that? Those were the dace. Yeah. That sounds like a radio show, a sports radio show, Tater and the Chubb and the workman. Yo. 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 could send 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 walk 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.

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 Booch 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, 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? So the thank you game. 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's closure game? What do you want to designate this as?

Yeah, it 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. 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-through 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-thrues at lunchtime, abject chaos. And you should probably have a plan to 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.m.? Oh, really? Depending on the spot. I didn't know that either. Depending on where. So for anyone who just is tuning in, the 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 out 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 up a Texas Rangers fan. Laila Rahimi. Frankly, for a long time, the best pitcher 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 watch 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 giveaway. 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 has one? 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 Keynes 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. Because you gave, Grotie, 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, 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 Diane Miss Aedo. 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. I could do Stephen A's job, guys. It's not that hard. Denny Parkins. QB1 party. All are invited. Host of Fox Sports 1's First Thing First. Coming in number six, though, the team that should be the favorites in the NFC North,

though, the odds makers say they're the third best team. My Chicago Bears. Why can't the Chicago Bears be the best offense in football? The Bears, plenty of reason to doubt them. Caleb Williams, no. Former hosts of 670 The Score before he abandoned us. That's the Caleb Williams custom, baby.

Jersey number one is going to the Raptors. You guys made it seem like a Chicago Bears fan. We had our guy, Danny Parkis, all these guys. Danny Parkins on 1043, The Score. Hey, Danny, how are you? It's time for Danny Parkins. He joins us via the Circa Sports Illinois Hotline. Download the Circa Sports app today.

You can watch him on the newly expanded first things first OT from four to five on Fox Sports One. He is at Danny Parkins on X and he joins us on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash the score Chicago. Danny, how are you? I'm great. Lila. How are you? Good. We've been playing the game of Bear Stadium. Stop us when you've heard this before because you were also a part of that game at one point and your job duties. And the latest on the list has become Portage, Indiana and Iowa. So we've got that going for us right now in stadium search.

Idaho would make sense. I also said Idaho, but yeah, at that point, yeah, it might as well. Yeah. I mean, you said it was part of my job responsibilities when I was there. Spiegel could attest to this. I hated the story then, and I hate the story now. I think it's the

worst sports talk. Like, oh, God, like, it's joyless. Oh, in this location, the tax rate is this. And in this, this location, the tax rate is that. And here it would be this. And all at the end of the day is making billionaires a little richer. Like I just, I think it, like, I want the bears to have a good stadium. Uh, I care about that. Um, I would like it to be more accessible to fans. I would

like it to be open air or retractable roof if it's so important to get one Super Bowl. Um, you know, so I have no opinions on the stadium, but like the process of it. I mean, they hired Kevin Warren to get the job done and he hasn't. It's been an objective failure at this point. And, you know, I just, like, wake me when it's done. Like, I do not want to know how the sausage is made in this story at all. I just do not care. I know, I know, show me the baby. Don't tell me about the labor pains. Do you have a care as far as where this stadium is? Is that kind of, you don't care about that either? No. Okay. I mean, I don't like going to, I don't like going to NFL games. Unless you have a robe on. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

For, yeah. I went to, I went to, that's right. That's exactly right. But if it, but if it, but if it's that level of game, Grotty, like if it's that level of game to get me to invest in the tickets and the, in the flight and figure out the logistics and freeze my ass off, I also would do that in northern Indiana. Like, you know what I mean? Like, like, like, if the game rises to that level of significance,

the location of it is not terribly important. The bears obviously want this to be in Arlington Heights. You know how I know? They bought 300 acres of land to try to do it out there because they want to make money from the surrounding things that they could own on that ground. The television networks wanted to be at its current location because it's an awesome visual to have the stadium

with the city backdrop right behind it. But me personally, like me, it doesn't impact me one way or the other where the stadium is. I think it's joyless. Well, then let's bring up a topic that I know gives you lots of joy. No, we can talk about whatever you want to talk about. No, this is. I got something for you because I know you like weed and gambling. That's what I know about you.

And the gambling part, we were just talking gambling. Were we not? Caleb Williams' odds, per draft kings, to win the NFL regular season MVP next year for 2026, listed at plus 1,500. Are you buying or selling Caleb as an MVP candidate next season, Danny? Now we're talking. Wee and gambling.

This is a topic. I have no idea why weed was relevant to that question. I want to just like talking about things. that you like, stand-up comedy, weed. And I'm not saying I don't like all these things, Danny. I'm just trying to think of you. I was going to say, didn't we hit the pen together before the

Desalman show? At which we saw Cole Commet. He did not hit the pen. For the record, Cole Comette did not hit the pen. Yeah, no, we saw him after the pen. Yeah, that was post-pen. Yeah, I spilled some beer on my hand and then shook his hand. Right. And Danny

and Danny, too, his credit. This was one of the most precious things ever. Danny would not allow me to buy liquor for him because I don't drink and he said no no no grody I'm not going to make you buy me a drink now so that was very that was a precious moment. You wanted to buy my beer because I bought the tickets. Exactly.

Right. The least I could do. You know what? If I already bought the tickets I'll just tack on your water on top of it. I didn't want to make you buy me a miller or whatever it was. What was the question? Caleb MVP. That's right.

Listen, 15 to 1 is not like, obviously I'd be thrilled to turn $100 into $1,500 or $1 into $15. Like, it's great ROI, obviously. But I would have liked it to be a little bit longer odds than that. Caleb is going to be a very popular MVP choice because he's a very popular player and he's very fun to watch.

And so I don't think that there's like a lot of value in that price, to be honest with you. But I absolutely believe that he is the exact profile of player that can win MVP and should be considered among the favorites for MVP. You can't bet awards in New York. So this actually didn't get on my radar, which is a terrible job by me. Can you give me the players ahead of Caleb for MVP? I could probably guess.

I mean, Josh Allen is better than him, obviously. I think he's at 6 to 1, Josh. I have my Jack King's app open right now. Here we go to be a second. Josh Allen's got to be better. Stafford's got to be better. Who else? Does Lamar Jackson get back into the conversation?

