Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Full Show — March 30, 2026

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote reacted to the Cubs dropping their opening series against the Nationals and celebrating Illinois advancing to the Final Four.

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

Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. The man who just got the deal done. Crow Armstrong. Is there anything that comes to your head that you didn't say in the press conference that you actually want people to know here, just something that's top of mind? Oh, sorry, but... Watch your own profanity. Right, I'm sorry. I'm so ready to keep showing up for these fans that

do the same for us. And I'm just excited to show up for my boys every day and just kind of dive in everybody else's success. Be you excited? Definitely, yeah, I'm fired up. Yeah. We're going. We love that. And our internet listeners love that. But unfortunately, on the FCC in the public airwaves. Everybody who listened online got a present in the meantime. We had to dump it as we say and cut out the cuss word. But Pete, I'm glad you're fired up. And that was great. We've got a bit of an issue with Phoebe's behavior. There's A bit. She's been swearing a lot. How bad is it? Today she called one of her classmates an apathetic.

Uncle Roy, do you make an ice cream? No. Sorry. F no. You said pop of the mind. No, no. You know what? You've got to let it flow.

And I feel like that's exactly what happened. Just whatever comes in mind, shout it out. Who the hell is this guy? I am the guy who roused that crowd, got him on their feet. They were so happy down there. Our poor producer Ray spilled his coffee. So thanks for christening our studio over here. No, no.

It's okay. I'm so sorry. Well. Don't let it happen again. You think that I would let this happen again? No way, Jose. It's okay. For your birthday, we'll let you cuss on the air and spill coffee.

How's that? Thanks. That's a great gift. Today is my B-Day, and people around here just go crazy for it. I don't know why. Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104. The Score. In the words of Pete Crowe Armstrong, let's go.

I think you skipped a word there. Yeah, I did, because I don't want to get fired to start my week. That would kind of stink. Positive. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104.3, the score. We are happy to have you on this Monday. That should be a lovely day outside. So there it is.

Hopefully we can get outside if we can. In the words of PCA, let's blank and go. Great interview, guys. I listened to that in real time, great questions, and PCA was awesome, too. So very good stuff. Hopefully he'll be a regular on Rahimi Harris and Grody. That is the voice of Mark Grody. You heard Marshall Harris earlier.

This is Rahimi, Harris, and Grody on 104-3, the score. And the vibes were high, in the words of Matt Spiegel. After that Pequere Armstrong interview, making it official. We saw the news about Nico being made officially official before the game on Sunday. And I thought for sure, you know, Cubs and Nationals, great way to ease everybody in, great way to start the season. You're not facing the Dodgers in Japan, for example, to begin the year. You're not facing the buzzsaw that is the NL West this time around. Good way to really gauge some things.

And not a good way to begin when you're dropping a series like this to the Nationals to start. Mark's face says it all. You're just, you're in consternation. Look, I said it when we. did the remote from Sluggers the other day, that you have to take advantage of the early average schedule to this season with the Angels incoming. I'm looking forward to seeing Edward Cabrera get his first start in a Cubs uniform tonight in the first night game out at Wrigley Field. And I guess this is also my annual reminder to people that you can watch

and take seriously, whatever you want to take seriously early in a baseball season, because there's too many people pointing their fingers and telling everybody, it's too early to be taking this stuff seriously. It doesn't matter. Don't take it so seriously. No, you can watch baseball how you want to watch baseball. If you don't take the first 30 games of the season seriously, then why do we even cover baseball for the first 30 seasons or the first 30 games of the season? We should just wait until then and just talk bears for the first 30 days if nobody cares about the start of a baseball season. So watch baseball how you want. take seriously what you want

and you don't have to listen to the finger waggers tell you that you're not allowed to take seriously what happened in the first series of the season where the Cubs lost two out of three to a team that they shouldn't have lost two out of three to a three to a team. The last thing you said is the most important thing you said. They lost two of three to a team they should not have. As far as you policing the fans and their fandom,

let me police your policing and say, do whatever you want. That's what I just said? Yeah, yeah, no, no, I'm saying. But I just don't like the people telling me or telling anybody telling one that, oh, don't take this so seriously. It's early in the season. Things are going to change, which they probably will, but you are allowed to take it seriously game to game or what are we doing?

