Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Full Show — February 19, 2026

Episode Date: February 19, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris reacted to the Bears taking a key step toward building a new stadium in northwest Indiana. Will the Bears really cross state lines or are they still trying to create leverage?

The score! This hour is brought to you by Cars for Kids. 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. talked about Ben Johnson. He is like a player. He wants to whoop everybody's ass. Cut throat. Every coach.

Every defense. Every, and for me, I love it. Oh, the entire podcast, both these dudes, it was love building on love. Whoa. Jumongous Man Crush, dude. Yep, it's officially a bromance. Or was it Caleb Williams

selling something? And Max Crosby buying what he was selling. Who is this? Hello, this is Michael Scott, Regional Manager. Well, this is William M. But liquor.

Hello, Mr. Butlicker. How may we help you? Like, I like the sound of your voice. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to buy one million dollars worth of paper products today. Say that's a ton. Maybe Max Crosby was gathering data on a team that he could play for. And maybe Caleb Williams was saying, hey, if you want to, you know, come join us over here.

Not death row, but death row vibes. Join me. And together we can move with NFL. Father and Son. Flaylor Rahimi. Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score. Sorry, we're a little late. We want to remind you that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, the governor of the state from 2009 to 2015, is going to join us to talk about this issue. And we got some breaking news on the Bears Stadium and the meeting that wasn't that is affecting everybody this morning in Springfield.

It was scheduled by the Revenue and Finance Committee for 8 a.m. This is Rahimi Harrison and Grotie on 1043, The Score, by the way. We appreciate you joining us. And I just hope everybody's not wasting our time. Matt Hill just posted this on Twitter. He is the Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications to Governor Pritzker. Illinois was ready to move this bill forward. He says at 9-11 a.m.

after a productive three-hour meeting yesterday, the Bears leaders requested the ILGA paused the hearing to make further tweaks to the bill. This morning, we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois. Why is this giving me WWE vibes? By golly, that's Kevin Warren's music. And then he comes in with like, hey, by the way,

we're going to go talk to Indiana instead of continuing this conversation with you guys because we want to let you know we're serious about leaving town if you don't give us exactly what we want. You're serious about leaving town because you did this all out of order and at this point, your dog and pony show either needs to be real or it needs to stop wasting time and therefore money because you've got an empty plot of land in Arlington Heights that has been sitting vacant for three years and you're not a real estate investment trust. So what do you want to do here? You decided that you wanted to cancel this. meeting bears that according to the state information that we get that according to governor

pritzker's office so what's your plan now do you have a statement from the bears talking about this marshal do we what's the latest from the bears what are they saying right now as they decide to cancel this meeting well yes we do have a statement from the bears that you know you can't help but correlate it to the cancellation of said meeting that you just described and the fact that it was the Bears who called off the meeting that was supposed to take place today. And here's what the statement says. We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support

our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. We appreciate the leadership shown by Governor Braun, Speaker Hustin, Senator Mischler, and the members of the Indiana General Assembly in establishing this critical framework and path forward to deliver a premier venue for all of Chicagoland and a destination for Bears fans and visitors from across the globe. We value our partnership and look forward to continuing to build our working relationship together. You know what? That statement did not say, Lela. It did not say we are putting shovels on the ground on fill in the blank date. There it is. That's what we're still trying to

figure out. Additionally, Hammond, as Mark Rodie reported earlier in the week on Tuesday, seemed to be what was in play. We know Portage had a pitch that involved private equity financing a Bears Stadium. Hammond is ready to partner with the Chicago Bears is what the mayor said, that telling your station ABC 7, and that we've had excellent conversations with the Bears and we are forging a relationship that would be a foundation for a public-private partnership, which A.k.a. means are they getting the money that they can't get from the state after buying the land and not getting what they wanted? It's getting the public money and getting the private benefit of the profits after it's all said done.

Public pays, bears profit. And then the community and surrounding area, and I guess the state of Indiana at large, gets the benefit of the extra commerce that is brought with a stadium. That's the way that this has been done in the past, and it looks like that's the way the bears are leaning towards doing this in the future, and certainly it felt like that wasn't going to fly in Illinois. And the statement that you saw is from Adam Hogue tweeted that earlier today. And Adam Hogue will be on with us at 11 o'clock this morning.

Again, we ask the question, who pays, who loses, who benefits. So what's next? Well, let's start with this question, Leila. When you talk about what's next, the first question is, do you believe the bears are done with trying to build a stadium in Illinois? I think the answer is no. until they sell the land and you said it

oh they can just sell the land I don't think it's that simple necessarily but I want to say this until they sell that land I'll believe it when I see it until you have a deal in place until there's a bill outlining how much the state of Indiana wants to put up

for your stadium then we still are all just waiting and while you put on this theater we're all spending time and effort on this and I just want to wonder how much and at what cost? Well, the bigger issue for me is if this is, this feels like fourth quarter, Caleb Williams' time.

This feels like almost two-minute warning. Understanding when the Indiana legislators are shut down. That's next week at last count, right? Thursday, a week from today. Yeah, the 27th, right? Yes. So because of that, you understand that they are up against the clock in Indiana. And this announcement, because you could have done this without making.

a public statement, right? Oh, they needed to. And then making the public statement, that puts the pressure now in Illinois, like, do you have anything else for us? Because if you don't, we're going to Indiana. Now, Illinois could call their bluff, but at this point, I don't think it's a bluff, Leila. I think they would build a stadium in northwest Indiana. I like this text from A4-7. I don't know who you are.

Layla, you've been shutting me for months about the use of the word leverage because they are not a read. I don't know you. This isn't personal. I've been shutting a concept, because until they sell the other land, it's not really leverage. They're doing all of this in reverse because they already bought the land. And just like you, who does not have property tax certainty, neither do they. And we're the bears isn't a good enough excuse. I hope you're serious this time, for real, for real.

I need to see some numbers. I need to see more than just diplomacy at this point. If you really want to actually build a stadium there, I understand that certain things have to happen first. But for example, the Bears purchased Arlington Heights. We know how much money they paid. We know how much money they paid in earnest. So how much money is the state willing to put up?

One of the questions I want to ask the governor, Pat Quinn, who's joining us at 1025, is what? What is the delta between what the bears can afford to put up for a stadium and what the NFL can afford versus what the state of Indiana is willing to give them? And make no mistake, just because the bears can afford it, if you can find $5 off the street for free, you're probably going to do it. And in this case, the bears are also trying to do the same. I understand the sentimental value that the bears hold for all of their fans and the history of the bears in Chicago. go. I'm telling you this just to set up this.

If the bears can get a better financial deal, they're probably going to take it. The real question here, Leila, isn't necessarily, okay, how much money can we save by moving to Indiana? It's how much money are you willing to pay to stay in Arlington Heights? I feel like at this point we've established this. It's going to be more expensive for the bears to stay in Arlington Heights as opposed to move to Indiana. But what is the number for the bears through their purview that they're willing to say, we save this much money and that justifies the move to Indiana. That's it. So it's kind of like the state of Illinois asking the bears to cover the cost for the soldier field renovations. What is the beneficial cost where buying and selling Arlington

Heights will be in their favor? And you and I would go and try to get the best deal possible if we were responsible for our company. If we're responsible for our house, we try to get the best deal possible. I understand that part of it. But what we do is we do our due diligence. And that's what makes us so incredibly frustrating. I wish I could compare it to a game, except half time happened before the first quarter. So this isn't that. This is what is supposed to happen. All of this that I talked about, and I said it last week. All of this is supposed to happen before you buy the land, before you strike the deals. Now, two things on that. It is supposed to be people and municipalities is competing for what they can offer you in these cases.

You're absolutely right about the out of order thing. But here's the thing. They did that before Kevin Warren came into the picture. And now Kevin Warren is in like this cleanup mode. So remember first he was like, let's just keep it where it is. Let's just build by Soldier Field. Obviously that hit a very hard brick wall and he is not the Kool-Aid man so he could not break through.

Now it's, okay, what are the other sites? I feel like we've exhausted pretty much. we've exhausted so much that now Iowa's in the picture. That's how much everybody thinks they've got a shot to lure the bears to them. That's where we are. I appreciate the sense of humor that Iowa had toward this. I appreciate Iowa pointing out the absurdity through procedure and gracefulness. I thought that that was fantastic.

Because I certainly giggled what I saw that. So I thought that that was great. You know what I just realized is, you know me. I think it's fine that stadiums are built in the suburbs. It's fantastic when they're in the city. I want to let you know that straight. Like there's nothing better than being able to relatively easily go to a game in the city. That is my opinion.

And also having been to many games in the suburbs of metropolitan areas where I lived. So I do want to say, though, I've joked about the concept of it not being that dramatic when the bears would move to theoretically another state. However, how's that fight song going to go? your pride and joy of Illinois are you? I mean I guess if they're going to stay Where are you bearing down?

Hall is relatively new. I mean, they're not moving the organization, they're just going to play in Indiana 10 times a year or what, up to, let's see, if they have nine home games and they have two preseason that's 11, if they host

two games as the number one seat, up to 13 times a year they'll play in that stadium. See, now we've just gotten to the extreme of the mental gymnastics. Because like 269 says, you have to get over the fact that bears own the land in Arlington Heights

and it doesn't matter. It absolutely matters. They bought that land with the designed purpose for a stadium. What they didn't do was the due diligence prior because you wanted a deal done before that on what the land was that you purchased because that's when you actually had the leverage. Don't do this.

Don't mental gymnastics your way out of the truth. Follow the money. Where is the most money right now. It still sits on a vacant lot where Arlington Park used to be. I understand what you're saying, and I don't totally disagree with you. It matters, but I don't think it matters as much as you think it matters, and here's why. The land costs, what, $200 million? No, it was more than that. It was more than $200 million? Let's see. Give me the tab. But whatever the tab is, this stadium project is going to cost a lot more than just that land. And so it's a negligible

price if they can sell the land. Yeah, $197. point two. So, but that's without your taxes and your, your freight costs, so to speak. That's fine. But what I'm saying is that's still a very small percentage

compared to what the actual total price of the project is going to cost. $197.2 million is a drop in the bucket compared to $5 billion, which they cannot meet. Yeah, it's not, I wouldn't even say it's a drop in the bucket. I understand, but I think they could sell the land.

The land can be sold. The land is not like this albatross hanging around their necks. They can sell the land. They haven't. And even if they lose, well, there's no need to right now. They don't have a deal done. If they get a deal done in Indiana, they will sell the land. Unless they want to become real estate investors.

Which is what they're doing right now. Trying to. And no, this isn't personal. This is business. Who said it was personal? Everybody. Like in our responses. But that's what we need you to understand.

I see that phone line lighten up. I know. But first and foremost, we're going to get to somebody who can let us in on the procedure in the discussion. and being the former governor of the state, what questions he has. So let's get a real pro on the phone. Pat Quinn will join us next on Rahimi Harrison Grody. Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's Tyndall 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043 The Score.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score. The latest news we have this morning is that there was supposed to be a meeting to set forth a projects bill that would include roughly 8,000, to $900 million to help the bears with infrastructure for their Arlington Heights project. The governor, J.B. Prisker's chief of staff, reporting on Twitter that Illinois was ready to move the bill forward. But the bears requested the ILGA, pause the hearing to make further tweaks to the bill. And they said that this morning they were surprised to see a statement, lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois. That is from Matt Hill, who is on J.B. Prisker's

communications staff. We now go to our hotline, because to get more information on this, we needed to call in some ringers. So former governor, Pat Quinn, is kind enough to join us here in Rahimi Harrison Grotie, the Illinois governor from 2009 to 2015. Thank you so much for coming on. Okay. How are you guys doing? Layla and Marshall? A lot of news this morning. I'm a Bears fan from birth, and I'd like to keep them in Illinois. I think the song says, the pride and joy of Illinois, not of Hamidiviana. Well, and I, you know, I understand it from an emotional standpoint, but when you hear this news, too, as the former governor, you know, procedurally, what are the questions you have and how can you help us kind of sift through what all of this indicates? Well, I think what Kevin Warren is doing is trying to pit Illinois and Indiana against each other.

He's got a proposal for Indiana. And then another one where the Bears own land in Arlington Heights, they bought it for. $300 and some-od million. So he's trying to get the best deal he can from each legislature and each governor. And I think yesterday the Bears met with Governor Pritzker for, it said, three hours. So there's something cooking. I think in Illinois, it's a much better deal for the Bears fans and for the people. Our state is willing to provide infrastructure to get to a new stadium.

The Bears got to realize, though, that they just can't take advantage of taxpayers. Back in about 25 years ago, when they remodeled Soldier Field and built the new stadium there, there's still $500 million left to be paid by taxpayers on that remodeling. That's people in Illinois and also Chicago, they have to pay for something that happened a quarter century ago. I don't think it's fair for the bears to just sort of take. take money for themselves and run away. Governors, that's one of the big things we've been talking about. Economic times are pretty hard right now for a lot of people in the state,

in the city, in this community, Chicago land area. I'm curious as to your thoughts about, because you said this is old school leverage play, in my opinion, but it feels to me like what seemed like leverage off the top, the idea of building in Indiana now is more of a concrete, viable reality. How much do you think this is plan B something that the Bears could actually do versus something they're just threatening to do? I think it's more of a threat. I really feel that the proposal for Arlington Heights, where they have not only the stadium, but commercial development and retail and housing around it,

that's a very good proposal for economic development, far more than Hammond, Indiana. And so I think that ultimately the bears want to go to Arlington Heights, but they want to use everything they can to get a huge deal for themselves. You know, they were asking for a 40-year property tax break, a freeze on property taxes in Arlington Heights. That's pretty hard to stomach. This is a, you know, a franchise that's worth $8.9 billion right now. and with the new stadium in Arlington Heights, they could make even their stadium value or their franchise value to be much higher.

So I really feel it's all about money right now for the Bears. But what about the fans? What about the men and women who have got there this year in the cold to root the team on? Let's think about what's good for fans. And I think the Bears got to remember that. You know, the proposal in Indiana, by the way, they don't want to use union workers to build a proposed stadium in Hammond, Indiana.

They even passed the law to keep, you know, project labor agreements from happening in a stadium there. Well, that's not what the Bears are about, the fans at least. We believe in hard work and getting paid a decent wage for your hard work. So I think these are issues that still are percolating. And ultimately, I think Illinois is going to win. but we got to go eyeball to eyeball with Kevin Warren and the Bears hierarchy right now. Yeah, that's it, Governor Quinn, is there's a line between diplomacy and negotiation and then the process and procedure. And I feel like we're somewhere in the middle of all of it.

Like we're in the worst of the Venn diagrams. You know, how would you explain to people who may not understand when something like this becomes tenuous and then perhaps when the risk of wasting people's time or the risk, risk of what this process could result in, not just for Illinois residents, but for perhaps Indiana and also for Bears fans? Well, I think basically when you deal with politicians of both states, of both parties, there's going to be lots and lots of opposing and talking and posturing, and it'll go on for a while. This is what it is. It's sort of a dance. And I think, our state is much better equipped to handle a new stadium for the Bears with a fair deal. It's fair to taxpayers and just doesn't give away the store.

And I think that that ultimately will prevail. But there's going to be a lot of talking going on and negotiating. And I think that is, it's important for our elected officials to stand up for taxpayers to make sure that we get a fair shake. But we're willing to do a lot of good things. If you're going to spend nearly a billion dollars building highways and infrastructure to help the stadium in Arlington Heights and also the development around that, that's a major investment.