Is Drake May even still in the conversation? Is Drake May better than Caleb? Right. Is Mahomes better than Caleb? Hey, and this draft class is like the Dunkin' Donuts race at the United Center. It's like you don't really is it Jaden Daniels starts to take the lead? Oh, no, Drake May has it. But then Caleb has this year.

It's really fascinating to watch this particular draft classes. They all jockey for position. I once had a guy who ran the stadium. operations at the United Center and my buddy's seats, Ben Kaplan, who I co-wrote Pipeline at the Pro's available now. They were actually his seats, and they knew the guy who did the scoreboard

operator, and he would turn around and flash one, two, or three ahead of the Dunkin' Donuts race. And the first time I figured out that we had insider trading on that, true story, I was like, I don't know, 11. And I turned to the guy next to me and said, I'll bet you five bucks, it's cupy coffee.

And he got Biggie Bagel and dashing donut, and it was an even money wager, and I swindled this guy out of five bucks. True story. You know what, Danny? I'm not surprised by that. By the way, I have the updated odds for you. The favorite is Josh Allen at plus 550.

Lamar Jackson closely behind at plus 650. Patrick Mahomes is plus 1,000, as are Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, and Drake May. Dak Prescott is plus 1,300. Matthew Stafford is plus 1,400. And joining Caleb Williams at plus 1,500 is Jordan Love. Okay, so eight quarterbacks in front of him. He's tied for ninth with Jordan Love. You know, I mean, listen, that feels about right.

Right. I don't think that Mahomes, I mean, he's incredible, obviously, but I don't know that they have enough offensive weapons for him to have an amazing statistical year. Herbert's a pretty obvious case with his tackles coming back and McDaniel coming in. Stafford statistically would have to, to do exactly what he did this year, which is hard to imagine. Joe Burroughs right there. Joe Burroughs right there.

Yeah, Burroughs got to stay healthy, but he's right there. Yeah, I mean, listen, I think that feels about right. I think, you know, eighth or ninth on the quarterback list for MVP, I got to be honest. Like, that feels fair, and I wouldn't bet it. But I just, I think that the bears are in a very interesting spot. I think the value on betting the bears is actually more in like betting on the team. You could get them at 27 to 1 right now to win the Super Bowl and roughly half of that to win the NFC. And the only reason their odds are so low is because the odds makers like Detroit and Green Bay a little more.

But if you believe that the Bears are the best team in the NFC North and should be actually favored in the division, that means there's value across the board, them in the NFC North and to win the whole NFC. And I can promise you this, if the Bears make a trade for Miles Garrett or Max Crosby or someone like that, those odds are going to skyrocket. Did you say Miles Garrett? If you want to bet the Bears, I would do it now. Yeah, listen, Miles Garrett, everyone is assuming that's not going to happen. And, okay, maybe not.

He just got the huge contract extension. But he loved Jim Schwartz. Jim Schwartz just resigned as the defensive coordinator in Cleveland because, you know, he didn't get the head coaching job. Miles Garrett was just on Micah Parsons' podcast a couple of days ago saying that the next step for him is to hoist a lot. Lombardi and be Super Bowl MVP. Like, don't see a real path to that happening in Cleveland.

They need to tear it down. They don't have a franchise quarterback. They got $46 million committed to Deshawn Watson next year. They got a first-time head coach. They got two first-round picks. If I was running Cleveland, I would be looking at trading 30-year-old defensive player of the year Miles Garrett for multiple first-round picks. Absolutely.

Well, and Max Crosby has been such a buzzword for us here. You know, the question becomes whether or not Kling Kubiak wants to keep him and build around him and then there was the report that he has reportedly said he's played his last down already for the Raiders. What do you make of it? Yeah, I don't know. It was a Kubiak said at his press conference yesterday that he obviously wants to keep him. And Crosby has said, you know, that he's been at the facility and has been participating and working out. So they're all saying the right thing. But that's another, yeah, it's another obvious spot to, you know, to get to be bad. Like it's probably valuable for them to be bad. If they're going to draft Mendoza and not

trade out of that spot, you know, having multiple first round picks next year to build around him, to build out his offensive line, to build out his defense, whatever you end up needing, because you've got a ton of talent holes there. A great pass rusher on an awful team is like a great closer on an awful baseball team. Like, it's not terribly valuable. Like, you want to have a great pass rusher on a great offense so that you're playing from out in front, so the other team needs to pass a lot so you can tee up. off on the other team's quarterback.

What good did Miles Garrett's 24 sacks have on a team that has the sixth pick in the draft? So I think that both of those guys should be traded. A little Twitch stream feedback here, Danny, if you don't mind. Somebody who goes by the Triano Kid

Post, who is this guy? And he needs to step up his game. So I just want to make sure that you know that's the feedback we're getting on the kids. Kids got a lot of balls. He's the clock right now. Bobby Tree, our guy,

Robbie Tree. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot, a lot of balls. I did want to ask you this, too, Danny, is your, it was your guy, Kevin Wilde, who I think was the first guy, or you guys had the first show, at least, as a group to talk about Drake May for MVP. I feel like that came on very early in the season. We had the discussion here about how if you put Caleb Williams into Drake May's shoes, I

think in that game, it's a different outcome for Boston. What do you think of just the comparison and the discussion? What has it been like amongst you all this past week after the Super Bowl? Well, we haven't done Drake v. Caleb this week, but I know that's been a big thing in Chicago. Listen, Drake was not good in the playoffs and he was awful in the Super Bowl. And I think a small piece of that is the shoulder injury that we've, like, he heard it in the Denver game and he played through it with the pain-killing injection. But I also think it's a couple of things can be true. Drake May, I said I would have voted him for MVP this year.