Do you know who took it seriously? Joey Weamer. Like, why am I talking about Joey Weamer's performance making history going eight for eight reaching the plate? You can make the argument that the Cubs are lucky that Joey Weamer was held out of Saturday's lineup by the way that Joey Weamer performed in the series. The first player in nationals slash expos. You had to roll out the expos to reach base in each of his first eight played appearances with the team. I'm watching this game yesterday. And I'm seeing what's happening.

And I confess, okay, I confess. I did not think that was a, in the world of pitches, Shoda Imanaga has thrown to give up home runs. I didn't think that was a bad one. It was at least low. He had to go down and get it. but the problem is he went down and he got it. Three run Jack. And when I consider the body of work

and I ask myself at the end of the game what I'm watching, I'm going, why the hell do I have to talk about Joey Weamer? Like, why is this man taking up space in my brain? So that's, I go back and I think about some of the series where we talked last year about what went on at Wrigley. And I think for everybody who said, well, you know, Seattle also played in that hot weather.

and they didn't seem to have trouble with you. The Nationals also played in the same weather this weekend. You've got to point the finger sometimes or the thumb if necessary. And dropping two or three to the nationals, even though, yes, it is early. And I'm sorry you're fatigued by this. But you know who's not fatigued about talking about the series they just had this weekend? The Milwaukee Brewers.

And that's where I'm at right now. Or do you say White Sox? Well, I say Brewers and White Sox. Both teams played a big difference. it in what happened in Milwaukee over the weekend. But look, look, I know people are going to point the finger at Shodan Managa, but let's be realistic. Shodan Managa on a day where the wind was blowing out was going to give up a home run. Like, if you really thought Shodanmanaga wasn't going to give up a home run, I got some land to sell you that I don't even know where it is. I don't

know if it exists, but I'm going to sell it to you because you believe in miracles. Just tell people it's too early and then they'll be like, oh yes, you don't want to talk about baseball all early, so you must be my guy to buy land for him. No, no, but, but seriously, with Shodda Minaga specifically, he's going to give up home runs. He knows it, I know it, you know it. Craig Counsel certainly knows it. You just prefer them to be the solo type. And if you give up a solo home run, it's not a big deal. But if you strike out two batters and then you give up two singles and then give up a home run, it's problematic. All that being said, I have much less issue with Shoda who gave up four runs over five plus innings. That's fine. You're in the

ball game. I have a much, much bigger problem with the Cubs offense yesterday. They managed four hits. They walked twice. Now, three of those four hits did leave the yard. Alex Bregman, home runs number one and two as a cub. He went back to back with Ian Hap early to try to get it to come close. But when you're facing a guy like Jake Irvin, and if you didn't know the book on Jake Irvin coming into the game, last year he gave up 114 runs. That's more than anybody in baseball. Last year, he gave up 38. home runs. That's more than anybody in baseball. If you can't get it going against a guy like that and put up, I don't know, five, six runs, what are we really doing here? Here is, you're right. That's a great point, but I want to take it back to show to Eminaga. And you said, like,

he settled down after the Joey Weimer, three-run Homer on a two-one count. I did think, I disagree with you, Lela. You know that we talked about this before the show. I thought it was a very, very hitable pitch. I thought it was wheelhouse stuff. even if it was a little bit low. Shoda Imanaga finished 2025 by allowing a home run in each of his final nine regular season starts, adding up to 15 home runs in the postseason. He allowed three home runs in six and two thirds across the two games that they allowed him to pitch in. So in a season in which most people are picking the Cubs to, at the very least,

least win the division. This is something that needs to be heavily monitored and something that is allowed to be concerned about even after just one start in the month of March. That's my thing. Every single year that I have covered this team, I get a lot of questions that I either had before the season began reaffirmed as questions or we find some answers. And that starts on opening day. and yeah there's a lot of selective memory that goes on with listeners and and talking about

well it's earlier you know oh you guys are so negative no we talk about every single game every one of them so people lie because that's what happens in 2025 it's okay to not like a show it's not okay to need to lie about it like you can have your opinion it's going to be okay you don't need to lie to back it up but when it comes to this like don't lie to yourselves either understand that if people are picking up where they left off, Shardy Minaga gives up that three run jack. With runners on base, by the way, it wasn't a solo shot.

And then additionally, up the street, you've got a team that buzz sawed and found ways to win, by the way, on Sunday's game, where Sir Anthony Dominguez melted down. You know, that's the point, is that's what you want to see out of your team. So understand it's being done in the division.