And I think I saw with the Indiana deal, they want to raise tolls on how to get there. So I'm not sure Vass fans are too happy about that. The ticket price alone, they're increasing. ticket prices this year again, 13%. And I think over the last three years, Bears ticket prices have gone up about 30 to over 30%. So, you know, got to think of the fans and think of the taxpayers. I think Papa Bear would agree with that.

And I don't think Papa Bear wants, it's one thing to move from Decatur to Chicago for the Bears, but not to move out of Illinois. We're the pride and joy of Illinois. George Hallis played football. I believe for the University of Illinois, the colors are orange and blue, and let's not forget the people of our state of loyally supported the bears for decades. Governor Quinn, joining us here on Rahimi Harris and Grody, the former governor, trying to help us parse through what has happened today with Indiana passing resolution, and now the Bears making a statement they intend to go to Hammond, Indiana. It's just framework, and as you've said, Governor Quinn, you think Illinois is still the bear.

best place for a stadium, but we are getting late. I just said it feels like the fourth quarter, and I don't know if Caleb Williams is walking out of that tunnel at the two-minute drill, but the legislative session ending February 27th for Indiana, does it feel like something has to be done in the next week one way or another? Well, I think basically that February 27th deadline in Indiana Marshall is why they're trying to push this right now. They want to get Illinois legislators in our governor to make a counter deal to Indiana and saying that Indiana's legislature is going out of session after the 27th of February. I think they had a negotiating session yesterday. As I understand it, the Bears asked for a postponement today of the hearing down in Springfield. And, you know,

Camp Buckner, who's a state representative who represents Soldier Field right now, he's a good negotiator for everyday people and taxpayers. And I'm sure that he will get his voice heard to make sure that what happens, Bears? You asked us 25 years ago to remodel Soldier Field. We did. And now the taxpayers still owe $500 million on that remodeling. And you just want to walk away from that.

I really feel that's disrespectful to the taxpayers who have supported loyally the Bears for many, many years. So I think part of the negotiating negotiation has to deal with how do you deal with the debt on soldier field? How do you make sure that the deal in Arlington Heights is fair to taxpayers and the bears have to make investments that don't just take advantage of everyday people? And they're trying to use Indiana to get the best deal in Illinois for themselves. Yeah, Governor Quinn, I agree.

And thank you for letting us in on a lot of the, it's not fun talk. You know, I know it's the stuff you had to deal with every day when you were leading the state, but the procedural understanding and what a lot of this means, it really does help people who, you know, we're normally talking about like Max Crosby or something like that at this time of the year. So we appreciate it. I think you bring up a good point. There's the emotional part of this and the loyalty among the taxpayers who agreed in Cook County to that large bill that's still on the books and still currently the responsible, the responsibility. the Cookstown County taxpayer. And then there's also the latent result of what happens

if the bears leave. I think the money seems to be what is talking here. In your experience, when you've seen other teams do this, Kansas City Chiefs come to mind, they just decided to move to Kansas. You know, what has been your impression just as a state official of how

teams are getting this done just by pitting municipalities against each other? Yeah, it's really disappointing with it. You know, back 25 years ago when this all came up about Soldier Field, the Bears got a deal from the city of Chicago where they'd be able to sell the name of Soldier Field. They were going to sell the name to a bank, Bank One, for $300 million. That money would not go to the city or to taxpayers.

It would go to the Bears. And I led an effort with a lot of veterans to oppose that. We wanted to protect the good name of Soldier Field and tell the bears not to be money grubbing. And I think that principle they should listen to again. There are certain things that are fundamental, and that is when you have loyal fans, and I'm one of them from birth, that believe in the team, believe in hard work and being fair, then you shouldn't take advantage of people to get more and more money for yourself. That just isn't what Papa Bear believed in.

He started the team. He started the NFL, and you don't want the NFL today in the 21st century to just become a money-grubbing group of franchise owners who are billionaires who don't care about their real fans. And I think, you know, the stadium proposal in Arlington Heights, that's worthy of a lot of study, negotiation, get a good deal, that's good enough for the Bears and debt. definitely fair to taxpayers. That's where they should be focusing their attention,

rather than running away to Indiana and Hammond, a lot harder place to get to through the toll road that I don't think people are going to be very happy about. Governor, you've been so nice with your time. We have a couple more questions on behalf of not just us, but also just the feedback we're getting right now from our listeners. Are you okay to hang with us through a brief commercial break? And thank you so much. scorehead. I believe in the score. Yeah, I know. I've got to ask you about the

Illini and the White Sox, too. So I think that's equal time. I see that way watching the Elienei. How about it? Yeah. They look great. All right, Governor Quinn, thank you so much for hanging with us through our commercial break here. We will get right back to the former Illinois governor, Pat Quinn, kind of giving us a little bit more

insight on how this goes. Who pays, who loses, who benefits, and what's next in the Bears constant stadium saga on the score. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Today's 10 to 2 on 104 3 The Score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104 3 The Score. The former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn was kind enough to hang through a score commercial break,

which you all deserve some award for that. I'll figure it out later. Gold stars for now. So we go back to our hotline and Governor Quinn, who is kind enough to stay with us, thank you for doing so. Oh, yeah, glad to be talking to you guys. And, you know, we're all sports fans. And don't forget, Papa Bear, I think, went to the University of Illinois, which won a big game last night in California and have another one Saturday.

So Papa Bear was loyal to Illinois, and I sure hope his descendants. George McCasky, he walked from Decatur all the way to Chicago a year or two ago, showing their loyalty to Bears fans from Illinois. And I sure hope they understand that today. Yeah, Illinois beat USC 101 to 65. Before we get back to the Bears talk, you got a prediction for March Madness for the Illinois? Well, yeah, Illinois all the way. We almost made it 25 years ago,

and Luther had two shots making threes. We would have beaten North Carolina for the national title, but we'll just come back this year and do it again. They also ran into a bus on Yukon, to be fair. Marshall, I think, was at that game. You kind of bitey. But this year, look at the way the team plays defense and also shares the ball, all the assists, and excellent shooting. Great coach.

So this is our year. We love the enthusiasm. Well, and listen, Governor Quinn, I'm just curious because we were talking about that February 27th day when the legislature shuts down in Indiana. But, you know, special sessions are called. So how hard of a deadline do you see next week being for the Bears to get some? something done with somebody? Well, Illinois's legislature goes until May 31st, Marshall. Indiana, I think they can have a special session, maybe, although their law requires

them to adjourn on the 27th. I think there will be a lot of activity in the coming week. The governor already met, our governor, Governor Pritzker, met with the bears. They said for three hours yesterday. and they said that, you know, they made progress. So a lot of it has to do with how much money Illinois will, as a state, put up for infrastructure to Arlington Heights. It's about $888 million.

That's a lot of money for roads and bridges and all that stuff to make sure people can get in and out of the stadium. And I don't think Indiana has done anything close to that. They're talking in the Indiana proposal of raising, the tolls on the Indiana toll road. I don't think Bears fans will be excited to hear that. So what we want to do in Illinois is have a good proposal that's fair to the Bears, but most of all fair to the taxpayers. And that's what negotiating is. You can't just give away the store if you're fighting for the public interest. And the Bears have to understand that as well.

Well, and it seems like, Governor, that they might have somebody who's willing to give away more of the store in Indiana. You know, a lot of times, because our listeners, you know, we talk about the bears constantly. We understand who benefits from a bear's initiative. Having covered budgets as a governor and having dealt with them personally, where does that money go if it's earmarked for a stadium instead of, say, other public projects? Who loses when that money goes towards something like a stadium? Well, I think the number one issue is the taxpayers of Illinois should not, in any,

anyway paid for the actual building of a stadium. Governor Pritzker has said that. I think everybody understands it. That has to be paid for by the bears and their investors. The real issues now are the things around the stadium, how to get there, the roads and so on. And Illinois has said, because this is a major development, not only about a stadium but a retail commercial housing development around the stadium. We're willing as a state to put up reasonable money to help infrastructure, to help the way of people to get to and from there. And Illinois does have a capital budget separate from the regular everyday budget of paying for schools and health care and police and so on. But we have a capital budget where we've invested in highways and bridges

and everything related to infrastructure. And we have a lot of money. that budget right now. Matter of fact, the road budget, I think, is about $3 billion. So the money is there to do reasonable things to get people safely to and from their destination, whether it's Arlington Heights or any other part of Illinois. So I think that is a real ace in the whole for our state of Illinois. If Indiana thinks they can make the Bears fans pay even more to get to the stadium and have a toll road increase. I don't think that's a very good way to sell Indiana at all. And I don't think it's a good idea for Indiana to be the site of the Bears. We're the pride and joy of Illinois, and that's what Papa Bear did with his Bears fight

song, and we want to keep it that way. We're joined by the former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. He was the governor of the state from 2009 to 2015 here on 104-3, the score. and you invoke the name George Hallis, and I understand the sentimentality of this entire thing, right? But at the end of the day,

because you said this last segment about not having money grubbing, I think owners in the NFL and how Popa Hallis would not like that, Papa Bear Hallis. I think we're already past that point, though, if you look at what the NFL has become

in terms of a business, a multi-billion-dollar business, it feels like that's already been by the wayside, Fans are secondary in this whole thing. It's about the value of the companies, making sure they do the smart and prudent financial decision. So what I'm asking you, Governor Quinn, is if Indiana gives them a sweetheart deal, something akin to what we saw just recently in Kansas City, where the chiefs decide to leave Missouri for Kansas, it's hard for me to picture them not taking a deal as good as that, unless Illinois can come up with something similar. And that seems to be at the detriment of Illinois taxpayers. Yeah, well said, Marshall, you know, for some of these owners, NFL owners, they have dollar signs for eyes, and it is all about money for them.

And what happened in Kansas City, I went by Arrowhead last summer, and I saw the stadium there. They want to run away from that and go across the street to Kansas and build a new stadium for themselves. The owners of the chiefs are billionaires to begin with. Now, the McCaskey family is not, they're not billionaires. They're well-to-do to say the least. And I hope they have a heart because it's really about the fans and the taxpayers of Illinois. They've built their franchise that's now worth $8.9 billion. That's the latest valuation of the Bears.

If they get to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights with a reasonable deal, the franchise value will go even higher. Why give that all up? Why give that loyalty up? I would hope the McCaskys would realize their grandfather who started the league, started the team. He wanted to go to Arlington Heights. Years ago, Papa Bear talked about going there before he went down to Soldier Field from Really Field. So I really feel that ultimately all those fans in the cold this past year cheering for the Bears

with the loudest stadium, as loud as Seattle and more, it should not be let go. And we can't do things that are bad for fans just because the owners want more money. That is Governor Pat Quinn, the governor of the state of Illinois from 2009 to 2015, joining us on our hotline here on 104-3, the score. Thank you so much.

And you know, Governor, we got baseball tomorrow. Munitaka Murakami is going to be in the lineup on Friday. That's what Will Vettable said for the Sox. Well, I'm glad to hear it. We want lots of moon shots this year. And it's a great team, a lot young team. It's going to grow. And hopefully we can be less than 100 losses and maybe even 50-50. How about that? That's progress. That sounds like Marshall's prediction. And moonshot may be the home run calls. So that's fantastic. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks. Governor Quinn. You're the best. Take care you guys. Thanks. Thank you. That was Pat Quinn, the former governor. of the state of Illinois from 2009 to 2015.

Moonshot is a great, why didn't we think of that? We're not in tune as he is. We don't have enough meatball on us. That's what I learned. I mean, maybe, you know, maybe John Triffon or maybe Len Casper had thought of it already. But this is, man, this is why I'm in my job and that's why he was in his. Can I just say, and I know we're going to get to Adam Hogue in a moment, but can I just say, you know, we are taking your phone calls here on.

and hemi Harrison Grotie. And that's going to be starting at, what, 1125? So excited about that. 312, 644, 677. A lot of you have given us feedback. The one discouraging thing about that conversation with the governor is I was left with this idea that he's almost wish casting the Bears get it done in Arlington Heights. And there wasn't really enough to convince me that they're going to have a better plan

in Illinois that's financially violent. to the bears, or I should say as financially viable to the bears as something that Indiana may offer, because they might put it on their taxpayers. And their taxpayers may be okay with that. Illinois, because especially understanding what happened at Soldier Field most recently, it's not going to be swallowed well by the taxpayers here. Well, I think one is used to doing his job for many voters, you know, and you get elected as the governor. So you speak to as many people as you possible. And then the other is, is knowing that they can add an asset or what they see as an asset to their state. And where that money and the budget goes may not be as, as open

as where it goes here. You know, for everybody talking about, well, yes, Illinois pays a lot of taxes already. So you want more? But it's good to know and understand about the ideas of like special sessions, what goes on in a meeting like this. And just to reset and let you know again, we have it from Matt Hill, who is on J.B. Pritzker's communication staff, that the Bears were the ones who called for the cancellation, or at least the postponement. There is a difference between a cancellation and a postponement. At least a pause to the hearing that was scheduled this morning to make further tweaks to an infrastructure bill that was supposed to give the bears about $900 million, give or take, to support the infrastructure for the construction of Arlington Heights. Somebody who's been on this, the very beginning and who has more information. He also got the Bears statement is Adam Hogue. Adam Hogue of the Hogan John's podcast joins us next here on Rahimi Harrison Grotty on the score. This hour is brought to you by Menards. Save big money at Menards. So we have this information according to a source familiar with the Bears Stadium situation. They confirmed the

post on X from Matt Hill. Matt Hill posted this at 9-11 in the morning. He has the Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications to Governor Prisker, saying that the Bears leaders requested the ILGA pause the hearing to make further tweaks to the infrastructure bill. And he also added this morning, we were surprised to see a

statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois. So we've gotten that confirmed yet again. And according to a source familiar with the situation, there is an agreement that things are moving in the right direction, that there's an understanding about language tweaks to the bill that need to be finalized

and that the house is waiting to hear back from Bears leadership. So that doesn't sound like it's been tabled at all. It sounds like this is negotiation as part of a bill. No, I've always said this is negotiation. All of this. And unfortunately for Indiana, here's how I feel about this. Lela, you've seen this movie that I had to go see in the theater and I did not want to go see it.

And I was like, why do I have to go see it? It's called The Notebook. Are you familiar with it? Yes. So in the notebook, it's a love story, you know, spoiler alert, starring Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams. And Rachel McAdams family doesn't want her to be with him. And what happens is he- Doesn't want her to be with Ryan Gosling. Yeah, it doesn't want her daughter to be with Ryan Gosling.

And Ryan Gosling goes away and Ryan Gosling is living with this other woman. And here comes Rachel McAdams character. back into the fray. And remember, Ryan is living with another woman. She comes. He basically leaves the woman. And the woman says, like, oh, I've heard about you. I knew about you. He never forgot about you. Are you describing the meme of those two people walking together, the guy and the girl, and it's like her versus the girl you told her not to worry about. It's the girl in the red dress walking on the left side facing the other direction. Listen, in this scenario, I believe that Ryan Gosling is being played this part by the Bears and that that woman that he was living with while he was not with

Rachel McAdams character is being played by Indiana and Rachel McAdams is Illinois. I think right now they're heavy and hot with Indiana, but guess what? They're probably going to come back to Rachel McAdams in Illinois and build in Arlington Heights. That's probably so Indiana is a mean timer in this situation. Not so much things up here but you know she was with another dude also. Yeah, but we didn't take that dude seriously. No one watching that movie took that dude that Rachel McAdam's character with was with seriously.

The moral of the story is don't cry at the end of the movie. That's the moral. Let's go to our hotline and bring it a reporter who has been a part of this saga, although Adam is not as dramatic as anybody in the notebook. I bet I've seen the notebook, though. I bet he has two, but he's just more practical. Adam Hogue of the Hogan John's podcast.