I thought all of the advance numbers pointed to him, and he did not have Sean McVeigh. He did not have Pooka Nakua, who was first team all pro, and he did not have Devante Adams who led the league in touchdowns. His defense was better than New England's during the regular season, and his running game was better than New England's all season. Like Stafford's was, excuse me. So, like, I thought that doing more with less may,

actually had a better candidacy than Stafford did, though it was very close. So I thought May would have gotten my MVP vote this year. But to your question about the Super Bowl, yeah, I think Caleb would have done better. Because his magical trait is escaping sacks and escaping pressures and his mobility. Drake May is a good athlete, but he took a ton of sacks this year. He just set the record for most sacks and most fumbles in a single postseason. But Drake May's superhuman ability is he completed 60. or 73% of his passes this year.

Caleb Williams was below 60. So they are both elite quarterback talents and elite quarterback prospects, but their skill sets and the things that they are exceptional at are very different. So in that particular Super Bowl, yes, I think Caleb's escapability and improvisation would have led to him having a better game than Drake, but Caleb's inability to have a high floor of accuracy kept him from even sniffing the MVP conversation this year, of which I thought Drake should have won. Well, Danny, as usual, good time to chat, good talk,

and I feel better about at least we got to inform you of the award results here or the award odds. Yeah, I'm embarrassed. You can check out, like, I don't know, New Jersey or something. Well, said, I have no problem betting MVP and betting awards. I just, I honestly, like, I hadn't even occurred to me. Look, I have too many round one unders on the Pebble Beach pro am this week. It was raining during the week, and then there's no wind in the forecast.

for Thursday, half the field starts at Spyglass, half the field starts at Pebble Beach. So like under 69 and a half on, you know, Maverick McNeely and Russ Henley and Siwu Kim and Victor Hovland. Like those are just, that's just free money that these places are hanging on the board. So I've been spending my time gambling on that this week. All right. You heard it from Danny first. Danny, thanks for joining us today. Thanks, Danny.

Bye, guys. We'll see you in Idaho at the new stadium. Say it to Bob for us. Bob Tree. Danny Parkins. Hey, guess what just happened in the NFL today?

What happened? What? A dude we know is back at a job, we know. I don't know how it's going to go for him. As if you needed more reasons to pay attention to the Packers next. Rahimi Harris and Grody,

Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, The Score. So guess what we found out? This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3, The Score. This is by Pro Football Talk. Do we know anybody who works there? Report Packers to name Luke Getsy, quarterback's coach. That'll fix it.

By the way, the guy that we know that works at Pro Football Talk, Mike Floreal, will join us at 11 a.m. tomorrow. Luke Getsy. We had to wait for Modis today. So Modis bumped Mike Floreo from this slot. And Mike Floreo had his lunch at his preferred time. Let me do this SAT style. Luke Getsy is to the Green Bay Packers as Matt Nagy is to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Both tried it elsewhere, and then they went running back home because it just wasn't working out in the real world. They left home. They went to school. They went to see the world. The world wasn't good. So both coaches. Now, Matt Nagy has a good job. This is Matt Nagy Post Bears.

back to Andy Reed, and now Luke Getsy is trying to get a restart with Matt Lafleur, or the flower as Mike Mulligan, our Molly, would call him. How do you guys like me now? Lafleur is literally the flower in French, so I know. I get that. It is, yes.

Here's the plot twist. For Matt Negi, he went straight back to Kansas City. Luke Getzzi managed to mix in an offensive coordinating job with the Raiders in there. Listen. Was it a job, or was it a temporary hold.

He got paid. He got that job. There's no doubt. Can't take that away from Luzzi. Probably not. What was his title again in Las Vegas? Was he not the offensive coordinator? Yeah, so I noticed that a lot of people trying to be offensive coordinators can't get jobs. And yet here's this, he's not even a retread. He's like when you go to the scrap yard and find like a tire and you realize it's got a few holes in it,

that's probably how it ended up there. And then you plug the hole. I don't think he didn't deserve another. chance after the bears. That quick? Well, after the performance he put up? I mean, that's fair. Like, very quickly.

But obviously, maybe Vegas looked at it at Las Vegas Raiders, looked at it as like, what could you have done in that situation with that roster, with that quarterback Justin Fields, who has been very bad even since he left the Bears. Do you know what the logic was? Do you remember they said it? They said he beat us with Tyson Bajent. And that was why he was intriguing to them. Wait, what now?

Yeah. There was a report that came out from the Raiders. Yes. That the reason they were enamored with him was because he beat them with Tyson Bayesian. Right. Oh, wow. Hmm. Does that, how do you feel now?

And so now the Rum Springer, if you will, to make an Amish comment, he got to leave and go out and see the world, as you said, and came back. And are they welcome with the open opportunity? Is he going to get another shot as an offensive coordinator is my first question? And see, that expression on your, that's my point, Mark. Well, it all depends on how well things go. We know how it works. I mean, think about the Bears. They just, the Bears had a great season, one terrific season with a first year head coach.

And the guy who didn't call plays, the guy who didn't even see the players, Bears players, Declan Doyle, got a job as an offensive coordinator calling play. So when you ask me, is he going to get another job? I understand what you're saying. Does he deserve another job based on what he's done and what he hasn't done? But he might get another job. Declan Doyle was 29 when he left this nest. And I think he was also related to a tree of a very hot commodity in Ben Johnson in his office.

Sure. And Declan Doyle was really capable in press conferences. I know they're just press conferences. But I always thought he actually provided real answers when we asked for them. That is not how I felt about Luke Gatsy. How many times do the word execution come out? out of his mouth as to what the bears were supposed to have done with yet another play that he called up that didn't work. Luke Getzzi felt like many of his predecessors and probably many coordinators throughout the league.

They look for ways to not say things. That is very typical with all courts. As a matter of fact, the other two coordinators of the bears this year did a good job of not saying things. But I agree with you. Declan Doyle did have the gift, a rare gift of actually community. communicating real football stuff to us, not insulting our sensibilities, without giving away the game plan. But if players can't run your offense, they can't execute it, and you can't communicate, then what are you doing? But they don't have the, it's always a game to coaches and coordinators.