It just didn't happen this weekend. I want to make something really clear too, Marshall, is that, like, if you are somebody who's like, I don't take baseball seriously early, that's okay. That's all right. I just don't want the lectures of how, no, you can't, this is too early to be taking this year. That's all I'm saying. Like, if you are one of those and you want to have a debate, that is fine. But the lectures that I'm already hearing about how you can't take it seriously in the first few games of the season, get out of here with that. I'm about inclusivity, and that's why I said I'm policing your policing, because I'll make sure you're all welcome here.

whether you take it seriously or not. You're all welcome here. I think we're kind of on the same page. At my table. And the thing I want to ask you guys is, and I understand what you're saying about having a certain expectation for a team that we all pick to win the division, if I remember incorrectly,

Shodem Anaga's going to give up home runs. Like, I don't understand why that's a big deal, because that's the expectation. The expectation is that your offense will come to play and against a team like the nationals, you'll still score more runs than them. Didn't happen. It's fine. Matthew Boyd's opening day start was a big reason why they lost two out of three.

But Chowdem and I giving up four runs over five plus in his first start. If I told you this is what's going to happen on Sunday, I bet you would have signed up for that with Jake Irvin opposite him. But it got really bad again at the end of last season to the point where a lot of us are wondering, has he lost a step as a starting pitcher? Is it because he was so terrific in 2024 and all of that, rookie of the year candidate. Cy Young candidate.

It was great, but something has been lost, and I didn't, maybe I missed it. Did you guys see the velocity go up yesterday? Because I was hit over the head in spring training about his velocity going up. Yeah, it actually, I mean, it was, yeah, it was a night on the four seam fastballs, it was an average of 92 miles an hour. And on September 25th of 2025, he threw 40 four seamers at 90.7. So, thank you. Those are the numbers.

marquee and the reason why I had that is because I wanted to take a picture of the graphic. But here's the issue. There's a lot of guys who throw gas and the fastball's too straight and then they give up a lot of home runs and they help supply the power to do so because they're throwing it so hard. I don't think that's what showed to I'managa did. I am showing you the fallacy of velocity. And I think in this case, hopefully it is a work in progress and remains as such. But, you know, the frustrating part of it is for us. We're not here talking about this on Sunday after Kate Horton's gym and after the Cubs actually doing work and teeing off against Miles Michaelissa, which has become a truth in baseball that the Cubs like to face him and he doesn't like

facing them either. Especially at Wrigley. Yeah, that seems to be a truth. But one out of three ain't enough. The math doesn't math. No, I'm with you on that. One out of three is bad. The team has to be better and that's both pitching and offense. And oh, Hobie Molnar, please clean things up next time you come into the game and not give up a two-run bomb to K Bear Ruiz. That would also be advisable if you want to come back in games like that. Because if Shodem-Managa is going to be what I think he is, and I don't understand how anybody would have come to a conclusion, hey, this guy's not going to give up home runs. He's going to give up home runs.

Your offense just needs to come to play. That's bottom line. The Alex Brackman Homer's were nice, though. It was good to see that. If you would like a positive out of it to take one out to left field and then going Apo was a beautiful thing to see from Alex Bregman. And one thing that I'm always nervous about as it pertains to the teams that I watch and cover and care about is when you have a brand new player, a free agent, I'm always wanting them to get off to a fast start. It's deadly when a guy comes in and they have the super slow start and you wonder, is it worth it?

So it was nice to see, even in a loss to see Alex Bregman hit the ball out of the park. Did you like that celebration? That celebration with the tongue wagging out after he hit the first home run. I love that. I don't know if I caught that. Yeah. He was, I mean, he, and to have two home runs, you know, one I think may have been helped by the ballpark, but the other one, absolutely not.

So you got your choice of what you wanted to see there. Ian Hap had two home runs in two days. You know, for everybody who hates on Ian Hap on the show constantly. Contract here. Our listeners, though, our listeners. So, like, that's, you know, Ian Hap will find his, he'll find his level. The bigger issue is, once again, you know, kind of like four runs should win you a ballgame on opening day.