Hi, Adam. How are you? The notebook is phenomenal. And anybody who says otherwise is just wrong. But don't cry at the end. Like, it's hard not to. Yeah, it's emotional experience. As it's been emotional too with what's been going on with the Bears. Exactly.

State of Illinois. I mean, there's some real connections here, I think. And so I say that, like, I understand all this news that's happening overnight into the day in the canceled meeting with Illinois. But I just feel like the preference from the Bears is to build in Arlington Heights, and this is just another step trying to show leverage.

But I also think there is the possibility, and it's a real one, that they could pivot to Indiana if they don't get what they feel like they need to get from Illinois. How do you see that? Well, let me be very clear. They have pivoted to Indiana.

The pivot has happened. I mean, this is, now, it's not done. But it's close to done. I mean, they're at the half-yard. line. As long as they don't run any of those weird Matt Nagy shotgun runs and fail to get in or maybe snap the ball through Cole Komet's legs last year over the head of Kyle Monongai. As long as something weird like that doesn't happen, this thing is headed towards Indiana right now.

If you watch this Ways and Means Committee meeting where they amended Senate Bill 27 in Indiana today. And it was 24-0-0, but it was everybody who spoke at this, spoke as if it was done, including the speaker, as the bears are coming to Indiana. Now, the governor put out a statement,

the governor in Indiana now I'm talking about, put out a statement, basically saying, you know, they still got a, the framework of the deal is there. It's a great deal for the bears, so there really shouldn't be any hold-ups. I mean, that's the one of the biggest difference

is here between, Indiana and Illinois is that this is a very team friendly deal for the bears. I was almost surprised to hear today them say that the bears are going to put two billion towards this in Indiana. But if they are, that's even more reason for why this should get done because that's, that helps the state of Indiana on their end of all of this as well. What really just needs to be finalized, I think, is the actual location near Wolf Lake in Hammond, which they know

it hasn't really been quite put on a map for the rest of us yet. And then just the due diligence that is necessary, both the team and the governor of Indiana today in their statements, their respective statements, indicated that that is still a last hurdle, you know, the actual site, the due diligence to know that, hey, this is viable to actually put a mega project.

And that, of course, goes beyond just the stadium site. There's the issues of the Indiana toll road. which is going to help fund this project. That was also part of the news this morning in Indiana. And like what happens with the Skyway where it costs $16 just one way to go through there right now? If you're coming from the city, you know, there's a lot of questions that need to be answered from that standpoint. Yeah, that's it. And the tolling, the toll road was a new development.

Governor Pat Quinn, Adam Hogue, he referred to it on with us earlier today on our show. And while I understand that the intent is there from the state of Indiana, there's still a lot of logistical questions as you just brought up that remain to be answered. And that's what makes this difficult is the process, if you start from scratch on the Indiana side, even though they've made a lot of progress in a short amount of time, there's still a lot of questions that have to be asked. Like, for example, what is the delta, the difference of the amount between what the bears are willing to put forward, which has been the same on both state's discussions, $2 billion for both Illinois and Indiana?

Well, we still don't exactly know where the money is coming from outside of the Bears on the Illinois side and how much of it Indiana is going to put up. You know, the difference is I think if Indiana puts up a slight bit more than just what is happening on the Illinois side for the infrastructure. If Illinois puts anything toward the actual stadium, that becomes a more favorable deal from a monetary standpoint for the Bears. Yeah, I mean, look, the deal is going to be more favorable for the Bears in Indiana. I think, but part of the, part of the issue here is like this morning, as their list, they were very clear in Indiana today how they're going to fund it. I mean, from bond issuance to a Hammond tax to repay it, they already have the blueprint from Lucas Oil Stadium.

It's very similar to how they funded Lucas Oil Stadium, which has been very successful down there. They're going to renegotiate the lease with the Indiana. a toll road to help repay for the infrastructure that will be needed in Hammond. There's a food and beverage tax that'll go in in Lake County, Indiana, as well as a 5% in-keepers tax. I mean, all of this stuff was laid out in a way that I could easily take notes right here in this notebook and relay it to you guys. And like, that's just not what's happening in Illinois when these, like, they might be having these discussions, I'm sure, but none of it, it just continues to stall.

And I think even in the last 24 hours, and this is something I wanted to bring up with you guys. Like it's very convenient of Matt Hill, the spokesperson for the governor's office today to come out and be like, Illinois was ready to move this bill forward, which he put in a tweet. And he said this morning, we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois. Well, my understanding is the team gave the governor's office a heads up last night that this was happening this morning with Indiana. So there continues to be political posturing. The governor spoke yesterday publicly. He was asked directly that question if Illinois was ready to move the bill forward. And he didn't say that.

He just said progress was being made and he referenced somebody else's report and saying that that was pretty much accurate, that progress was being made. They could have come out yesterday and said, yes, we're ready to make this happen. Let's get it done. And that might have changed the tune in all this. The reality is the bill that was going to be discussed this morning in this meeting in Illinois that got canceled. It even has a sponsor on it from Arlington Heights. That's not even part of the discussions from my understanding. So it's the point I'm getting at here is everything on the Illinois side is messy. It's not clear. You watch this the stream of what happened in Indiana

this morning and it's very clear and everybody's on the same page and it passes 24 nothing. They're literally cracking jokes about how efficient Northwest Indiana is in all this compared to Indianapolis downstate. I mean, some of the politicians in Indianapolis were like, man, we got to learn from you guys because you guys get right to the point and get stuff done. So there's a lot to overcome here from the Illinois side where it's just been messy and messy like pretty much every step of the way. Well, you just mentioned a lot of new taxes for the taxpayers of Indiana, Adam, when you when you talked about how they're going to pay for this. So the list when you consider food and beverage tax, tollway tax, inkeeper. possibly Skyway. Yeah, hotel tourism tax, however you want to say it, like various states have various comments about it. They title it different ways, innkeeper hotel tax. That's a bevy of new taxes. It's my understanding that the state of Illinois didn't want to have a lot of new taxes and they're not as flexible in the tax structure. Is that what your understanding is?

in a broad sense yes i mean i and i think that that's been it hasn't been discussed as specifically as i indiana obviously did laying it all out on the table this morning um but i think in general if you follow governor pritzker's messaging every step along the way he's like the you know while this could bring a lot of boom and jobs and all this to the state of Illinois, he wants to make sure that it makes sense for the Illinois taxpayers. But that's normal political jargon

that he keeps repeating. And you can appreciate it. Obviously, no one wants to be paying more taxes. As somebody that lives in Lake County, in Illinois, not necessarily in Cook County, but could be affected by this too, just because of how close we are to Arlington Heights, like, yeah, I would expect that

they're somewhere it to hit my taxes along the way, but it hasn't really been communicated specifically how. Adam Hogue joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043. The score is the host of CHGO Bears and the Hogan John's podcast. Okay, Adam,

you said you feel like this is at the half yard line. Does that mean it's going to take some type of Pete Carroll Super Bowl error of judgment for Indiana not to cross the goal line on this of the Bears? Or does Illinois have a chance to mount some kind of comeback otherwise. So, I mean, this is a big question.

Have you guys, I haven't been able to listen. Have you guys brought up what happened with the Patriots yet back in 1999? We have not. Okay. So to give you a little background on that, in 1999, the Patriots and their owner, Robert Kraft, they announced they were going to Hartford, Connecticut. They had a deal sign with the governor of Connecticut. They had the land, the stadium renderings.

The deal was done. The deal was done. Now, that's why this last thing that was mentioned both by the governor of Indiana today and the Bears in terms of the actual stadium site and doing their due diligence on that to make sure it's feasible for all this matters because there was essentially that same stage right before construction was going to begin in Hartford, Connecticut. They found contamination in the site. So there was that issue.

meanwhile though Massachusetts put together a better offer and they reversed course and they went back to Foxborough and they built the new stadium there which is the stadium the Patriots currently play in. So is it possible that

because that actually was even farther along than where this is, although this is pretty close to that at this point with what happened in Indiana today. Is it possible that all goes down? It is. There's two problems though. And one goes back.

back to what we just talked about. I just, I find it hard to believe Indiana or Illinois, excuse me, is going to be able to come up with a deal that is better, a better financial deal than what Indiana is offering right now. I just, I don't see how that's possible. The second, too, is more of the emotional component, all this. And the reality is, and you're seeing it play out in real time this morning, too, with now the governor's office trying to say, hey, we were ready to do this, what happened, we're surprised. Like the political posture. in the back and forth and all this. There's a lot of repairing that I think needs to be done here

between the Bears and the state of Illinois. Because this all should, what's happening now should have been done at this exact time last year. I was in Indianapolis at the Combine having these conversations and doing some reporting on all this. And the Bears were ready to put a shovel in the ground and they wanted it all passed by the end of May, which was the end of the spring session downstate in Springfield.

And it didn't even come close to, They didn't even vote on it. It didn't even come to a vote. It just stalled out. Same thing happened in the veto session in the fall. And then they were evidently told, which Kevin Warren put in the state, the open letter to fans back in December, that they weren't even going to be a priority in 2026. At some point, if you're George McCasky and Kevin Warren, you get fed up and you say,

all right, well, we got to build this thing. So we're moving on. And so not only do they have to reverse this thing, Illinois, I'm talking, about from a financial standpoint to give them a better deal, which I just find that hard to believe. There's an emotional standpoint, emotional component, all this, to bring the bears back to the Illinois side. And I don't know if that's completely repairable at this point. There were signs of it in the last couple weeks, but I don't know, guys, it sure seems like the bears have moved on at this point. Well, what was the incentive then to be in Illinois at all, if you're illustrating it that way

for the Bears. If it's truly about the money and about the tax certainty, I'm not trying to put you on the spot with it, but I mean, that's an easy question to answer. No, it's fine. It's a fair question. And there's two answers from it. Now, financially, the benefit of the Arlington Heights property always has been that

you can own this whole development yourself and profit off it. Now, that remains to be seen with this Indiana deal, how exactly that's going to work. when are the bears going to have actual full ownership of this? How is revenue going to be shared from, let's say they put a concert in there. It's going to have a roof so you can have concerts in January, February, March, whenever when the weather's bad, all of that stuff is money that if you own the stadium goes in the owner's pockets and does not need to be shared with the players. In Arlington Heights, it's very clear. The Bears already own the property.

How that's going to work out in Indiana, I don't know yet, but it does seem like the bears are going to benefit from. maybe they don't quite benefit the same way as quickly as they would in Arlington night. So that is one of the benefits of still being in Arlington nights. Now, the second is the PR hit. We're all talking about this this morning. There's a lot of fans upset. They don't like the idea that the Bears will move out of the state of Illinois. I'm getting texts from people all over that are laughing at this.

And there is that component of this too. And it's the component that so many, including myself, have found. found it hard to believe in recent weeks as this has continued to advance in Indiana, would George McCasky actually leave the state of Illinois and is willing to take, you know, that that hit as moving a team that was founded in the state of Illinois, been in Chicago since the second year of the franchise existed to actually move them out. That seemed hard to believe. I think that part of it, though, eventually people will get over as long as two things happen. A, that stadium better be awesome.

Because if they end up building a dud of a stadium across state lines, that is going to be hard to overcome. And then two, they got to keep winning. As long as the Bears win, people will be fine with the fact that the stadium, which by the way is basically literally across the street from the city of Chicago, not just Illinois. That is Chicago across the state line.

It's not that far. Yeah, I agree with you. And the only thing, just based on what you just said, Adam, that I wanted to say is I, that's my problem. processing this is I don't understand how Illinois can come up with a better financial deal, basic financial deal for the Bears than Indiana without it being to the absolute detriment of Illinois taxpayers. I just can't envision that. Well, and that's it. It might be in the in the cum rather than the initial bet. You know, it's in that, as Adam said, it's in the bears being

able to profit off of events they hold there here as opposed to in Indiana where it might be a split. I should hope for them. It is. Yeah. And again, I think that, look, they just won't come up with a better financial deal. And so they got to hope that, you know, the people that are still sitting here saying, you know, I think, I think everybody can at least

accept what I've been trying to report now for over a month, that this is not a bluff. This is way more than a bluff. The bears are willing to make this move. But is there something Illinois can do beyond just the finances to get the bears to change their minds

back and realize that, hey, this team belongs in Illinois, even if you can get a better deal across state lines. And that's where I just feel like this morning, the biggest part of this is, it's becoming more and more evident that the bears are willing to do this. Adam Hogue, thanks again for joining us. If you want more of Adam's work, you can go to CHGO

and also the Hogan John's podcast. I know you just finished recording it. Yes, we did. And we got, yeah, we got plenty more coverage coming your way. And there's a story up on all CHGO with all this, including our reaction. So appreciate you guys having me on. I hope everybody is a great day. Thanks so much, Adam.

Thanks so much. Now we've we've heard from a former governor. We've heard it from Adam Hogue. You've heard from us. Time to hear from you. 312-644-67. 67 is our number. We want your opinions on the latest developments in the legislative calendar of the state of Illinois and the Bears

intent on working with the state of Indiana. Next. Rahimi Harris and Grootie. Midday's tidal two on Chicago's I'm a Bears fan from birth, and I'd like to keep them in Illinois. I think the song says the pride and joy of Illinois, not of Hammondiniana. The Bears saga continues. That was the former Governor Pat Quinn who joined us in the 10 o'clock hour.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on 104-3, The Score. And we got this information as well as the news develops this morning. reportedly, according to Governor Pritzker's office, the Bears had postponed the ILGA meeting to make further tweaks to a bill. There was a revenue and finance committee set to discuss an infrastructure bill for Arlington Heights this morning. And then we got this a source familiar with the Bears Stadium situation saying the tweet from Governor Pritzker's office was accurate. Bears asked to hold, aka, postpone the meeting. There was agreement that things are moving in the right direction. minor language tweaks still have to be finalized,

and the House is waiting to hear back from Bears leadership. But then there is also the statement that the Bears gave, which is the passage of State Bill 27. That is for Indiana. Hammond, Indiana would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date. We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium

near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. It goes on, but that is the general gist. So now we want your opinion. 312-644-67-67. It all comes down to, Leila, at this point, I think, with the Bears and the discretion, we heard the report from Adam Hogue talking about relationships needing to be repaired based on what happened this time last year. But the Bears' own land in Arlington Heights.

How much money are they saving by not building on that land versus building in Indiana? and what is the number the bears deemed to be, okay, it's okay that we didn't save that money by not doing in Indiana. What's that number? That's what I want to know. What's that number for the Bears? And as Adam Hogue illustrated, even though there's new taxes for the bill

for state bill 27, does that mean that Indiana recoupes some of its money up front by getting profit on events on the back end that they hold? So that's the setup for this morning. We go to the phones. Ray, who should we start with here? Let's go to John in Naperville, your first step on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Hi, guys. How are you doing?

Great. How are you doing, John? Good, good. Actually, just really annoyed in listening to Pat Quinn, the interview with Pat Quinn, what was just really, really obviously missing in the length of or the list of people that Pat Quinn wanted to blame, lacking were the politicians, both in Chicago back from the 2001 days when they agreed to renovate Soldier Field. The Bears don't owe a dime of the outstanding money. That is the fault of politicians and why elections are important. Fast forward to last year. Adam Hogue just pointed this out that legislators were going to,

didn't want to make the Bears a priority? If they had done what they are doing today, last year, Indiana wouldn't be a contender here. This would be done. This is all the fault of Illinois politicians in reality. Now, I know the Bears strategically did things a little bit backwards and buying the land first. But I'm sorry, $120 million in real estate taxes?