They don't have to communicate to us. They have to be able to communicate to their team. When they're with us, they're playing dodge ball half the time. They're dodging our questions. They're looking for ways, different answers to the questions, opposed to directly answering. them. Declan Doyle did have a gift of talking about football without giving away secrets, and Luke Getzzi did not. I'll say this. Luke Getzzi has a job, and I just remember several different coordinators that aren't part of that good old boy network, if you will. Byron

Leff, which comes to mind off the top of the head, that once they had a season that wasn't up to snuff, never heard from again in the pro ranks. I don't think that's a coincidence. That's all I'm saying. So he is out of the NFL right now? Yeah, he's working for like Colorado with Dion Sanders. Yeah, that's pretty nice. Somebody could give him a chance to do something. Yeah, like who's his, where's his safe place? Where's his Andy Reed? You know, where's his Matt LaFlor? Where's his flower? Where's Trace Armstrong? Yeah. That's the tree that he came from, the Trace Armstrong tree. It's tough out here. Yeah. For some people, not all. Yeah. I see what you're saying. I do. I do. But yeah, and I see what you mean with communicating with the media.

But all I'm saying is if you're blaming your players for running an offense, they can't run, and you can't communicate with us, it would make sense as to why it wasn't communicated well to your team when you needed it to either. It's a bigger discussion to the Justin Fields part of this, but Justin Fields, or excuse me, it appeared that Lou Geetzie did not have a good quarterback to work with. It was Gatsky. Getsky. Yeah. Not to be the great one.

Not that Luke Getsy is a good coordinator or deserves another chance, but didn't exactly have a roster. Well, and that's when you present Las Vegas. Viva. He had another team. Absolutely. So that's why he had to go back home. He even knew it.

He's run out of jobs for the moment, so we went back home. You're right, for the moment. For the moment. That's the best part of that sentence. Do we all know how it works? All right. So updates from my Portage News Searching. Number one, that was the Raising Cains in Kalamazoo, Portage, Michigan.

sorry. Number two, the plan has been unveiled. Can't wait. And they gave us a video. So we're going to play it for you next. Nobody has said anything to me from the Bears, but if Indiana comes with a sweetheart offer, which they might do in the next two weeks because their legislative session ends, and Illinois still hasn't dotted the eyes and crossed the tease on their thing,

you know, the Bears could walk. Do I know that for sure? I don't is it could it just be leveraged? I don't know. But everything seems to indicate that they, that it's like 50-50. And Hammond is a serious contender. This is Rahimi Harris and Brody on 104 through the score. That was Fox 32 reporter Paris Shuts talking about the Bears Stadium developments.

And yesterday I got sent to my email and I was all excited because I was like, mail time. I got a letter, a press release from our friends in Portage, Indiana. And they said there was going to be a press conference at noon on Wednesday, February 11th, which is today. And it was going to be unveiling plans for something called Hallis Harbor. Not Hall. Hallis Harbor.

Do we need like dramatic music for that? I don't know. I felt like it. I didn't do it a good enough job. I don't have enough bass. I feel like it needs to be like fun music. It's like a water park. It sounds like a water park.

Come on down to Halis Harbor. I don't think it's action point. You know, the Johnny Knoxville Jackass movie. What is the music? Isn't there an amusement park in Indiana? There's always fun in Indiana. Isn't there a water park? Well, there's the dunes.

Those look pretty neat. Yeah, the dunes are fun. I do want to go to those. But yes, leaders in Portage, Indiana made a pitch for a new Bears stadium. And the concept is called Hallis Harbor. And they sent us a video. So we get to play for you now. Is it bad?

Oh, sorry. No, go ahead. Before we play the video. No, I was just going to ask, is it bad the first time I heard the words Hallis Harbor? I thought of like a six flags ride where there were bears themed things going on, but it's a water ride. Exactly. And you're going around and getting wet like every time you go down and splash. That's what I think of.

This is the music right here. How dare you do that to the Cubs? By the way, Grody, you are thinking of Deep River Water Park. That's an India. Is that it? there's always fun in Indiana. I don't know if that's the same. Come on down here.

Come on our double slide. That's it. Some of the roller coasters that they're really bearers, it's like Luke Getz's offense and the ride just sits there. Was that the great American music that you were playing right there? That was, okay. Vanga Boys. Vanga Boys.

You remember Kyle Tucker answered those really awkward questions during the Vanga Bus song? I think that you might have been off that day. Oh, that was in the background? Yeah. But yes, you are correct, Grotie. That is when Six Flags had the old man. As their like mascot, that was the music. Oh, and here's the answer to what I was attempting to sing.

It's Indiana Beach. I think that's the song. The theme that I was singing, there's always fun in Indiana. I believe it was Indiana Beach. Multiple textures have now said that. So Hallis Harbor would just be added to the mix. I still want to go to the Dudes. I'm just going to put that out.

Maybe not now. Like, today's probably not the best day. But yes. So without further ado, the pitch for Hallis Harbor. You, the Chicago Bears, have an opportunity. to call an audible. For years, you've been searching for an execution-ready site with the space to build not just a stadium,

but the elevated experiences your team and your fans deserve, designed to your exact specifications, expanding Bears' fandom on your terms, a venue designed to rival the most advanced, immersive environments in the world, built to host Super Bowls, global events, and the biggest moments in sport and entertainment, And bigger than that, over 300 acres to activate, this will be an entire city,

purpose built as an immersive Bears destination where sport, culture, and entertainment converge every day of the year. Welcome to Hollis Harbor. Right here on the Chicago Land Shoreline, a fully privately financed site, zero taxpayer burden, zero debt on the team, zero compromise. Our offer to the Bears is to use this. Rent free. Set minutes from major highways, a dedicated rail stop, and the shoreline itself, designed for arrival, access, and safety.

The capital is ready. The land is available now. Shovels can be in the ground as soon as June, 2026. The only variable left is the decision to move forward. It's a destination with its own identity, its own gravity, and a future worthy of the Bear's legacy. When you're ready to act, there's nothing standing in the way. Hollis Harbor, your destination awaits. Now, I must admit, this video was very well produced and edited.