Four hits doesn't win you a ball game either. We talk about the one pitch that gave up the three run jack, partially because we're talking about how the home runs were solo shots, and you didn't have as many ducks on the pond as you wanted. You know, that's a part of this too. When you've got only four hits in their entirety in a game out of a team that you expect to win, that's also an issue here. The Cubs were 0 for 1.

with runners in scoring position. Let me juxtapose that real quick. They were four for 19, which means they had 19 opportunities with runners in scoring position on opening day. You remember like every inning they'd have people on and people doing things and they just couldn't quite push it home. Then in the second game, they were four for 13 with runners in scoring position. The fact they only had one opportunity with a runner in scoring position tells you how that game was going to go. Home runs are nice, three of them, but solo home runs are not the same as the one home run that obviously had two people on base. If you were Joey Wimmer,

I think we'll all be happy that Joey Wimmer's out of town. Unfortunately, next guy up, Mike Trout, by the way, six for 13 with two bombs and he looks like the old Mike Trout. He's back. Mike Trout is back. I miss Mike Trout being really good and being... No, you don't. Not this week.

Not this week you don't. I do. I'm with you, though. If you like... Yes. He's on an inconsequential team in the AOS. It's all fun in games until you talk about an inconsequential team in the NL East

and then they're here and win two out of three. But it is, baseball is fun when Mike Trout is playing well. That can, that can be true. He's been overtaken, though, by a lot of other fun players. How about the entire L.A. Dodgers team. Yeah, the L.A. Dodgers and his former teammate. Yeah, Showey, of course.

But like, do you know, Mike Trout doesn't care? He's happy doing what he does. Making his money, right? It almost feels like Showy was, it almost feels like Shawley was never an angel. Like, he's always just. been a Dodger. And that's sad, right? To have him and Mike Trout on the same team and never do anything. Well, what about Poo-Hulls, too?

With the triumvirate on that team or no? No, it was late stage Albert Poo-Holes. I believe, and this is dating myself, with Josh Hamilton. Oh, Hamiblin. That's right. Remember when they gave Hamilton like a billion dollars or something? The Angels used to write a lot of checks. They never met a check they didn't like. That was for sure.

If you were a free agent who had had like all-star status for a couple years, the Angels were like, oh, would you like to play in Orange County? It looked good. Then they gave people a lot of money. Poo-Hulls batted 117 games and had a point-to-war in Shohei Otani's rookie season with the Angels. They existed together, but it was not a beautiful thing. Wait, with Trout. With Trout.

With Trout. That's what I'm saying. All three of them were together. That year, Mike Trout, had a 9.9 war. And they couldn't do anything. Rolls never, like he was very good with the Angels, like in his prime still, but never, I don't think he ever quite lived up to it. Like what he did in St. Louis will always be more memorable.

And maybe it's just because of my Cubsness. But I think that his days with St. Louis will always be his prime. Kate Horton, good job. G.J.S. Good job Saturday. Edward Cabrera, pick up where he left off. Can't wait to see that guy through her tonight. Yeah.

In the meantime, we know who some Cubs are going to be for. a very long time. Nico Corner. His extension was made official yesterday. We're going to talk about that next. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104.3, the score. We come to you live from our Scores, Hyundai Studios, brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. When we have breaking news here on the score, it is brought to you by Wildfire. Enjoy a delicious meal at Wildfire Restaurant with five Chicago land locations. You can text us and call us and have been doing so. 312, 64, 64, 67, 67. That's where we get great text like 7-7-9 saying don't forget about Anthony Rendon

or Grody, I love your idea. No baseball talk for 30 days. Just bears. Signed Lenny a socks, man. Well, there will be some bears today because the owners meetings are up and running. So we have news coming from the NFL today. Kael and Kailer will join us for that at 11 as well.

And then Ray Diaz is our producer, along with Tyler Beaterbaud, that excellent open with Pete Cuss Armstrong there. Brandon Friar helps us out too. What are you, Haw? Cody Westerland, yes, Cody Westerland and Connor O'Donnell, along with Jacob Stutz and Max Curtis, are our video team. You can watch us. At YouTube, The Score, Chicago is our address there.

There is a chat, and there is also a very robust chat on our Twitch stream, Twitch.tv. slash The Score, Chicago, good morning to our mom. Nico Horner will be here for a long time. We'll talk about the details behind his extension. How much money that comes have spent total this offseason? because my goodness, and then also how the deal got done, because there's something in there that I think is worthy of your time. That's next.

Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's Tyndall 2 on Chicago Sports Radio, 104-3, the score. The 2-1. Horner lines 1 to left. This will drop in and bounce off the wall. Crow Armstrong around third. He comes home. Nico cruises in the second base. RBI double. It's now the Cubs six, Nationals 2, here in the fifth.