Come on. Let's not even talk about SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Let's talk about the other two privately owned stadiums here in Illinois. What does really feel annually in real estate taxes? I believe Mark Gannis said it was about $2.5 million. The United Center? Well, I think he said about $6.5 million. I mean, if it was 10, fine.

But $120 million, that deal would never get done. So it's the politicians that have been dragging their feet, not the bears. They occupy the same position that they did a year ago. And if, again, if Illinois legislature said, we're going to make this a priority in 2025, Indiana wouldn't be a contender here. Thank you, John, for your call. We're continuing on the phones, 312, 6444-67-667. Frank O' Park, you're on Rahimi Harrison Grody.

Hi, guys. Good to be honest. And I'm not crazy about this subject. I want to comment on two things. Who I'm sorry for? And a comment on what the former governor said. First, I'm sorry for the local politicians in Arlington. Because I have a feeling five years down the road,

what you're going to have on that site is, coming in and out of their 24-7 and maybe a couple of strip malls with like second and third-level fast food outlets and maybe a couple of nail parlors. And what you're going to see is the tax revenue from that is going to be a lot less than even what was supposed to be paid by the Bears under this tax certainty agreement. And as far as what the governor's former governor said, don't romanticize George Hallis. George Hallis was loyal to people, but he knew the value of a buck. In fact, a lot of his ex-players would say he would round.

like man. He was given rolling in his wheelchair as fast as he couldn't sign the paperwork to get it. He was the man-a-sized the man. He was what he was. He was a, you know, one of the fathers of pro football. You have a buck, okay? Thanks, Frank. Yeah, not just that, but the other thing is people can change. Not only can people change, but the NFL now is not what the NFL was then. And at some point, you talk about being a multi-billion dollar business as the NFL and all of its teams are, then you understand that, yeah, there's a different way of managing that. In fact, that's why the McCaskies have gotten so much flack of late, because it has been run like a small family business at times.

Well, and frankly, George McCaskey changed. Yes. They bought Arlington Heights and they're also talking to Indiana. So it is difficult when you talk about the memory of what somebody would want, because unfortunately that's yours and they don't have the agency if they're no longer with us to be able to change their mind if they should want to. 312-644-67-67 is our number. We go to Pete and Rockford. Hi, Pete.

How are you guys doing today? How are you? I'm fine. Thank you. I'm sick to my stomach hearing all this stuff. I've been a long-time Bears fans. And one of the things that I don't understand is, you know, we're here in the states going through all this turmoil in our process. President Kevin Warren is having fun in Italy right now. It's kind of concerning, but one of the

things that I don't understand is politically why has it been so easy for Indiana to just make this plan, put this together and see the windfall that it could bring to the state. Why isn't Illinois understanding what this project is bringing and what it could bring to our state financially? I don't understand. No, that's a good question. I think it goes back to a little bit of our discussion with Adam Hogue. In this scenario in Illinois, if the Bears already brought Arlington Heights, as they've mentioned, they get the proceeds from the events that happened there. And Kevin Warren has talked about final fours and concerts and things of that nature.

I think Indiana sees that and they're saying, okay, well, we want to put together a bill that possibly does this, but we've already heard 12% stadium ticket tax, 5% Lake County Inkeepers tax, potential 1% food and beverage tax. But then additionally, do the bears get to keep all that money from those events? Or will Indiana split some of the costs since they're putting it up up front? That seems to be one of the sticking points now. And I think the other thing, Pete, is when it's Indiana coming in, they're in a very different position than Illinois, because Illinois already had the bears.

The bears exist, as it were, in Illinois, point-blank period. And Indiana understands they have to make a push to get them out of Illinois and bring them to them. and so that's why they can offer all this stuff that, let's be honest, Illinois and its politicians, there was no rush. There was no impetus for them to rush anything. But now it's not just you and the Bears. It's you and a competitor in the Bears. Well, and so far gets brought up, but I want to say this.

Number one, the taxing in California is completely different from the taxing in the state of Illinois. I have paid both. Number two, property taxes are different because, again, the setup of how the state is funded is different. I will also say, though, that it's so fine. Stan Cronky put up the $5 billion note to build the stadium. So he didn't ask for that money

and if he had, he got turned down because the state had said no new money. California's next to Arizona, Oregon, and Nevada. It's a little different to be able to go to another state and say hey, are we going to have the Yuma Arizona Raiders or the Yuma Arizona

Rams or a team that may have previously held held their camp in California. It's a little bit of a different discussion. So all that is fair and those are good questions. We continue on the phones. 312, 644-67. We go to Scott in Shorewood. Scott, you're on Rahimi Harrison Grody. Scott's jamming out over there. Come on, Scott. All right. I think that was the first chords to a Nikki Minaj song. So Scott has, he has issued his opinion and it is musical. Keep it going. 312644-67.

Brian in Springfield, you're on Rahimi-Harrison Grody. We hope. That's correct. I can literally see the Capitol. I can see it right now. No white smoke. So they haven't reached a deal yet, I guess. Hey, bad week for the governor.

You got your cousin in the Epstein files and then you lose the bears. You got your bluff called, man. You can't dismiss the bears like they weren't going to go anywhere. All right. Anytime you bring that up, we're going to continue unless it's regarding Steve Tish and the Giants don't play here. 312, 6444, 67,

how about Ryan in Plainfield, Ryan, you're on the score. Hey, thanks for having me. So I know the McCaskies have a different financial background than some of the other owners. They don't have quite as deep pockets outside the world of football, but I think

doesn't the NFL have other funding sources to help with stadium projects? And I would say the Illinois is definitely politically messed up enough, but I think we have a lot of other needs with pension issues and different things that putting money towards this is not the number one priority. So I do give credit to some of them for not just handing over tax breaks right away. But I say my TV works fine from my house and pass on the tax increases to those in Indiana,

so I'm fine with it. Yeah, I appreciate that sentiment. I think a lot of people, and even though you are one of the vocal ones, who is expressing it on these airwaves, a lot of people feel that way because they don't go to Bears games, but they're Bears fans and they're like, wherever they play, as long as I can watch them, I'm cool. Yeah, that's how I feel.

Although I've gone to big games and they're also fun to attend as well. Ryan, thanks for your call. We continue on the phones. 3-1-2-644-67. Jill in Hampshire, Jill, you're on, Rahimi-Harrison-Grady. Hi, so not a good deal for Chicago. This is not a good look, and it is not what is supposed to be happening.

This is a debacle from the get-go, because none of this should be rolling out the way it has. Most of these things should have been ironed out in the negotiation process. The purchase of the stadium should never have taken place without the tax issue being fully worked out with incentives. And furthermore, the bailout, the bailout, The Bears cannot, period, cannot leave Chicago or the state of Illinois. They cannot go to Indiana.

That would be a terrible thing, and no one wants that. So they either have to stay at Soldier Field or they have to move to Arlington Heights. The fact that even Indiana is coming into the conversation is not a good look. It's never going to happen, so this is a waste of time. Do you think the bears, I have a question. sorry. Do you think the bears, if they leave and go to Indiana, you're not going to follow them anymore? You're going to stop being a fan of the bears?

There's a good chance, to be honest. It's a horrible look. It's a horrible look for the city of Chicago. It's a horrible look to move the bears out of Chicago, period, or out of the state of Illinois. And yeah, it would turn off a

good 50% of the fan base. It just doesn't sit right that the bears in Indiana, no. That's not a good idea. All of this stuff should have been sorted out in negotiations. Kevin Warren dropped the ball majorly. This is becoming a huge waste of money and time.

I agree with that last part. I don't think it was Kevin Warren's fault that the Bears bought Arlington Heights. Yeah, that happened before he was hired as president of the Bears. 312-644-67 is our number. We have more calls to get to on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi, Harris and Grody on 1043, The Score. We appreciate your texts and your phone calls. I have a confession about the text line, guys.

Sometimes, oftentimes, when the texts are logged, we can't read them because they break them up on our text line because that's just the software. And we can't read them correctly or all because you have like four paragraphs out of order. And you didn't text them that way, but they just come in that way. so I'm sorry that we're not reading a lot of texts. 312, 64, 64, 67, is our number. People have been on hold. They want to talk about the Bears Stadium issue. The latest, we go to John on the south side.

Hi, John. Hi, Leila. Hi, Marshall. What's up? He's off today because he can't work all of the time. I got it. I got it. Okay, this is my point.

I think I'm Team Chicago Bears, by the way, and I think they kind of got screwed for about, two years. They're wanting to build a stadium in Chicago. Well, first off, the other stadium in Arlington Heights, that was made by Ted Phillips. So I'm sure there's probably a lot of holes in that whole purchase and stuff. And that's probably why there's a lot of issues. But anyway, what I want to say is they, I'm getting nervous and I'm sorry, guys. It happens. It's just us. You don't even want to know about my morning where I practically tripped over myself many times. Okay, the bears have tried to go to Chicago many times, and it's not working.

Also, the taxpayers, repeatedly, I've heard on the airways, they don't want to pay for the bears. They don't want to pay for the bears. They don't want to pay for the bears. This is all of Chicago. Hey, guess what? We're out of here. Now you can cry about it while they're in Indiana. Have a good way, guys.

Love you. I mean, succinctly put. Love you, John. So simply put, though, right? And it's understandable from both sides. I understand why taxpayers don't want to pay for another stadium. And I understand why the Bears are like, we want somebody to pay for our stadium. And it's not like they're the only ones who wanted somebody to pay for their stadium.

That's been a thing. Yeah. Kids, state chiefs, Dallas Cowboys. Go down the list. There's a lot of public stadiums. But the thing is, that's no longer in vogue. Okay, I did get this text because it's one line. 5-7-4.

I'm sorry for you guys that you're not. had entire program ready to go today and now you're having to do this. And guess what? We'll keep doing it because it's your money. It's the team you talk about and that's our responsibility. As much as I'm like, okay kids, kids, stop fighting. Stop. But stop it. I will turn this car around. And now I think that the car is being turned around. Somebody's turning around the car. Definitely exited to a rest stop where we're going to decide if we're going to proceed with the rest of this trip. That is definitely where we are at this time. The rest of, that kills me.

312, 64, 64, 67. How about Sean in Romeoville? Hi, Sean. That's first time calling your show. Thank you. Thank you for calling. Yeah, I'm home sick today. Usually I'm listening to you guys when I'm at school in my office,

but you guys are like therapy for me sometimes. So, cool to call. You know, it's interesting. This doesn't really shake me up the way I thought it would. I mean, I feel more apathy than anything. I think maybe they were moving to, like, Kenosha, you know, for obvious reasons that might bother me. But, you know, really as a fan, the bears have just, they've been bad for so long

or inconsistent for so long. I just want them to be good. So, I mean, that's, I mean, I don't go to games much anyway, you know. I like watching them to come from home with home. But really, I just want them to be a really good football team that's competitive and gives me a reason to watch every week. So, you know, someone might have mentioned this earlier, but I think, you know, I think the Giants actually play in New Jersey.

Both the Giants and Jets play in New Jersey. Giants and Jets, yeah. So, I mean, so that, you know, someone might have mentioned that earlier. But really, yeah, I just want them to be a really good football team. And I'm getting older, man. So, you know, I want them to be good and give me a reason to watch every Sunday and be good for a long time. So that matters to me a little bit more than where they play.

I'll watch wherever. So thanks for taking my call. Thank you, Sean, and thanks for listening to us, and we hope you feel better. Thanks for having us out at your office, too. That's great. Yeah, get well. And if you need to call out sick tomorrow, go ahead. It's Friday.

Get yourself a four-day weekend. But here's the thing. I don't think Sean is in the minority. No, I think Sean is in the stark. Stark majority. I think 75% or more people, maybe it's 80% of people. They care in that, oh, we would wish the Bears were in Chicago, but it's not going, My point is this.

It's not going to stop your fandom. I don't believe you when you say, we're not going to do this. Well, and similarly, take the emotion out of the money. And when you do that, that's when things get truthful. All emotion.

The saying is don't let your money get mad. I don't want it to get happy, sad, glad, anything. Take the emotion out and just start doing the math. Does it math? We go to Mario and Hyde Park. You're on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Hey, guys. How y'all doing? What's up, Mario?

We're good. You know, I almost said it. Oh, I almost said, you know, go bears. I'm glad I didn't say that. Why not? You're the godfather. I'm just thinking this morning, imagine the bears are consistently good, right up to the point where their leaf ends, and they go to Hammond or to another part of Indiana. And George McCasky has that albatross.

around his neck of being the reason why the bears aren't in Chicago because you know, as well as everybody that's listening to me knows, if the bears are good, those lakefront scenes are going to look better, that skyline's going to look better, knowing that they're leaving, and people are going to be like, don't leave, don't leave. And it's going to be so emotional. And you just said take the emotion out of it, even if people are capable of taking the emotion out of it on February,

whatever the hell day it is today, I don't know. If the day, it's the last day, people are going to have that same kind of emotion that they do now or lack of. I think the bears canceling that meeting today probably says if they canceled the meeting to be able to get it together to go back to Illinois and say this is it, this is what we want, then I think that's a good thing for the state and I think they'll stay. I'm in the minority. I'm pretty sure of it. I don't want them to leave. Also, I don't go to football games anymore because Soldier Field is ridiculous. Either way, however this goes down, I think George McCasky has a real, real decision to make about legacy.

If it means anything to him and the Bears leave, that might be the death mail of public opinion for him for the rest of his life and quite possibly the rest of that line of McCaskies. Have a good day, everybody. Mario, that may be a bargaining chip that we have not discussed enough. Thank you for your call. Very somber. I don't think I've ever heard Mario that somber. But also truthful.

And everybody, I don't know why I didn't see this until the 219 number texted us. Happy 219 day. It's the 19th of February, aka 219, aka also an Indiana, northwest Indiana area code. So that's pretty funny. I like the coincidence. But yeah, you're right. I wonder how much George McCasky's emotions play into this. But here's the thing.

When you're faced with a multi-billion dollar bill, that might change things for everybody. Everyone. So the money absolutely talks. We have so many calls. I think we're going to have to do another segment of calls at some way later in our show. I got the time figured out. I got it all figured out.

What time? 125. All right. Actually, Craig Wall from ABC 7 will be joining us. He just literally confirmed right now. Sorry, guys. Sometimes this just has to be done on the microphone with everybody because that's life on a four-hour radio.

Live radio. Yes. Then maybe 1245. Yes. We can touch back. 1245, everybody. Sorry about that. We want to keep five on it at noon.

Other things that aren't just the Bear Stadium, but also the Bear Stadium next. Have a good way, guys. Love you. It's time for five on it. Rahini Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104, three, the score. It has been a busy day in the saga known as the Chase for the Bears' mythical news stadium.

And just to reset here at Mahima Harrison Grotie, we got the information from Matt Hill, who is Governor Pritzker's Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, that the Bears and the state of Illinois met for three hours yesterday. They requested the Bears did. The ILGA paused the hearing to make further tweaks to the bill. And then he also added the statement this morning. we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois. The Bears issued a statement about Indiana,

saying the passage of Senate Bill 27, which is the possible stadium development in Hammond, Indiana. The Bears said would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date. We are committed to finish the remaining site specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana.

They went on to support the governor and the speaker and senators, and now there is this, From Capital Facts, who is a very popular account that follows Illinois politics, reports on the state, proceedings, and they have this update. Pritzker talks about bears. This is at 1159, so just four minutes ago. They asked us not to move forward with the bill yesterday. Quote, now they're saying to us that that statement is not some confirmation that they're moving to Indiana, but rather that Indiana had asked them to say that.

What are we doing? Wait. What are we doing? Say that one more time. Who is this again? Capital Fax. C-A-P-I-T-O-L-F-A-X. They reported on state legislature for a long time in Springfield.