Well, apparently, when you've got billions and billions of dollars at your disposal, that's a little video because I heard zero tax burden, zero team debt. Now, you add those two things up and tell me, where is the money coming from for this stadium? Is there a private financier that I am. Do they have a whale that they are waiting to go ahead and finance the whole project? Explain that to me. And if so, are they single? Right.

Is it a furry godmother? Because if it's not public money and it's not the bear's money, then whose money is it? And I'm talking about the neighborhood of $5 billion here. More than that when you're throwing the infrastructure, because I don't think portage is ready for that type of... And as one of our callers mentioned, the remediation. of the land as well. So where's it coming from?

How? How are they doing this? Anybody? Does it matter? Does it matter at this point? Absolutely. We all... How they're doing it? Because they're not going to get them. If there is a money source that has that kind of funding, yes, I'm 100% asking. This is why I would say to this gentleman,

I would say even if you're not going to put a bearish, even if this doesn't happen, shot in the dark, can we come there and have it? hang out? It sounds great. It really does. And to put a cap on it too, oh, I just, yeah, the Indiana song that I was attempting to come up with, Grody, it's, there's more than corn in Indiana at Indiana Beach. We slowly patched it together. That's what it is. Am I correct? Can we confirm that? That sounds familiar. See, I blew the lyrics. Everybody was texting, there's more than corn in Indiana. I was like,

yeah, okay, yes. Also. But I didn't know. There's more than corn in Indiana. My entire reaction to this video and this production and this idea of portage is summed up by 719 on the text line. This pitch sounds like a pharma commercial side effects are nausea and death. Okay, so theoretically, theoretically, I guess that there would be tax incremental funding that maybe Indiana has set aside to make something like this happen. And perhaps that is a bridge to this, but is it a $5 billion bridge? bridge? Well, you know, we'll just start building that bridge and then we'll add on as we see fit. Can I share what stood out to me about this whole production, this whole video from the city of Portage, Indiana?

It was this part. Shovels can be in the ground as soon as June, 2026. What? How? How? We've heard that before. We've been hurt in the past by shovel promises. We've also gotten snazzy production.

Remember when the city of Chicago used Chicago. broadcast icon Bill Curtis in the video about like stay. I think it was the whole thing was to keep the bears in the city of Chicago. Was that at that presentation? I should remember. I could be wrong. I think I fell asleep during the prayer. I mean, that's what happened.

Oh, that was the day. The prayer. You're not supposed to admit to falling asleep in church. Oh, yeah. I thought you were a religious, man. You fell asleep during the prayer. Well, you know, as a Catholic person who did grow up and still goes to church occasionally, your mind will wander during a 50-minute Catholic Mass.

That's 10 Hail Mary. I don't mind. Tell you what. The devil's workshop. Let me tell you about Hail Mary. Let me tell you about the Our Father. That's a prayer right there. The nuns would have loved you.

Let me talk about the Lord's prayer. But does anybody know where this money is coming from? Because I needed to make sense. Not to kill the vibe or anything. They might have it buried somewhere in Portage. You know, there's cash buried somewhere in Indiana Beach. So here's a quote. Here's a quote from,

Portage Mayor Austin Bonta. And excuse me if I don't, if I got that wrong, Bonta, Bonta, Austin. Bears. Bears. Bears, that's his name. And this is a, this is Dermott, Terry from Channel 2 reporting this, CBS. He says, we also have a partner who's available to offer a financial deal to finance the stadium so that they will be able to utilize it rent-free at no cost to the taxpayers and at no cost to the bears. Is it the devil?

Like what? Like, who'd you make a deal with? Mr. Mesistophiles himself. We have a partner, Donvino Corleone. Thank you. Like what? This is a movie.

Who's the benefactor? Who's the financing? Is it like Landman where you realize you're doing a deal with somebody, but you deal with it after? Because you already drilled for the wells. And then you turn, turns out it's your enemy. I just.

That was the plot of Landman. I don't think it can be the press release. I want to know. I shouldn't even want to know, because you're right, Grody. Ain't nothing happening in Portage, Indiana at the end of the day. But I'm still super curious as to what the plan is and what the plan is. I'd like to go, honestly, whether they build a stadium there or not. He's like, who is this person that has all this money that they're going to partner up with?

And I want the gentleman who narrated the production to be our host. Because he sounds like he is delightful and he would be able to show us all the cool places. I want the guy with the voice that did the voiceover to be the guy. funding this whole thing. That's what I want. That'd be amazing. 847, Mark Cuban. He is the benefactor of Indiana football. That's the other part. Isn't he too busy paying for the Dallas Mavericks? Because they're rebying the Dallas Mavericks?

Oh, that is a, that is a whole... That's a whole other story. Yeah, I know the details. The Adelson money and the whole background of it. What? Gambling's not coming to Texas? If the Bears seriously... Why did they think that was even a possibility? Sometimes you got to know your environment, know your audience. I mean, I was joking about making a deal with the devil.

I would never say that on the air there. They would think that I blaspheme them all. Would the cults be pissed if the Bears actually did build a stadium in Indiana? With the Pacers? Yes. I mean, there's anything they could do about it. I mean, other than just be angry. Why funny, you should ask that question, Mark Grody,

because we have audio from Cam Buckner referencing the side effects of that very thing. Well, well, well. Yeah, in fact, he talks about just the ramifications that exist due to the bears wanting to do this. Hey, hey. mine out of the gutter. You fell asleep in church. I said Rams. I said Rams.

You said ramifications. I said ramps. The Indianapolis, Indians, they've been looking for an upgrade for their baseball stadium. They may have something to say about this as well. I mean, we saw that happen here.

Don't you remember when everybody got on board? Because all the teams were like, oh, you're giving away public money. We deserve some. We deserve some. We deserve some. And everybody made their case. The soccer team.

The red stars. One of the red stars? Yeah. The Reds, Chicago stars. And they also made a very, valid cases to why they deserve that public money. What about us? Yeah, and that's just smart business.

Like, once you find out that that's available for teams, they're going to do their job and ask about it. Which is why I'm like, wait, you have a benefactor who, as I understand, you know, I guess we haven't ruled out a guy like Jeff Bezos or something like that. I'm just naming billionaires at this point. But you have a benefactor who somehow makes this all make sense. My whole thing is that there's a billion out there trying to make something happen, it's called buying an actual team. That's the point.

Yeah. That's how billionaires work. They're not sitting here, oh, I want to open up a center and have, no. I just don't, why would you not say who it is if this is all public? Maybe that person wants to remain anonymous until something is secure. We have a partner. Well, who's the partner? It just makes me think, Leila, that it's just, the reason I'm not as intensely wanting those answers is because I just don't think

any of this is serious at this point. And fair enough, but as somebody who just is naturally curious, I'm like... Oh, yeah, no, I'm just giving you, like, where I'm coming from and maybe that could help you to understand that they're not serious about it, so they're not going to reveal or actually have a 10-part plan. They're as serious as one of those high school kids who says, oh, yeah, my girlfriend, she doesn't go here. She goes to, you know, that's why you've never met her.

That's what it's giving, right? I have a girlfriend. I have a girlfriend. Right, right. Yeah, that's why this is so confounding to. try to figure out here. Well, what about... Can we hear this?

Can we hear the Cam Buckner? We actually got the report from WBDM's Mike Krauser if we want to take a listen to that. Even better. It's only like a minute or so, but it's a little reset for anyone just joining us on 104.3 the score about this story. The city's proposal is essentially to create a new town on 300 acres near the lake. It would be called Hallis Harbor. A stadium, residences, retail, and entertainment says Mayor,

Austin Bonta. We have the land, we have the water, we have the location, we have the financing and the local leadership ready to embark on a major development. It would be financed by Lou Weisbach, the CEO of the Stadium Capital Financing Group. He said it would be the stadium of the Bears' dreams. Here's the plan. Essentially takes a specific number of seats for a specific number of concerts, not football games and provides gives us the ability to provide all the capital up front which is very important. The mayor believes it's an easier destination to get to than Arlington Heights if you're traveling from downtown. There's also the train and he noted you could come by boat and tailgate in the harbor. In Portage, Mike Krauser, News Radio 105.9 WBBM. Thanks, Mike. Can I put it in football terms?

Pass. I'm actually planning. I'm actually planning. going to Arlington Heights tonight because there will be a gathering there of officials and just I just want to hear what they're saying putting your ear to the ground just yeah so I'm just I just bring that there's all sorts of stuff fluttering about here so what you're basically saying is we'll pay for it later isn't that the American way that is the American way there's always money in the banana stand to pitch I got four credit cards right here pay later is there in the banana stand? You have four credit cards? I think three, actually.

Oh, yeah. The three card credit card system we're running right now. You know. I have one. Got to keep the credit honest. Will Hallis Harbor have bumper boats? I think that's a valid question. Bumper bolts are fun. Lakes are fun. All right. I'm going to do some digging into this. We've had quite a bit of news come through because pitchers and catchers reported today

over at Cubs camp in Mesa. So why don't we begin? with the question that Craig Counsel was asked, if the season started today, who's throwing the ninth inning? If it was April 1st tomorrow, would Palencia get the ninth inning? Yeah, that's great.

Is there, I mean, is there a better alternative at this point? I think Palencia is ready. Sir Anthony Dominguez. Wait. Hey, those socks might be looking to flip him, right? That would make it make sense. Based on what he did in the playoffs last year, I thought that was him coming of age.

I know it was just the one game where he really was against the Padres, where he was really good, man. I thought that was the symbolic Palencia game. I don't know that I trust Palencia to the degree that you two do, but I'm interested to find out what he can do. More pressure situations coming. Did I declare Daniel Palencia in my trust tree? I think I have in the past. I think we all have had him there for moments, yes. But you like that, Lales?

You like Palencia being the ninth inning guy on a team, let's be honest, guys, that will be expected to win the division? Well, they said that they wanted to address pitching, more so than offense, and they made a lot of acquisitions in their bullpen. So if they still feel like Palencia is the dude, then I guess Palencia is the dude. I like them starting with that. And if it doesn't work, then you better have a plan B. but I like Palencia getting the ball in the night that need to start this.

What letter would you put next to the plan if we're talking about Porter Hodge? Plan. Like where is he in the plan? See? Huh. Okay. Yeah, I would put him up there. Our guy, Ben Brown.

That's what I'm saying. Like Ben Brown comes up as a possibility for everything in the rotation. He can do everything. Starter, long guy, seventh inning guy, eighth inning guy. There's the mark. Closer. Closer. The realistic boring pick.

And then there's the Mark Grody I find this interesting and crazy pick. Well, I don't know that Ben Brown's that crazy based on what he's been able to do, maybe not as consistent as you would like over the course of his career. They've got to find a place for him. There's no doubt about that. But yeah, I don't know. I know it's been thrown about before. So that was Craig Counsel's answer regarding who's throwing the ninth.

he was also asked about managing the bullpen with new faces in that rotation. Yeah, I mean, I think to a certain extent that's always how it's going to be. But it's a pretty established group with the players that we signed. I don't think we're thinking about a lot of new things necessarily. They're good at what they do. We know what they're going to do. I think prioritizing their health over the course of the spring is job number one and the foundation of being healthy,

there's always going to be surprises on that area of your team. That's how the area of your team is going to work. You talk about the bullpen specifically, everything? Yeah, yeah, the pen. Yeah, of course. Like, it's the project that is a bullpen, the project never ends. Like, it's just you're always building and cutting from your bullpen. And I have to give the Cubs credit.

I thought they did as good a job with their bullpen as any other facet of the team last year. Yeah, Thielbar is back. You still have another guy that I haven't figured out yet is Jordan Wicks, another former first-round pick. Like, is he a starter? Is he a bullpen guy? Is he a guy that's not even going to be on the roster to begin the season? But again, first-round pick, and it's like you don't really have a home for that guy at this point.