Again, update. Pritzker talks about beers. They asked us not to move forward. forward with the bill yesterday. Now they're saying to us that that statement is not some confirmation that they're moving to Indiana, but rather that Indiana had asked them to say that. Now, to be fair, Matt Hill's statement said, lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois, which is what the statement did. It did praise Indiana, and it did not say anything about

Illinois. But they're, according to this, They're saying to the state that that that statement is not a confirmation, but that Indiana had asked them to say that? Apparently, there's sound on this, so I can't wait to get. I can't wait. There's sound? I'm looking at it. I'm going to send it to Ray, and we're going to get this turned around.

If it is, I can't hear it, obviously, because I'm on the air with you, but he'll check it out for us. Let's get on with five on it because I know we got some sound in that last question, so we've got to be tidy on this. Do we? Number one Well, here's big question number one After hearing what we just heard Layla Reed and after talking to Pat Quinn and Adam Hogue What other questions do you have about the new developments

And the Bears push to build a new stadium Who you crapping? Who's Zoom and who? Whose bluff are you calling? Whose car is parked next door? That's a country song at the end But that's really what this is. There's a lot of questions being asked here and there's not a lot of answers.

There's concepts of a plan. There's a concept of a plan. You know what I want to know? What is the actual plan? I want to know every detail about every pro-con list for going with the Illinois plan versus going with the Indiana plan. When I say the Illinois plan,

I know it's not fully formed, but building on Arlington Heights versus building in Hamm and Indiana, I want to be able to, with a fine-tooth comb, go over all the details to understand what's better for the bears, what's better for taxpayers in Illinois.

What's better for taxpayers in Indiana, for that matter? I want to know every angle of this story. And while I do have stadium fatigue, I understand it is my job to understand the facts in this ordeal. Because that's what's become. It's become an ordeal. The most fun part about this is our heater in the studio has been broken the entire morning,

so I'm just sitting here shivering and confusion. We've got the bare stadium news to keep us warm, Lela. That's all we need. Somebody was offended by me. singing the Yakutty Sax song. Really? Really? If you're offended by that,

I worry for your life. Number two. ESPN released its final 26 offseason grades for all 30 MLB teams. The Cubs received a B letter grade. Do you agree with this grade for the Cubs?

I think I do because when it comes to the Cubs offseason, they did spend a ton of money for them. They were the second, when you consider the Alex Bregman contract and the totality of their spending to the Toronto Blue Jays. But unfortunately, that's because Kyle Tucker's contract gets deferred by the Dodgers. The evil empire stays evil. And while Bregman's bat is a wonderful addition, do I feel like they completely replace the

offense that they are missing? No. They also traded for Edward Cabrera, which should. be part of this discussion, but I don't necessarily know that they did enough offensively or moved enough pieces around. And then there was also the Shoda Imanaga qualifying offer, which may have also resulted in the B. So I understand why it became a B. I would say B minus because of the last thing that you mentioned.

The Shoda Aminaaga qualifying offer and the way that that went down, they had to do the other stuff to make up for that to get above a C. And that's why they end up with a B minus. You could argue that their bullpen isn't quite as strong as it was last year, but we don't know what Craig Counsel and that pitching staff, Tommy Hadovi, in the game. What magic will they work this year amongst aging relievers that you're not quite sure if they're going to make it through a full season? We do know that the bullpen that starts in game one will not be the same bullpen

that ends the regular season. What will the production look like from Matt Shaw in the various positions he's asked to play? Yeah, Matt Shaw's cruising around the diamond is pretty much what I understand. Pete Groh Armstrong, first half, second half. What does the 2026 season look more like? So there's questions, and I think B minuses would have been my grade, but B is a fair grade overall because they did do enough, I think, to say we are the front runners far and away to win the NL Central.

Or is it B for B-E-A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E. B-E-A-G-G-R-E-S-I-V-E, aggressive. B-E-E-A-A-G-R-E. Even that has made more sense in the events of this morning. Number three. This is five on it on 104.3, the score with Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris. Here's question number three. White Sox manager Will Vettelmell announced that

Munataka Morikami's Cactus League debut will take place Friday against the Cubs at Sloan Park. How seriously are the South Siders taking spring training? Well, I think they're taking as seriously as they need to, considering that World Baseball Classic is. not that far away, and we know Japanese players are leaving earlier than the American players, so they want to see him and see what he can do. And if you go back to the last World Baseball Classic, when he was launching, we're calling

Moonshots now, right? When he was launching moonshots. Thanks, Governor Quinn. We want lots of moonshots. Amazing. Appreciate that, Governor Pat Quinn. I think it's great to get as much out of him as you can before he has to leave for the World Baseball Classic because Japan, last I checked, they could probably be in it to win

it and therefore in it for the long haul. Well, I feel like they needed to develop Munataka Murakami. They said they wanted to. And develop is that's probably a little bit loose of a term when you consider. They just want them to see as much major league pitching as possible. Adjust to your new league. We've seen other people do it pretty easily

for their adjustment time period. But I feel like this is a reps thing. You know, just get him as many reps as he can possibly get facing major league pitching. of any kind, not necessarily ones versus ones here. But I like that for him. I think for Munitaka Murakami,

the more you see of that, the more you'll get used to it, and the more of an accurate hitter for yourself that you will be, knowing is half the battle. Murakami, now you know and knowing is half the battle, G.I. Joe. Mirkami and the rest of the Japanese players,

they leave a week from today. So you got seven days, We're really six days to figure it out. Yeah, that World Baseball Classic does mess up the schedule a little bit in a good way, but it does affect the schedule. Number four. CHSN's Casey Johnson asked Bullsguard Josh Giddy about his playing status tonight. Do you plan on prison tomorrow? Yeah, I do.

Back playing. Okay. Interesting phrasing there. Casey Johnson. But that's Josh Giddy talking about his playing status tonight. courtesy of CHSN. Additionally, Jalen Smith is playing and Isaac Kouro is off the injury report. Here's the question. How does this affect a possible tank? I think it makes the tank in peril. I think it, I think that there's not a parking spot for the tank.

I feel like when you have the intent on playing players and taking them off of the injury statuses whenever there was a break that losing games is not something that I see you're looking to communicate here. So it further lets you kind of understand what the Bulls plan is, doesn't it? They have traded for several players on expiring deals, and perhaps they truly just want to see who fits with guys like Giddy and Isaac Akoro on this team for the future. I'll be able to tell you a lot more about that tank after we find out what kind of minutes restriction Josh Giddy is on his first game back.

Maybe Jalen Smith is on a little bit of a minutes restriction. maybe you don't roll out Colin Sexton in the starting lineup because of that. Maybe you do start Patrick Williams for the rest of the season. Yeah, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly, are Rob Dillingham and Jaden Ivy getting the lion's share of minutes? Are they playing 25, 30 minutes a game? That could be the tell right there. Ivy in his last game played 29 minutes.

Dillingham played 30 minutes. That needs to continue. And with Josh Giddy in action and apparently you look around and see that other players are close to coming back like Trey Jones we're going to find out what the intention is is it are we trying to win games or are we trying to see what these young players who have not been given chances on former teams what they can do five on it number five on it at 104 three the score here's the final question

philly star bryce harper joined the bussing with the boys podcast and discussed why he thinks baseball is the hardest sport to play Play. Can a football guy come onto a baseball field and do it? 100%. I just decided. You think that a football guy can come on a baseball field and hit a baseball? Yeah. Really? Yeah. We can do it. We had a... You want to face Paul Skeens or Scoobel?

I'll stand in, man. We'll take Paul Skeen's Yon. That's nothing. There's always these conversations about, like, what's the hardest sport? And I think baseball is the hardest sport to play. And it's not even close because... You don't think it's even close. Dionne Sanders pay both, right? Always says there's nothing harder than hitting a baseball. How many times you think you can get a hit in like 100 at bats against, like, Jacob de Grom? One. You really think you can get a hit.

to hit off him in 100. By Rep 95, I'm like, I've had enough in the tank here to make connection. But the first 15, those balls are going to buy so fast. I just think, I think everybody talks about just the heater, right? They're not talking about the slider or the change-up or the curve ball or the 1001-mile cutter that he throws or this, you know, 96-mile-hour slider that he throws, too. Or like that's on my bag right now. Zach Wheeler throwing a, you know.

We get it, dude. You play baseball. I mean, he explained it to me. It's Bryce Harper on The Bustin with the boys podcast there. Do you agree with Harper that baseball is the hardest sport to play? I think that I've seen a lot of baseball players have the statement of like hitting a round object with a round bat is one of the hardest things you can do. And I agree with it. However, I've also seen guys like JJ Watt take batting practice.

That was 10 years ago. The ball still hasn't landed. But he's being served batting practice pitches. And that's it. He brings up the aspect of facing a Tarek scoble or a Paul Skeens, and that's when things get really complicated. They can make a lot of people look real silly, even the best of the best. And that's where I think Bryce Harper has it.

I think he has it correct. I think that it might be the hardest sport of all to play. I consider hockey, too, because of the coordination of skating while you're also trying to do your job, whether you are on the, you know, defensive side of things, or not you're trying to score or pass to your line mate. You know, that is also incredibly difficult to me. But it is a little bit easier to handle a hockey stick. I just can't handle the aspect of being able to do both at the same time.

It either comes down to probably baseball or hockey for me. Are we limiting this to like team sports? Are we talking about individual sports? This is wherever you want to take it, sir. Any sport. I don't know what the parameters were in that discussion. I was considering the euse. Oh, okay.

Well, since Leila considered the euse, Marshall, let's go with the euse. Bring up other stuff. Okay. Because if we're just talking about the major sports, Bryce Harper is absolutely correct. The baseball is the hardest sport. Because of what he said, it's not the fastball,

which everyone, of course, talks about and romanticizes. Oh, I can hit 101. Brough, what are you going to do when a 101 comes? And then you got the off-speed stuff, the nasty stuff, the slider over 90 miles per hour. The slider over 90 is just insane. splitter

cutter oh I made contact the ball went five feet you know what I'm saying like it's it's disingenuous to pretend like

basketball for instance is harder than than baseball people play basketball every day pick up basketball right so they get this sense

that I can play basketball and even those people have wild delusions about how good they are at basketball they do You're right about that. Yeah.

They also have wild delusions about what their knees can do on a basketball court. Or how quickly they can take a side step, right, and not fall down. And then the response is always like, oh, well, the hoop is the equivalent of two basketballs going in at the same time size. And you're like, yeah, that just makes me feel worse that I miss this shot. And so if we're doing the us, as was described by one of you guys. Me. Me. Yeah, the use.

I like that term. There's a lot happening today, and I'm freezing. If we're doing the use, then yes, it's baseball. If we're not, come on. It's one of two things. It's either gymnastics or it's figure skating. And because, like, what? Can you do...

How many people do you think can do the stuff they do in figure skating or gymnastics? Like, what percentage of the population? Percentage? Yeah, that's what I was saying. Like, one out of how many people. Point, many zeros, and then a one. And to everybody's saying golf, I don't know that you're wrong either. But at least golf, it's a stationary ball and a stationary,

target. You can go to the range and get better at those things in a way that if I said go get good at figure skating or go get good at gymnastics. No. What? Also, the cruelest thing about golf is that your biggest enemy may be yourself. Like the mental aspect of golf, as we had seen many people try to face Tiger Woods on a Sunday do, for example.

Or when you know that this putt is going to give you a tournament win, that's one of the most cruel aspects of it. Yeah, downhill skiing in the Olympics. They're all hard. Yes. It's just we're just asking what's the hardest. I know what the easiest is. What's the easiest? Bowling. Stationary pins, ball, throw ball, knock down pins. It's bowling. But then there's the amount of people who've gotten a 300 game, you know. A lot more people have gotten a 300 game than have done the things that we're talking about in these other sports. I don't know. Jerome Bettis, like he would always say that bowling was more difficult than playing football. But he's also Jerome Bass who had amazing talent.

He was built a certain way and had a certain quickness on his feet. So yes. I'm telling you the worst thing about golf for me is that you beat yourself. Like that's the most heartbreaking aspect of golf. I got that's why I don't do golf. I do the place with the guns. What's it called? What?

The place with the guns. Shooting range? No, the golf, the top golf. Top golf. Top golf. With the guns. That's why I'm only. Top golf.

See, Layla was thinking in the official capacity. What are you talking about? You know what I meant. There's guns in the parking lot. Hey, summer's coming. Summer's coming. It's going to get warm out soon. Why did nobody mention building the Bears Stadium at Top Golf neighborhood today?

I for sure thought we were going to get one. That's a security issue. That's a security issue. Well, think about the jazz games. You told us about a few weeks ago, Marshall. They've taken measures. They've taken official measures to make sure that, well, if your parley goes bad, retribution is available to you, apparently.

All right. guess we got to sort out the capital facts information now, too. Man. That's fine. We got a guess next, right? Yes, we do. Luis Medina, who's the senior writer at Bleacher Nation covering the Bears. We'll get back to your calls on the stadium discussion at 1245.

And in the meantime, Louise keeps track of so much that we want to share it with you next. Rahimi Harrison Grody Bears tight end. Cole Komet. Cole, welcome to the party, pal. Well, thanks for having me. I heard it was a big day. So naturally, I dropped everything I have. going on today. You've complained a lot through the years about not being able to hear the score

on the 670 a.m. dial when you're inevitably cruising around downtown. And now that we have an FM signal call, you can now hear the score all day, all the time, all you want. You can hear all the bears hot takes you want. Well, that's perfect. I'll make sure I last that in the locker room. Amy Harrison Grody, Midday's Tindal 2 on 1043 The Score. This is Rehom. This is Reh me Harrison Grotie on 104-3 the score and what a day it has been. I've probably said 670 the score. I'm sorry.

We're still on 670. So if I've dropped that detailed today out of habit because we're trying to get to everything, just know I'm sorry. This is from Brendan Moore. Brennan Moore 13 is his address on X. He is the Illinois Governor and Politics Reporter

for Capitol News, Illinois. This is from Governor Pritzker. Governor Pritzker adds that Kevin Warren chose not to be in the meeting yesterday with the bears and state officials and mostly agreed on a bill. The bears the governor said was told his staff today that their statement, quote, was not some confirmation that they're moving to Indiana. Let's go to our hotline, 312, 64, 64, 607, 67 is our number. But we also want to hear from our friend Luis Medina, who is the senior writer at Bleacher Nation.

he covers the Bears. Luis is an incredible amount of information. I used to work with him at NBC Sport Chicago. He was part of the Outside the Ivy Show, too. And Luis, what's your take on all of this before we get into some of the actual football talk? First of all, good afternoon. I'm so excited to be on the score.

I grew up listening to this station, and it was a caller at what point. So now to be on as a guest on this show is such an honor. As for the Bears, it's hilarious. First of all, it's kind of sad because I just see everyone arguing about they should go here and they should go there. In reality is the people that are arguing so much and so passionately about this are the ones who are getting priced out of no matter where the new stadium is. And that kind of bums me out to think about it. It's also kind of funny that Indiana and Illinois are going through all these hoops for the right to host a Super Bowl once every 20 years.

if you think about how the Super Bowl is rotated, once every 15 to 20 years is what you can hope for. And then it's also kind of funny with, I saw this on Capitol Facts with, you know, Illinois, like the bear's, the idea of the bears using Indiana trolls to kind of push this narrative, only to have to fight those trolls for themselves. Like, you couldn't have scripted this any better

if you were trying to write a comedy about a team trying to build a stadium. Louise, we're always happy to have you on. do great work. So you're welcome on the score any time. We're glad that this checked off a box for you. This is a moment. This is a moment for the history books. It's a moment all the way around. Let's be honest and where we are in the day that you just happen to be on the show with us. So you're the senior writer at Bleacher Nation Bears. You can find him on the artist formerly known as Twitter at LCM-1986. That's LCM-1986. She also joins us here on

Twitch, look, Louise, the Bears have some decisions to make. We've already seen some players being offloaded by other teams. What ultimately do you think the Bears will do in terms of waving players to perhaps create some cap room? Or are they going to stand pat and maybe just restructure everybody's contract? So I don't think they can stand Pat based on what Ben Johnson said at the end of the year press conference about how there's so much turnover every year. You're never going to get the same team again.