Yeah, he really was more home-based in Iowa last year than he was on the big league club. Yeah. And when he started his career, it started off well as a starter. And I thought, okay, the Cubs might have somebody for the, middle of the starting rotation. I don't know, but that's an interesting guy to see if they could fix him or let him get to his potential. It's a guy to circle too this year. Jed Hoyer also spoke, and he was comparing the expectations from last year at this time to this year. I don't know to compare it, but I know the expectations are high, which I think is great. That's what you want.

I think the excitement in camp is palpable. I think the players are talking about it. The coaches are talking about it. I think that they're excited about our team. They're excited about our group, both from a talent standpoint, also from just a camaraderie standpoint. I think they so many of the guys

were here last year, I think they feel like we had a really good season, but there's unfinished business. And I think that in a lot of ways, that's the best kind of spring training when there's a hunger. And so I think that the expectations don't create anxiety. I think they create hunger with this group. And I think this group's

excited to get started. Unfinished business and unfinished development and maxing out of players all at the same time. Notice he didn't put like a specific expectation on this season. And that allows for Wiggle Room, I guess. But let's be honest, he should be saying we expect to win the division. Yeah. That's the bare minimum. Seems to be, no, no, I'm not going to make any predictions.

Yeah, don't. But it seems to me that that would be the bare minimum. of what's expected of this Cubs team this season, given what everyone else in the division is done in the offseason compared to you? I mean, the Zips projection was higher last year, wins and losses-wise. And I think a lot of that had to do with Kyle Tucker being on the team based on how they calculate Zips.

And they didn't win it last year. I just, I don't know. It's going to take the rurors at this point underachieving. Like for all the talk we did about Jed Hoyer saying people have to overachieve and outperform expectations. I worry that, based on what we know, is trading away Freddie Peralta and Caleb Durbin enough to change the brewers? Never.

Never enough. No, I don't think that that's going to change necessarily because you know they got another wave of young arms and everything else coming at you. The biggest thing for me is looking at that team, as you mentioned, the Kyle Tucker injury, I feel like this team is better equipped depth-wise with their bats because of a guy like Matt Shaw. Well, and you do expect that PCA will be better than he was in the first half. Excuse me, in the second half.

I wish he would be better than he wasn't the first half. The falling away. So that's what I mean. Like there's unfinished business and there's also unfinished development on this Cubs team. Dakota has the Cubs winning the Central with 90 games and Milwaukee at a projected 80. Ooh. Now we know Milwaukee outperform the expectations. last year. That goes, I think, without saying, but we should reestablish it here for context.

So that's a good sign when Pocoda has you as a 91 team, which was the goal, was it not? Yeah, it was. That was a question we were at. Will the Cubs win 90 games? We asked it a million times before the year last year. Because Craig Counsel set it up that way. Did you want to go into Pat Hughes there for a second? No, I already did Pat Hughes today. We already talked about sweaters. Fair enough. I just didn't know. No, I appreciate the offer. And there aren't a lot of teams projected here in the 90s or higher. Seattle with 93. Then you also have the Cubs with 90, Atlanta with 90, and the Dodgers with 104.

So their number is 104. That is hilarious. But like Piccota has Toronto projected behind the Yankees. With how many? 88 for New York, 87 for Toronto. Seriously, in Pocoda's history, how many times have they predicted a 100-win season for team. I mean, like, it's, right?

Like, it's like the Dodgers is the only team I could think of because of the unbelievable roster they've built over the last five to seven years where every year you could be like, Hyundai. And they give you like a curve of a margin for error essentially. And the Dodgers curve is so much farther ahead of San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona, and Colorado. They're their own league. That's the Dodgers.

But that is a good sign. that the Pocoda projection is better. So that's the latest from Cubs Camp. Obviously, this is something that we're going to work on every day for you. And Bruce Levine is there, right? So that's part of it too. Bruce is in Arizona with reports. We love Bruce.

We do indeed. Coming up next here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, what would happen if you had to guard Michael Jordan for your job? We found out the answer for one NBA player next. Harrison Grody, Midday's Tyndall 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043 The Score. It became personal with me. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043 The Score. And this is quite the tale.

You know what? I love when Hall of Fame players give respect to other Hall of Fame players. And no matter how good you are at something, there's probably always someone better. And that's what I felt like I was learning, listening to this specific information. This is the Club 520 podcast. Former Phoenix son, Kevin Johnson, got an assignment that all of us would be terrified by. We're flying from Phoenix to Chicago. And I fall asleep on the plane.

And then the head coach wakes me up, right? And he says, hey, I just want to let you know, man, game three is going to be your game. game. It's a cool. You know, I believe that. I'm going to have to bounce back. He's like, and you guard Michael Jordan. And I'm thinking, we owe two. We now, oh, two. Our best player is getting scorched

like we all did. And now you're going to put me who had a rough two games on Michael Jordan. Right? So I go back to sleep, playing land, awake out. I'm like, damn, I had a nightmare. I was like, man, I thought the coach came and told you. I guard my two. We're walking off the plane.

We walking up the plane. The coach is right there. And I'm like, man, I had this dream that you came and woke me up and told me you guard Michael Jordan. He said you are. Wow. God is my witness. I get on the team bus. We take it from the airport.

We stay in at the hotel, downtown, Chicago. I get off the bus. I tell the equipment men to take my bags. I see a church across the street. I walk straight in that church. And I sit in front row, and I'm like, Jesus. I don't believe in you no more. There's no way if you love me and died on the cross

and did all the thing you would be having me guard Michael George. I was like, that real talk right there. How did you even get in the church? No, the church door will open. The doors are always on, brother. You obviously don't, no, I'm just kidding. Church doors open often during the weekday, depending on where you are. His nickname is Bishop.

I can't believe it. That's a good thing, man. So I get in the front row, and I'm doing all this. Chicago Church, too. And I lost my face at that point, too. We got the Pope now, Kevin. Lost his faith. And Kevin Johnson.

You know what? That was the longest night of his season. And I'm not saying that in this like, oh, he must have been so mentally. No, no, no. That game he's talking about? Yeah. Three overtimes. And what did MJ score?