So I imagine they'll try and restructure some contracts. Cole Commet is high on that priority list because, you know, you see how often they run out of those two tight-end sets. You see how important he is as they run blocker, pass blocker, pass catcher. So I think that's a guy out. He's also a local guy. So he might take a hometown discount. DeAndre Swift has publicly stated how much he wants to stay.

And to me, I read that as a please give me an extension. Please give me a new deal. I'm willing to negotiate. After that, you're going to see some restructures, possibly with DJ more. But after DJ, because DJ's kind of iffy. I don't think they want to trade him,

but they might have to. It might be one of those lesser of two evil things. But a guy like Tremaine Edmonds, who's got a big salary cap hit, I think he's a guy who's going to be like the big name who gets either moved or even cut. This is actually a cap casualty. if that is how it goes down.

Yeah, absolutely, Luis. It's been something that we've been tracking and the numbers dictate based on how the contract is. You know that that cap hit is not very much compared to the salary. There was also big news that would normally lead a show this morning that came out from the Bears that has nothing to do with the stadium. And I know you guys covered it on Bleacher Nation too. The Bears have made a decision as far as their assistant general manager,

and it is Jeff King. King, they hired from within, so they're promoting from within the organization. I think this is good news for the Bears that they continue to value the assistant GM position and that they like their process from inside the front office at Hallis Hall. So I'm usually iffy on internal promotions because they can go 50-50. They can go either way. I really like the Jeff King promotion because he's a guy who's been here for more than a decade. I believe he's been here 10 years.

He's worked for multiple general managers. and he started as an intern. And so when you see a guy make the rise from intern to assistant general manager, like that just doesn't happen often, especially in the pro sports world. And people forget or might not even know because he's kind of under the radar. But Jeff King interviewed for the Los Angeles Chargers GM job a couple years ago. So it's not like a promotion of a guy who just happens to be the next man up. This is a guy that other teams had interest in.

And I like that the Bears promoted from within for a change. Like usually that gives me the ick, but this is one of the times that like, oh, this actually makes sense. Enough things giving the Bears fans the ick on a day like today. So let's not do that to you as well. Okay, look, I'm not saying the Bears can or will get Max Crosby, but I am curious to your thoughts on if they were to get him, how would they proceed to do so? and what are the chances of that happening?

So I've gone back and forth on the Max Crosby thing. I think where I ultimately land is that they should try to get him. Look, if there's one thing that's been constant with the Super Bowl champions in recent years, it's pass rush dominance. The Eagles did it with waves of guys. We've seen teams do it with interior pass rushers. Chris Jones from the Chiefs is a great example. But if you could add Max Crosby,

who is also no slouch against the run. Let's not forget that the bear's run defense was so bad this year that it's a high priority. How to get Max Crosby is going to be difficult. It is probably something in between the Cloughamack Trade and the Micah Parsons deal. And I thought the Micah Parsons deal was light, relatively speaking. I thought that the Cowboys should have gotten more. And frankly, I'll never forgive Jerry Jones for giving Mikea Parson's deal. Parker Parsons to the Packers on a platter.

Amen. I'm thinking multiple firsts, a player. It's something that is the kind of deal that could be a win-win for both sides. And those types of deals don't happen in the NFL often enough. Because if the Bears get Max Crosby, they fill an obvious need. If the Raiders trade Max Crosby, they're going to get the type of draft capital that they need to, you know, start their rebuild. It's a much needed rebuild in a tough division. They got a new head coach.

They have a new scheme. They have a new philosophy. Maybe they just need a fresh start, and they have a player in Max Crosby. Who deserves better than what he's got? One playoff appearance in his career, he deserves better than that. We're talking to Louise Medina.

He is the writer at Bleacher Nation who covers the Bears. He also was on Outside the Ivy with NBC Sport, Chicago. He is tracking the story about Jeff King's promotion. If you want to check that out, that's on Bleacher Nation. I put it in our Twitch chat as well. Twitch.tv.tv slash the score Chicago. I know it's been one of the hottest topics there is, Louise. I feel like last year, you know, we talked about the pursuit of, say,

Nick Chubb after the video that he posted showing how healthy he was. Running back again, as you mentioned, is a big discussion. Do you think anything might override or take over the discussion about Max Crosby, possibly being a Bears candidate for a trade that would, that would supplant that idea? I think the one move that could take Max Crosby off the radar is possibly signing Trey Hendrickson in free agency. I don't think he's getting franchise tagged by the Cincinnati Bengals.

He is a guy who has a history with theirs defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen. He's only one year removed from setting the world on fire with as many with leading the lead in Sacks. He had an injury shortened year. I think there might be questions about how hard he worked to get back this year, especially after how Joe Burrow worked his tail off to come back to a Bengals team that by the time he was back in action was pretty much out of contention. But, you know, when you're a guy who's played as many snaps as Hendrickson has and has been dealing with an injury and knows he's going to free agency, maybe you can understand why he might have slow played his return. But this isn't to say that Hendrickson is a better player than Max Crosby. He isn't.

But if you can get a high caliber pass rusher without trading the farm, that's a path you should probably pursue. Okay. It's interesting that we know that the bears, they need something at left tackle. What would you do if you were the bears in terms of addressing the left tackle position for next year? I've been thinking about this because this is, this is going to be a hot take right here. I don't think the Bears need a lockdown left tackle. The Bears' offense thrived last year despite a rotating door of left tackles. You had Braxton Jones start the year, and he wasn't great.

He looked off. He looked like the injury that shelved him last year still hurt. You know, then you're throwing Theo Bennett in the undrafted second-year player. Then he gets hurt. That opens the door for Ozzie Tripilo. He looked rough in the early going in training camp, and in preseason games at left tackle, but you put him next to Joe Tooney, now all of a sudden he looked better, but now he's hurt.

I'm willing to give Theo Benedict another shot because I think Ben Johnson is good enough to scheme around a tackle issue. In fact, they threw Joe Tooney out there at left tackle on a whim, and I don't think they'll do that again for a full season, but in a pinch, sure, if the Bears keep their pick at number 25. It's not going to Vegas for Max Crosby. If there's a left tackle that you really like at that position or at that spot, take them, take them, put him at left tackle, develop him through camp,

and don't worry about it. Otherwise, mix and match, find a veteran on a minimum deal. Get creative. We want to pick your brain a little bit more in our weeks leading up to the draft, Louis. So I feel like that's a good time to do so because this draft becomes more and more crucial. So, Louise, thank you so much again for joining us on what is an absolutely bonkers day and bringing some football to the conversation.

It's always a bonkers day covering the bears. Thanks, Louise. He's right. That's the humor I miss at our office. Luis Medina, I recommend you check out his work at Bleacher Nation, joining us on twitch.tv slash the score Chicago as well. He really did a nice article today, writing about Jeff King's promotion, because it's good that the Bears promoted the likely guy for assistant GM and is promoting from within in their front office.

As we had to break, can I give you some breaking-ish news? What? There's more breaking news. It's not bears related. I, for one, I'm shocked. Wait, who's the sponsor for Breaking-ish news? Did that? Whoa. Should we still take the North?

Take the North podcast. Wait, is it the side episodes of the Take the North podcast when Marshall and I fill in? Breaking News here on Rahimi Harris and Grotty is brought to you by the side episodes of Take the North when Marshall and I fill in. Yeah. So this from Joel Lorenzi, Bulls beat reporter and covering the NBA for the athletic. Friend of the show. Friend of the show. We like Joel.

Josh Giddy, Trey Jones, and Jalen Smith have all been upgraded to Probable for tonight versus Toronto. So just think about that when you're thinking about the tank tonight. You're out of prison tomorrow? Yeah, I do. I'm back playing. I don't know why I think that's such a funny conversation. I think knowing Casey, I just know the smile on his face with which he asked it. Let me tell you something.

I've heard people say the Bulls are going to win five of their last 27 games. If they win tonight with that lineup, some people are not going to be happy about the tank and the direction is taking it. Tank will remember you. Will you remember me? Don't let your tank pass you by. Grieve not for the memory. If they lose tomorrow or if they win tomorrow, we got to play some tank.

So play some tank, play some no limits, Master P. you know make them say also breakingish news also brought you by the Take the North podcast side episodes it's Adam Studzinski's birthday Happy birthday Happy birthday Studs

Oh my good And you know who else it is Can we do another birthday shout out Lou Cannellis Happy birthday Lou Oh Adam Studs on 219 day When his beloved bears might leave his state Dang it

Wonder how he's taking it We need a setback sweetener for studs. He deserves it. Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, we missed a lot of your calls. So I think we need to open up the phone lines again. 3-1-2-644-67-167. And just get your opinions on

what's going on in the latest. We will also reset the information because there's a lot coming in. And do we have the J.B. Pritzker interview turnaround that has been released today? Can we get a turnaround? I'm sorry to have to ask you guys. We are going to get it from our friends at WBBM,

straight from Springfield. We are waiting. Hold on. You mean that we are going to ask the news people in our office here to get it for? Right down the hall, yeah. Oh, those guys specialize in this. That seems like a good idea. So the latest on the evolving situation with the bears. And your calls, 312, 644-67.

This is the score. Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. You know, got to think of the fans and think of the taxpayers. I think Papa Bear would agree with that. And I don't think Papa Bear wants, he's one thing to move from Decatur to Chicago for the Bears, but not to move out of Illinois. It's another thing to, I think, of the taxpayers of the state of Indiana who are levying new taxes in Senate Bill 27. That was Governor Pat Quinn.

This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Our number, on 104, 313, the score is 312-644-67-67. Tony, who we last talk to, told us he would give up a steak dinner for the Bears. Tony, I hate to tell you about it. I think it's going to be more money than that. How are you today? Hey, kiddo, I love you guys first. Thanks to paying the call.

I was not going to call today. I listened to all the regular frank, all those people. And I want to apologize to you, Marshall, because I did make that call, and I heard you guys. And I think listening through your emotions, you start to get to the point where you realize what's important. Yes, I live in Illinois. I would love the Bears to stay here. But every time I called Ray, every time, it was like, dude, I cannot believe what Caleb's doing right now. He's five games in.

He's showing stuff. Eight games in, I cannot believe Ben Johnson's doing this. And then all of a sudden we see greatness, and we see things coming on. Every week I call. And I can't say all this time of the year, but I was talking to Ray about what I served, what my friends are doing. We were freaking out. That earlier caller, Jill, honey, you know you're going to watch it. I'm to the point now.

I'm sick of the discussion. And Layla, I can tell with you guys today, I've never heard a discussion on the score. And I've been listening for 30 years that have had this much emotional. I'm talking to fans right now because I think I represent them because I love it and I live it.

Conversation is legit. But as fans, come on. We got Caleb. We have Ben Johnson. We are on the national level of being the next team that could start stacking Super Bowls. this is something we have not seen before in Chicago since Michael.

Caleb is legit. I mean, these are the conversations we should be having. I don't care where they're playing next year because I'm still going to have my parties. We're still going to watch it. And any fan that says they're not, they're living where I was when I made that call before. This is about the Bears. I get it, Tony, and I appreciate you calling in. Don't apologize for that.

I feel like you, as we said earlier, people can change. opinions change, facts change. You're just being real with what's happening in real time. So thanks as always for calling in. And I don't even think you own apology. No, no. He doesn't own an apology because that's what he felt that date. There was authenticity and what he was saying.

And I get it and I understand. My whole point was, look, I understand the emotions involved here. But that two shall pass. Troubled on last always. Once they start playing, and that's this season, well before the stadium was built, you're going to be back on the bears are good or bad or I need this, I need that. You're not going to be thinking about the stadium once the game starts.

Yeah, I just don't want you to think about it when you're paying your taxes every month. That's what concerns me. So 312-644-67-67 is how you can call us. And we continue to just also give the updates here because a lot of this is happening in real time as we are finding out. Like, for example, it was Governor Pritzker's office who said, the Bears asked for a postponement on the meeting that was scheduled for this morning at 8 o'clock in the state of Illinois legislature. Then there was a statement for the Bears lauding the state of Indiana about the passage of Senate of Bill 27.

That's what I'm referring to. The most meaningful step forward, the Bears call it, in our stadium planning efforts to date, saying the Bears are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support their vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. That's the phrase that I think is getting a lot of people. And then we hear around the noon hour that that wasn't a commitment to building a stadium. Well, the wording of it, Marshall, seemed pretty pointed to me, due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana.

And then we're reminded that Kevin Warren didn't attend the meeting. Yeah, I still think we're very much, as Adam Hogue told us, They have not crossed the goal line. They might be inside the five in the intimate red zone, but they have not crossed the goal line yet. Yeah, I do giggle at that phrase, and I'm glad to see people have gone forward with it. Lela, this tweet. Yes.

Colts fans paying for my stadium? Revenge for Super Bowl 41. You know, okay, now I'm seeing it. I see the vision, Kevin. I see the vision. We've got a caller from New York. Okay, I'm curious. Let's go.

Hi, Chris. Hey, how's it going? We're good. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. Well, I mean, I wish I could say I was better than I am. But so, yes, I live in New York. I have been a lifelong Bears fan since I was eight years old. First game I ever watched in my life was the 85 Super Bowl. This hits home, man. Like, I live in New York. I have to deal with, you know, all my friends that are Jet and Giants fans.

and they don't even associate their team as a New York team. You know, the one true team that obviously is here is Buffalo. Everybody else, you know, that's got to travel to Jersey, can't stand it. They hate it. And this is just, it's heartbreaking to even think about them leaving Chicago. Like, and a lot of it, to me, I wonder about the money grab with all the new merchandising. like is this all about hey all these fans all of us are going to go and buy all these brand new whatever they decide to come out with jersey shirts hats whatever you know are we no longer

going to be the chicago bears because we're going to be in ham in indiana i you know what are being rebranded as i don't think there's a rebrand at all there's still the chicago bears yeah i feel the thought process chris i do but at the same time I think they still will very much be the Chicago Bears because they represent the Chicago area. And Northwest Indiana, the Regent, is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. It's why they can listen to us.

Yes, it's part of the television market. They're not the New Jersey Giants or the New Jersey Jets. They're not the Santa Clara 49ers. They're not the Arlington Cowboys. Yes, I can go on and on with this. But yeah, so I think don't let your emotions get so amped. that you're not able to logically say, hey, there's the Chicago Bears,

they're just playing in a different place because that's ultimately what this is. It probably isn't the place that you want if you live in Illinois, but it's not unexpected. And I understand why people see it as like a one or zero. Well, in Arlington Heights, you're still paying for a billion dollars

for infrastructure versus several in Indiana and taxes are taxes. But I think the difference in this case is if you look at the Senate bill in Indiana, there will be new taxes levied. The fact of the matter is the question of how does Indiana get the money back or how much of it does the state of Indiana get back. So keep that in mind too. Yes, taxes exist in both states. Dare I say 50? But when it comes to how much and then what they go for, that's where the details

lies. So you're not wrong. You're not wrong in saying that there are taxes here by any means in the state of Illinois. It's just a matter of how much difference is it going to be for the taxpayers. here versus a taxpayer in Indiana versus your ticket payer, for example, that type of thing. So that's where we need help. And I think we're going to get some at 125, too, when Marshall, your colleague is coming to join us, Craig Wall from Channel 7. We're looking forward to that. We also have a special guest coming up next here on 104-3, the score, former Bears receiver Alan Robinson. And with all the discussion surrounding the Bears receivers in that last playoff game, for example, I think he'd be great to shed some light on this. Who is he paying attention to as well?

What does he think the Bears' offense is going to look like in the coming season? We'll discuss a lot of that with Alan next. Did the scouts expect you to be what you become? I don't think so. I don't think a lot of people did. For me, I definitely expected myself to play at this level. But when did you know that you were good? I haven't known since I was five years old.

He's got a fresh set of downs at the 32-yard line. Play action down the middle of the field. It is Robinson and two. The end zone. Touchdown, Chicago. Anderson twice keeping this thing alive. Big plays. Stafford.

Robinson, jumpball touchdown. Now, funny, locker room stories, I don't know about any funny, man. Ben is a pretty serious locked in dude, you know, and he's like that constantly. You know, Ben, every blue moon, you know, Ben, a crack one of those kind of evil smiles, if you will. With Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043, the score. That is the voice of Alan Robinson, the former Bears receiver from 2018 to 2021.

He now is one of us co-hosting the press release podcast. He is at Alan Robinson on X and he is kind enough to join us on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash the score Chicago. Alan, just know that here in Chicago today, most of our show has been centered around whether or not the bears are leaving Soldier Field, which is a conversation that I think started percolating around the time. you were still here. It's still going. It's still going.

I saw that. I didn't know if it was a spoof. I saw Indiana. I don't really know what's going on. But yeah, it did kind of start a little bit when I was there. Not so much so. Just a tiny bit. There were rumblings that it was going to be where the old horse racing area was at.

But I saw Indiana today and that absolutely blew my mind. The fact that you said it came off as a spoof to you, does that tell you how outraged you think Chicago fans would be at a move like taking the Bears? Not only out of Soldier Field, but out of the state of Illinois and putting them in Indiana. Yeah, listen, I don't know if that's a negotiation tactic. I don't know what it is. It just sounds so foreign to me that the state of Indiana would even have two football teams and the state of Illinois would have zero. I can't even fathom the Chicago Bears not being in Chicago, let alone being not even in the state of Illinois. Well, Alan, you bring a different perspective to it too, because we've talked to a lot of fans who discuss whether or not they want to make a drive somewhere.

As a player, how much does it actually factor in in your game day process, your day-to-day, that type of thing, where you're playing? You know, I think guys think about that a lot of times, though, you have the practice facility that may be out. in the suburb areas or in an area that has more space. It was like that when I was in L.A. It was like that in Chicago. So it's like that a lot of places. But it's the feel of going into Soldier Field in the city of Chicago. I remember with my family sometimes the night before the game or the day before the game we'll grab dinner or even stay in the city after the game and grab dinner.

So it was a very nice experience to be able to come into the city and just the overall feel and the energy of the city. you could feel it in Soldier Field in Chicago. And it's interesting that you said because you've played in different places, whether it was Jacksonville, Chicago, you mentioned L.A., and then, of course, Detroit, Pittsburgh. Like, Pittsburgh, it's all close by, you know, the Southside facility, and then you go to the stadiums, you could almost see the stadium from the practice facility.

Do you think that that would be a problem? I mean, football is a game where you don't play that many games. So home games, you know, it's really only talking about like nine, 10 dates. If you get to the playoffs, maybe a couple more. But to go all the way from north of the city, all the way to Indiana, and I'm guessing they would spend the night either downtown or somewhere around Hammond if they built hotels by then.

Casino. There's a casino there. True. How would that make you feel as a player or does it matter? I think that's tough. I think that's really tough on the families. I think that's really tough on the people who are coming in town and coming to the game. I mean, Chicago traffic alone is already something that you have to account for.

And now with the facility being in the suburbs, now you account for the travel getting through the city. So it will make the commute very difficult for the family and friends and for the people who are close to the players who want to have easy commutes and travel going to the games. I think it will make it more difficult. Alan Robinson is who we are talking to. And we wanted to ask him a lot of football questions. but when you have an actual NFL football player with you, talking to him about the stadium he would play in is also pretty valid. So, Alan, we appreciate the inside info.

I'm going to ask you this, excluding Soldier Field, to make it easy on you, but also we know how you feel about Soldier Field. Outside of Soldier Field, because I know you like playing there, what was your favorite stadium to play at either home or road? I got to go with Fort Field. And Fort Field, because I'm from Detroit. I'm a Detroit native. So I grew up in the dog days and years of the Detroit Lions.

Oh, and 16. I saw a lot of bad football growing up with the Lions. So the year that I was there, we won the division. We went 15 and 2. It was a phenomenal season to be able to see that stadium in downtown Detroit sold out all the lights flickering in the pregame festivities and player announcements. it was a phenomenal experience. Okay, that's a great answer,

and it obviously is understandable. My question is this, judging on what you thought Ben Johnson would do after seeing what he did in Detroit, and now what you've seen him actually do as the head coach of Chicago Bears, did he exceed expectations? Did he meet expectations?

How would you describe that season now that it's over and done with it in the books? I think he slightly exceeded expectations. expectation. I say that to get to the playoffs. I think that would be Ben Johnson's expectation as well. So it's tough to say exceed. I think if he had made it to the championship game or to the Super Bowl, then I

could have said exceed. But I would say he met my expectation. Ben Johnson is a phenomenal coach. With the team that he inherited with some of the players in Caleb Williams and a DJ Moore, D'Andre Swift, Cole Komet, with the guys they drafted. He had a phenomenal roster with just him being able to use the tools that he had on that roster. So I thought Ben Johnson would come in, set the foundation and build from there.

And that's what he did. And you could tell each and every week, those guys played hard. They won close games. I said this very early in the season. Ben Johnson's, he coaches his best in close games. And I think there were a lot of close game victories that the Chicago Bears won. Even one that comes to my mind is in Cincinnati, winning that in the last moments of the game. So I think the Chicago Bears turned a lot around this year as far as their

overall culture with the years prior with Iber Fluse losing some of those close games. We're talking to Alan Robinson, and I know you had a keen eye on the playoffs. I really appreciate even you telling us about just physically the process of going about your job as a receiver in the cold weather. I thought that that was such good advice and information, just watching, having that knowledge in these last two games, especially. I also want to know your advice and your impression of what you saw. You know, we talked a lot about that last play. DJ Moore got a lot of focus, you know, as a receiver yourself and a former Bears number one receiver.

You know, what did you think of that? And then just also the receiving performance in that final game against the Rams. Yeah, you know, when you look at a game, there's always times and moments where things can be better. Miscommunication and things like that. But I think the Bears, what they did was they gave themselves a shot to win the game. I mean, when you look at a game like that, there are many plays that you can look at throughout the course of the game that maybe could have changed the overall trajectory of how it played out. But I thought the weapons that Caleb had, I thought they made plays down the stretch. They were able to give themselves a shot, getting into overtime, drive the ball down and we're about 20 yards or so from kicking a game winning field going.

I also thought Caleb Williams, you know, he turned into Superman when he had to and made some extremely big plays. obviously he had the late game turnover that then led the Rams to go down and score. But I thought overall he played very well. And I think for a second year player, he had a lot of growth. And I think he should be proud of himself. And when I say proud, meaning being able to come in, have a new head coach, learn that offense, learn that system, get to the game that they got. And now going to the offseason and say, okay, now we have a great foundation to build upon.

And just as a follow up, you know, you know what it's like to install a new. new play or new route tree and there had been a lot of discussion about that happening. Makes sense, you know, from a coaching standpoint to be able to build on the systems that you talked about, build on plays that you drew up before, have something to be different. How hard can it be sometimes in those type of pressure situations as a receiver to install something differently knowing you're going to do it for the playoffs and knowing that everything's on the line? Yeah, it's difficult.

But what I always said is you would much rather a cheesecake factor. menu of plays and options and routes, then you would like a kitty menu. You know, you want to be able to say, okay, we have something for each and every situation. If we're being played like this to be able to take advantage of the defense and what they're giving us. So for me, going into weeks like that, even though it may take a little bit more studying, watching a little bit more film to be able to make sure that I'm honed in on the game plan, I always like to be able to have the versatility and the options and the and the bullets on hand to keep firing if you get into a shootout and you get into overtime that everything doesn't become repetitive for the defense

Alan Robinson the Pro Bowl wide receiver and a Chicago bear from 2018 to 2021 joining us here on Rahimi Harris and Grotie be sure to catch his podcast the press release pod that he is a co-host of Alan I got to ask you now the season is is over in the dust is settled, what should be the bear's biggest priority from your standpoint as far as what they need to shore up, what they need to improve on and get better at position-wise? I think two things. I think when you look at, when you have a quarterback like Caleb Williams, he makes everybody around him better or just with his overall mobility and being able to get the ball in different places. I think when you look at them offensively, skill position-wise,

I think they're extremely deep. I think with the guys that they drafted, with the guys that they currently having a roster, but you can always evaluate the D-line as far as how are we getting into the passer in some of these situations we're planning into Matthew Stafford. We can only run so many coverages that he won't be able to take advantage of. The thing that you can do to mitigate a player like that and a quarterback like that is being able to get pressure and not having to blitz. So I think being able to sure up the defensive line and try to get a piece here or there, I mean, Max Crosby, there's rumors of him wanting out of Las Vegas.

There's some big names on the market that you could come in that would really bolster the pass rush right away. We're talking to Alan Robinson here on the score, the former Bears receiver. He's also joining us on Twitch. If you missed it, Twitch.tv. slash the score Chicago. I think the last time we talked to you was either right before the last playoff game or it was right before the two playoff games. Is there anything that any other extra opinion you have of the Bears after seeing those last two playoff games that maybe you didn't have once the regular season ended.

Just to have that extra, when everything's on the line, the pressure type of judgment on the offense, I know you already felt like they made a lot of progress the last time we spoke to you. Yeah, you know, I think they were, listen, I think they were right where they needed to be at, you know, again, and I say that because it's a play that if you were to run that same play again, it wasn't anything to me that the Rams necessarily did. It just seemed like something was a little bit off on the offense. and if you can take that play back, then the bears might win and then go to the championship game.

So I don't think there's that much more that you could have asked or could have done differently in a game like that. Obviously, it's going to be highly competitive. They're playing against the Rams. It's the playoffs. I thought they did everything in their power and played extremely well. I think the main thing for them is just correcting some of the things that they did to beat themselves rather than what they need to improve upon as far as. physically, schematically, I think they're right there. Listen, Alan, I've made this proclamation.

Not everybody agrees with me. I want to know your thoughts on this. I say the Bears have found their franchise quarterback in Caleb Williams, and he's going to be the guy for the next decade plus. Where do you stand on Caleb's viability going forward? I would agree with that. I would agree with that. I mean, he's a guy who doesn't turn the ball over a lot.

Obviously, he did late in the game, but that's very correctable. He's a second-year player who switched coaches, but still didn't take a step back in their learning ability. It wasn't that Ben Johnson came in and we're having conversations of, was it too much on Caleb Williams played? How did he adjust to things down the stretch? We saw him play and make big plays and big time games and playoff games down the stretch.

And like I said before, they were about 15 yards away from being in the NFC championship game. So I think we have a second year quarterback that's at that level with a coach like Ben Johnson, Ben is only going to push him to be better. And I think the sky is the limit for him. And the number one thing that I think for young players, for a person like Caleb that he got accomplished this year is just the overall sheer confidence in himself and the confidence in his teammates around him that they have now in Caleb Williams seeing how he

performed in those playoff games and down the stretch. And you're right. Like when he said, I can make any throw. And when we saw the throws, I don't know how you disagree. I also want to ask you this, Alan. After watching all of the games, finishing up with the Super Bowl, who do you think was the best receiver in the league this year?

I would have to go with Jackson Smith & Jingle. I think he played lights out. I think we saw him shine the brightest in very big moments. Obviously, he didn't have a prolific Super Bowl, but I mean, Kenneth Walker kind of stole the show. But overall, I think consistency, game in, game out, he made plays down the show. stretch. He was available. He was consistent and he showed up when they needed the most.

What made him so good because not in general made him so good. That showed. But what made him so good at not only the route efficiency he had, but just how many times he would be absolutely open in a game where I'm going, how did he get that open? Like, where's the nearest defender here? Honestly, I think you got to give credit to Kubiak. And also I think you got to give credit to the run game. I think with them having a two-headed monster for majority of season, being able to get the run game established and going, I think in some of those play action concepts, he's kind of not easily gets lost, but if you can dial up some concepts, you know, you can take advantage of those defense who are really stepping up in the run game. So I would have to give a credit to the

coaching staff and also the run game because as all receivers know, when you can establish the run, those play action passes sometimes just become gimmies. I'm curious to who, as to who you think has the brightest future from this past year's rookies. When you look at the success of Calmanungai, Colston Loveland, and of course Luther Burden III, who do you think is poised to have the most success next season? I think Loveland or Luther Burden, every time I saw Luther Burden get the ball this season, he made plays.

Rather if that was him making a guy miss, whether that was him getting a first down, it always seemed to be something explosive and not just an ordinary play when the ball. touched his hands. It was like I said before, it was going to take more than one tackler to bring him down. He was moving the chains. He made some contested catches. He did a lot of different things that I was just surprised to see the overall,

how broad his game was and how much he was able to do, not just being a catching run guy, not just being a route guy, but being able to do a little bit of everything. Alan Robinson, always great to talk to you. You can check out his press release podcast anywhere you get your podcasts. What's the latest episode that you guys discussed? We've talked about going into the combine and what the prep before the combine is like.

We'll actually be at the combine next year. So we'll have a guest on our show. We'll be talking a little bit more in depth to what the combine is like. And once you get to testing day and what those jitters can be like. And just the overall differences in the combine from when us old guys were at the combine

to now when you have fans, they're cheering and it's a little bit different atmosphere when the guys are running and performing. So you and Prince and Mukamara are giving, like, me and Marshall some workout tips and getting ready for the combine. I'm here for it all. A little bit. A little bit.

Zero inches. I'll say this. I think the biggest thing going to the combine for everybody is you just are kind of thrown into different parts of the country to train that you've never really been a part of. So it's you getting accustomed to that city very quickly, to the workout regiments, the new diets and everything. There's a lot of little things that take place, but the thing that is universal with everybody is,

whenever you get on the field and in between those lines when it comes to training, you're in your Zen spot and you're able to just do what you love to do. Love it, Alan. Thanks so much for joining us, man. You always got great insight, especially because of your unique perspective, someone who's played all around the NFL, but of course, a special place in your heart for the Bears.

Most definitely. I appreciate you guys having me. Thank you. That sounds like a great episode, Alan. Thanks for letting us in on it. Thanks for joining us today. Alan Robinson, the co-host of the press release podcast with Prince of Mukamura. Sounds like a really good episode coming up on the Combine, too.