44 points. Mm-hmm. But, but, but it was 44 points on 19 of 43 shooting. and MJ was only three of nine from three, only three of six from the line, and the sons won that game, 129, 121, as Kevin Johnson had 25.7 rebounds, nine assists. He also turned the ball over seven times. But they won the game. Yeah, and then Jordan had 55 in game four.

There's that. I think Kevin Johnson would have been more receptive to the question that I asked to a former Bears running back when I asked, are you angry at God? I think that Kevin Johnson would have been ready to answer that question at that moment. That's fair. For shame, Mark. What prompted that question? Because, who God, I can't think of the name of the running back.

Bears running back two years. Do you guys remember this? Ray, do you remember this? Who was I asking that? I remember, I can't remember exactly, like, I remember you asking it to a Bears player. I almost wanted to give it to Kevin Jenkins, but I don't think it was Tevin Jenkins. Because it had a bad week or something, and then he was talking about, You know, God's plan.

It was actually Deonté Forman. That's what it was. That's right. You're kind of shaking your head at God for a second, though? That was it. That was in your open for a long time, that question. It was. It was.

I'm having a trouble bringing things full circle today. The corn and in the, thanks to all the textors who put that together for me, the Indiana Beach, there's more than corn in Indiana. Well, we've been trying to figure out who the bear's silent partner would be with Portage Park in this. and that took up a lot of our brain space. Yeah, it did. We have the extended version of that conversation. Considering how effective you were last year,

how frustrating it has it been for you to not be playing, especially when everybody goes down in that Washington game? It's definitely frustrating. I mean, you know, because you know what you, you feel like you know what you can bring to the table. But, I mean, at the end of the day, I feel like God is in control of everything.

And, you know, when God has a plan for you, you know, he's going to put you in the play. He's going to make you go through the ups and downs and the trials and tribulations. But, you know, when it's your time and he put you in position, you just got to go execute and make the best of it. So that's what I plan on doing. Were you kind of shaking your head at God for a second, though? No, not really, because, I mean, honestly, I've been in this situation a lot in my life.

It's not my first rodeo, just not my first go-round. I've been thrown in the fire plenty of times, and I've excelled. So, I mean, I'm taking the same approach, and I don't, I don't expect anything different. That was it. I guess I'm the only one entertained by that. Anyway, I'm totally entertaining. I definitely am. I'm just, like, thinking about the process, too.

Like how Deonté would just be like, man. Well, no, I think that's the proper reaction because people are looking at me like, oh, I don't know, man, you might get struck down here at Grody, angry at God, I don't know, shaking your head at God. I don't know. I think it was Herb Howard who was looking at me like, tis, tis, tis, tis, crotie. I don't know that I'd be doing that.

I got judged that day, I think, and deservedly so. Shout out to Herb Howard. He's going to be joining the show on Friday at 11 o'clock. 11 a.m. out. I'm never here. Why do you want to schedule her when I'm not here? I've noticed there's a pattern of that. Of the in-studio guests.

Well, I guess that's a lot of people in the studio. I'm about to say, that's four people. I just answered the question that I was asking. Why am I never here when these guys are in studio? Look at God answering your question immediately through you. Immediately. Grotty, are you shaking your head at God. I am.

I'm working through a lot today. That's okay. Yeah. Also, my research during my research during breaks and such as this is breaking news has led me to this. Yes. Has a real private equity feel to it, the Hallis City. Hallis Harbor? Yes. In the heartage, Indiana. Clay Harbor, you guys going to have him on when I'm not here? Yeah, tomorrow. Oh, of course. We'll talk Hallis Harbor with Clay Harbor. No relation. That I know of. He does have a business degree from an Indiana school,

no less. He's probably cheering all the way for the state in the moon. Is he a business major? Clay? There's nothing he can't do. He's working on his NBA right now. What about Henry Milton? Oh, my goodness. What about Carl? Why does it always come back to Henry Melton?

Good old number 69. You know about Carl? Yeah, Carl is an Eagles fan. Yeah. We have to ask Carl about how he feels about the new offensive coordinator who came from Green Bay. Yeah, that's an interesting question. Carl. I got a lot of questions about a lot of NFL teams.

Are you hanging out with Henry this weekend at all or no? You know I'm working straight. That's right. You gave us your full schedule, which is a lot. But it's Valentine's Day. What happens to the single men in the streets on Valentine's Day? I think I'm going to do my taxes. Six words for you, Leila, for the love of the game. That's what I'm dealing with on Valentine's Day.

I'll be doing high school basketball. We've all got four days to get a date. That's on Sunday, right? If this is anything like our Chris Kindle market plan, it's not going to end up. Wait, is that Sunday or Saturday Valentine's Day? We think it's Saturday. It is Saturday. Yep, I can verify that.

It's a worn township taking on Hensdale Central. Love is in the air. Where can we find it? Wait, where can we find the game? That would be on WCIU, aka the U. The U. The U's back this weekend with high school basketball. By myself.

Kenny McReynolds on the color. Shout to my guy. Butler on the sidelines. We're coming at you hard. Have you heard him do? It's pretty good, man. It's exciting. It's very good.

You guys are great. That's a fun broadcast. Shout out to my guy George Castle, who covers some of that. And he's very, you don't know him? No, but he told me he was listening last night when Triton won their 15th game in a row. There you go. He was? Yes.

Yeah, everybody, he watches because he writes based on the broadcasts because he's not at the game. George Castle, he's a classic baseball writer and he's covered the Cubs and socks for years and years and years and years. He isn't, we should talk to it. He's an Indiana guy himself. He knows all about the corn in Indiana, but he's a big Marshall Harris fan, is the point. Appreciate that. Yeah. Thank you, George.

Yep. So Marshall, Kenny, and Kalia can be your Valentine on Saturday. Hanging out. Saturday and Sunday. Back-to-back games. Let's go. You know who else is in studio? Wait until you hear this.

Lawrence Holmes and Matt Spiegel. Big if true. Next. Welcome to Hollis Harbor.