So you've got a zero-inch vertical. I can clear a phone book. That's where we're at. I feel like you and I had better ops back in the day. Well, I know I did, but those things do not exist anymore. I was hoping maybe he'd give us a vertical tip or a 40-yard dash tip or something. He doesn't want us to hurt ourselves, Leila. somebody inevitably hurts themselves the week of the combine doing some radio bit about a 40-yard dash

I wonder if rich I isn't still running the 40 right is he every year he runs the 40 at the combine but he does it every year yeah see even that is more than most people okay that's fair that every year at least he's got that going for him uh Craig Wall had to had to cancel because he's chasing down a massive amount of news today wouldn't you say right he's working on Tuesday stories. So you can check that out on Channel 7 tonight. How do you like that? Double your information. In the meantime, J.B. Pritzker spoke. So let's give everybody their time. We have J.B. Pritzker speaking about the meeting that wasn't in Springfield this morning. We can repeat to you what the Bears statement was. And apparently all of this happened without a very

important figure in the process. So we'll do that next. Rahimi Harrison Grody The great Kevin Harlan I just pulled through the Taco Bell Drive-thru 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 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 way Put some hot sauce on my burrito baby Rahimi Harris and Grotty

Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on the score. I did speak to one Northwest suburban official afterwards. And I said, give me the, give me the brass tax. Is there any way that the bears would actually move to Indiana? And this person said, and I'm reading it off my page, so I get it right, there is no way George McCasky could stomach the heat the bears would take

if the bears were to move to Indiana. As this person put it to me, they could not handle losing that press conference. That was Mark Grady talking about. about the rally he went to last week in Arlington Heights to raise awareness for the Arlington Heights project. Today, we found out that according to J.B. Pritzker's office, the Bears asked to postpone the meeting that was on the agenda to pass the mega bill that would have given the bears $880 million for their Arlington Heights Stadium project. Then we get a statement from the bears. And it said in part the passage of Senate Bill 27,

that is Indiana's Senate Bill 27, would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date. We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. That phrase is important. Finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence

to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area. So they are communicating to you that they want to build in Hammond, Indiana. We then also find out news that Kevin Warren was not attending the meeting. And then that was the one with the Bears and Illinois officials yesterday.

That was reportedly three hours. Kevin Warren, not in attendance. And then also we're getting some updates here from Indianapolis. This is from Hannah Adamson, the Fox 59 and CBS 4 Indie Statehouse reporter. The cults have weighed in.

The cults on the Chicago Bears tentative plan to relocate to him in Indiana. Quote, we wish the Bears all the best on their stadium initiative. End quote. Is that like wishing somebody well in their future endeavors? You know what? There's so much back and forth here. There's so much, you're like, are you trying to spam me? Is this a real comment?

Are you just trying to say something to say something? Well, I think if they had protested, that would have given some pause to the situation. That would have stopped the freight train because they also have a publicly funded by the state of Indiana Stadium in Lucas Oil. Layla, where is the freight train now? Well, apparently the freight train,

according to Hannah Adamson, has a stop in Hammond, because she says the city of Hammond, Indiana, will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. local time so that's in 30 minutes because that's Eastern time. No, Hammond is Central. Okay, so 3 p.m. local time regarding a tentative plan to bring the Chicago Bears to the area. That's that old sneaky split state time zone deal. All I know is this 3 p.m. press conference?

Central, we're assuming. What is it that you hope to glean from it? Do you think they're going to have numbers for you and explain exactly how the numbers are coming? because I don't think this is going to have pep rally feel, if I'm being honest. That's my fear here. And as a reset, we know that part of the new taxes in Indiana State Bill 27, Senate Bill 27,

that would support a Bear Stadium in Indiana, a 12% stadium ticket tax, a 5% Lake County Inkeepers tax, so that's hotel tax, a potential 1% food and beverage tax in Lake in Porter counties. And then there's also been other discussions surrounding the toll roads and perhaps them helping fund this project.

So there does sound like there would be new charges to residents for this project. I just want to know if the shovels are not going into the ground, like right now, when is the date? What is the target? What is the schedule? What is the next step? Well, and frankly, as I mentioned before, what's the real intent here? Because Capital Facts, who is a fabulous account on Twitter, who covers, all of the news out of Springfield, said at 1159 this morning, Pritzker talks about the bears.

They asked us to not move forward with the bill yesterday. Now they're saying to us that the statement is not some confirmation that they're moving to Indiana, but rather that Indiana had asked them to say that. And that's what also gave us some pause, because that didn't sound that way. So that's part of a J.B. Pritzker interview he gave. And as I understand, Ray, we do have this from WBBM. So let's listen to the first part, which is some of the details. here regarding that very statement I read?

Well, let me start with the fact that it was a surprise to us. The Bears actually yesterday, we completed more than three hours. My team did of discussions with the Bears, very positive discussions. And indeed, mostly agreed on a bill that would move forward this morning. But they asked us not to move forward with it this morning because they said they wanted to tweak a little, a couple of items. in the bill, which were things that we were working with them on. And so to have a statement put out by the Bears, now they're saying to us that that statement is not some confirmation that they're moving to Indiana, but rather that Indiana had asked

them to say that, you know, they're going to move forward with the negotiations in Indiana. But I have to say it's very disappointing to hear that they would put that statement out, but not say anything about the advancement that's been made in the state of Illinois. But, you know, we're waiting to hear from the Bears what they'd like to do next. Well, Kevin Warren didn't attend the meeting yesterday. That's odd that Kevin Warren wasn't the meeting. Well, I knows who was there representing the Bears at the meeting? Now, we know that Kevin Warren's family, his great niece, is Breezy Johnson, the world-famous Olympic skier.

So perhaps that had something to do with it because we know at last report, was in Italy supporting her, which frankly makes sense, but the timing of all of this is unfortunate when you consider this is largely why we know he was brought in. He's got lieutenants who can execute orders, I'm sure, but at the same time, it's just not a good look. It's odd to say the least, unless something of a flight, I don't know what could have kept him from the meeting. So let's also, so that is acknowledged in this interview, right? So, yeah, this is like a little Q&A forum with some reporters, which included Jeff Dankert from WBBM.

And one of the cuts that you don't have in front of you there is Governor Pritzker discussing the absence of a key bear's figure in a meeting yesterday in which the team and state officials mostly agreed on a bill. Warren chose not to be in that meeting. And indeed they had instead one of their other leads who's been in every conversation with. us as well. She's a terrific representative for them. And, you know, we trust her. And we had eight people in that discussion involving the legislators, involving the governor's office, involving the Bears and their representatives. And so, again, lots of progress, but a surprise this morning to wake up and see that statement. I'm guessing that's Karen Murphy, the Executive Vice President of Stadium Development and Chief Operating Officer. I'm guessing that's who that was.

because he said she, so that would make it make sense, yeah. And she's been in that role for a long time, so I'm not questioning capability here, but it's more about the optics. Yeah, well, it's the optics as a puzzle piece when you look at the bigger puzzle, right, with the Indiana and the Bears announcement, and then Governor Pritzker's telling you

that the Bears told them that, oh, no, it's not what you think it is. But as he mentioned, they didn't announce any kind of advancement with the state of Illinois on anything because they haven't gotten it done. In fact, they canceled the meeting where that was supposed to get done. Postponed is what we understand. Cancelled would mean it's not happening altogether.

The state said hold and postponed. And I think that's important too because the initial reports we saw said canceled. So it's not necessarily stricken from the record entirely. The bill is still out there. But then what's this discussion here about this. sprays, we are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. When you hear that, does that not indicate that they're going to build a stadium there?

No, no, I think that indicates that they're, you know, checking all the nooks and crannies, crossing T's, dotting eyes to make sure that it can hold up as the actual site. Because the due diligence is the key there. Well, but my point is the implication of that statement and the overall idea is that they want to build a stadium there. You don't do due diligence on a site to not to not intend to build a stadium there. You're not just walking around to hang out. I think you do diligence to make sure that the site is absolutely 100% viable. That's how I read that statement. Because again, it says we are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision.

Like we can see it. I don't even know if we can make it happen though until we do our due diligence to make sure that this site has everything. everything that we need to build the world-class stadium. So let's listen to more from J.B. Pritzker as to the meeting that should have happened. Let's go with this second soundbite here that's on our list about progress that was made. I want to protect the taxpayers of Illinois. I've said from the start, we are not going to build a stadium for them. We do infrastructure. There's a lot of infrastructure needs that they would need, both in Indiana. They would need it, but here in Illinois. And also that we need to make sure that we're building into this affordability for people so that they can maybe afford

to go to a game or afford to pay for things at the game. We want to make sure that we're protecting the consumers and taxpayers of the state. So those are just some of the principles that I've laid out. We have made a lot of advancement in that conversation with them. So again, I'm surprised, dismayed, very disappointed at what I saw in a statement. Again, the best of the best of bears post that have said, well, we didn't really mean that they're moving to Indiana, which is kind of the implication of it. But it's apparently not true. I swear to you, I did not hear that before I spoke. I have watched, it's always sunny in Philadelphia. And that is where I use the implication word. But I, I didn't, okay, so I didn't mean to quote him. I just felt the

same way about reading this. Lela, the most important part of that sound that we just heard from Prisker is this. The implication. Well, no, no. It's this. We are not going to build a stadium for the Bears. You know who is willing to build a stadium for the Bears? The state of Indiana. Door number two.

I'm telling you, like, I can't ignore or avoid that fact. The governor is telling you right there. We're here for the infrastructure. We're not going to build a stadium for you. Meanwhile, in Indiana, we're willing to build the stadium for you. Now, we don't have it sorted out how much of the profit from, let's say, non-game day revenue would go to the Bears.

A Taylor Swift concert, if you will. Yeah. If it's built in Indiana, if they have to share any of that profit, whereas we know if they do it in Arlington Heights, it's all bears all the time. And so I want to know what the Bears have calculated, the number that they're not willing to do in terms of how much extra it costs to build in Arlington Heights. versus Indiana and what that threshold is that they're willing to accept to stay in Illinois. I think a lot of this is the bears working with nuance and winks and in the gray. I think there's a reason the statement was written the way it was written. Yeah.

I think just like dating, they want to keep both options open. I told you, there's a mean timer factor here. There's also like very much elevator music playing right now in the face of Illinois while they wait. Which all of that is fine. but as I mentioned before, the order of operations is what makes this so baffling. And that's why this is so hard to interpret. Process does help dictate intent on a lot of this stuff typically, which is why we are confused as to the process and we're not the only ones.

This isn't the only stadium that the state of Illinois is built. We just illustrated it's not the only way that the state of Indiana has built a stadium. However, the Bears process in Indiana is going, in order. You know, it was, hey, Portage, we'll listen to you. Hey, Gary, we will listen to you. Hammond, we will listen to you. We haven't bought any land yet. How much can you help us out? Oh, are you going to put together a bill that says that you're going to tax based on this intent? Yes, you are. Okay, well, what taxes are you going to have happen? That is going in order. That is the right way to go about it from what we've seen previous teams do with stadiums.

I will say that part, for sure. I'll say this again. Kevin Warren wasn't here when they went out of order. So my question really is, if you have a problem with the fact they went out of order, which is perfectly fine because, yes, they went out of order, what would you do then to reconcile that? It seems like Kevin Warren, with this leverage play or just finding another option, has gone through those steps, even though he wasn't at the meeting yesterday. And I also want to reiterate the reporting that we have done.

According to a source familiar with the Bears Stadium situation, the tweet from Governor Pritzker's office this morning was accurate. The Bears asked to hold the meeting. and when we say hold, we mean put it on hold for now, postpone it. There is an agreement that things are moving in the right direction. Minor language tweaks still have to be finalized in the House, and clearly the Illinois government is waiting to hear back from Bears' leadership. Part of Bears' leadership is out of town.

I added the last part. Well, do we know he's out of town or we know he just wasn't? Okay, that's what I'm saying. Is he still as well? As last reported. Yeah. Okay. You want to do something different?

Something fun? Is it fun? When misogyny goes bad. Next. Can you imagine Lovey Smith doing the whole good, better, best thing? And saying bleep the Packers. Come on, guys, good better best.

Never let it rest. I'll see you on Tuesday. Middays 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. Are you mansleeing? to me right now. Okay. Okay. What you got?

What you got? What you got? So I have Olympics content, by the way. I enjoy the Olympics. I'm an Olympics enthusiast. I am too. I just want to make one quick note. It was Sarah Warren, his great niece.

I'm sorry. I accidentally said Breezy Johnson. I had skiing on the mind, and here's why. So Kevin Warren was at the Olympics to support his great niece, Sarah Warren, a speed skater. and she looks badass. She finished 28th, right? I don't have it off the top of my head,

but I accidentally said Breezy Johnson, and I'm sorry, that was not true. I was thinking about Breezy Johnson because I was thinking about skiing. And the reason I was thinking about skiing was because of Eileen Gou getting asked a question that was just out of pocket. It was absolutely kind of ridiculous,

and you can hear it for yourself. Also, do you see these as two silvers gained or two goals lost? I'm the most decorated female freeskier in history. I think that's an answer in and of itself. How do I say this? Winning a medal at the Olympics is a life-changing experience for every athlete. Doing it five times is exponentially harder.

Because every medal is equally hard for me, but everybody else's expectations rise, right? And so the two medals lost situation, to be quite frank with you, with you, I think is kind of a ridiculous perspective to take. I'm showcasing my best skiing. I'm doing things that quite literally have never been done before. And so

I think that is more than good enough. But thank you. I can't believe she answered it so diplomatically. I would not have. I will not. Would not. Could not. She answered that. It was water off a duck's back.

Which makes me wonder, How many times has she been asked ridiculous questions? And I get, I get the concept of why it was asked, like, oh, because you're the favorite, you know, did you feel like you lost two gold medals? And maybe it's the spirit of Ricky Bobby if you're not first or last. But at the same time, it just came off so condescending. And that's, that's also, I just felt like it was out of pocket. It sounded misogynistic, the way it was delivered.

And I think Eileen Gou did the absolute right thing into how she tried to explain that why winning a medal is not only hard, winning multiple medals is even more difficult outside of a vacuum. And I'll say this. Eileen Gou has had an interesting path. Is that a fair way to say it to the Olympics? As someone that some have said should be representing the United States of America because she was born here. You mean her existence was weaponized? So here's the thing. Eileen goo is a famous, famous,

as someone who's born in San Francisco, California, but has competed in the Olympics for China. And it's interesting because people are really upset that she is representing China in the Olympics. She makes, I think it's over $20 million a year. And I wonder, if because of that, that's why she's so used to questions going off the rails. So she can handle anything.

You know what's funny is we actually have a score connection to another competitor for China at one point. Jake Chelyos, Chris Chelyos, his son played for the Kunloon Red Star in China. And in 2022, he represented China's host nation hockey team at the Winter Olympics. Okay. that's real. It happens more often than you'd think. And the fact that she's won five medals, I'm not saying that gold isn't more valuable than silver

and silver isn't more valuable than bronze, but it's really hard to win a medal at the Olympics. The best in the world. 847 has it right. The laugh said it all. She made the reporter sound ridiculous. Also, 847 on our text lines, suggested we try to read more of the texts.

It was physically impossible today. They were coming up fast. They also get put out of order if you have a long text. So like your last sentence sometimes pops up before your first and it's very hard to follow. So bear with us. There was a lot of multitasking that was done today as we tried to bob and weave with all of the breaking news. Bear. Bear.

Lawrence is in the building. And Matt Spiegel is in Arizona. Matt's in a. Oh, there you are, Lawrence. Lawrence. Lawrence is that you? I see Lawrence Holmes I got that's Lawrence Holmes music

I just see a shadow because he's kind of far back away from the window okay now I see him there he is yes I see Lawrence I see Alex Coon we'll check in also with Matt Spiegel

and also by the way thanks to everybody who was a part of our show Ray Diaz Tyler Beuter Baugh Connor O'Donnell Jacob Stutz Max Curtis Brandon Friar we didn't get to thank you guys

at the top of the show so you're getting a thank you now and you're getting it next sorry