That is Zach Zadman on the call. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie. On 104 through the score, that was Nico Horner's two-run double from Saturday in the Cubs win that they did have, where things looked like I think we expected. Kate Horton showed out. The offense showed up in that game, scoring 10 runs. But they end up dropping two of three to the nationals. It wasn't the biggest news, though, over the weekend that the Cubs had. They had a lot of news, whether was P. Peacro Armstrong officially talking on Friday about his extension to the tune of $15 million, and then Sunday morning before the game, we got the news about Nico. The Cubs gave Nico the graphic treatment. They posted the official Nico Horner extension at six years, $141 million.

Given all of the other spending the Cubs had in the offseason, it is a total of $488 million. That's a big deal, especially for this team. And Nico, now that center of the defense, the spine of the defense that we talk about, Danes B. Swanson, Nico Horner, and then Peacro Armstrong backing it up in center. I think the Cubs had a pretty defined direction that they wanted to go in, and they continued to do so with the, I think, extension and making Nico a career cup, essentially for the terms of the contract.

For so many years, as we watch so many teams, we see fan bases beg ownerships and front offices to pick a direction. Like, that's been a thing. You can look around town right now and be like, hey, y'all want to pick a direction. The Cubs have finally, it seems like, picked a very specific direction they want to go. And we were coming to a crossroads after this season before we got this extension with, Pete Carr Armstrong, who we assumed we'd get an extension into his, beyond his arbitration years. But now knowing that Nico Horner, not only is he not getting traded, but he's basically a Cub for life because of the no trade clause that's in this contract, they have picked a very, very clear

direction. And with some other contracts coming off the books at the end of the season, most notably, Ian Hap, Shodem Anaga, they're going to have money to be able to have other players that kind of complement this new core for the Cubs. and I'm here for it. I love it. I think they've done the right thing with these players that they have selected to be their core going forward. And I'm very interested to see where it goes this season specifically because of the work stoppage that we're all assuming is going to happen next season. But for years beyond, at least you know who are strong, as Lela said, up the middle, which is so important defensively.

And although Niko Horner handled the questions about potentially being traded over the last year and change, very, very, professionally when asked here on the score, when asked by other reporters out of Wrigley Field, tells me he hated that. He hated the idea of not having control. And no player, every player would love a no trade clause in Major League Baseball. But it's pretty cool that it was important to him to be here in Chicago, to be one of us. He's earning bears very quickly, by the way, for his desires to be here. And it's such a unique situation.

I was very curious to see what a guy in the modern era who does not have slug would get in this era. But 36 home runs and 6 plus years. Forget that. Two gold gloves, 282 career average, which is above average in this day and age, as we know. And he's always hovering around four as his war. That was above that last year. I think it was around 6 or so. Over 6?

So you do have to look a little bit more deeply into the numbers to see we're not. Nico's value is, but general managers take that very seriously. Well, and what you mentioned is unconventional, Mark. Like, what you mentioned is Nico's a bit of a throwback. Yes. Here's a guy hitting for average. Here's a guy whose value is also courtesy of his glove. It is up the middle.

You know, second base is a position that we've seen some teams mix and match at, but the Cubs didn't want to do that. And they send a message to the rest of the team, too. He is a homegrown talent when they drafted, when they developed. and as a hitter a very good thing. So he's a bit of a throwback in a good way. And I've often said he lengthens the lineup. And I think that that is important too.

And he did talk about how he is a bit unconventional when it came to that. I think it was you pointed this out, Mark, the question from our friend Bruce Levine asking him about that very thing. Yeah. Being unconventional in that he's not, you know, this slugger bopper guy, still getting a six years, $141 million extension. There's so many ways to create value in our sport, and there are more consistent ways that you see people getting paid a lot of money, I think.

But I'm very proud of getting to this point by being myself. I still want to improve. I want to add to my game. I want to be the best version of myself. But I'm also proud that my game, in a lot of ways, hasn't changed that much since I was in high school and in college. And you're always improving around the edges. but I feel like I've stayed pretty true to myself, and I'm really grateful that that's valued in this game,

and I just want to improve and keep running that out there. The establishment of what he is and understanding what he's not is what's intriguing about getting them many years for that many ways. Understand it's the fourth largest contract for a second baseman ever. And if you look at the other guys who are above him on that list, and you see names like Robinson Canoe, Marcus Simeon, Jose Altuve, they all slug to a much higher degree than Nico Horner

and his lifetime slugging percentage of 383. They're all well over 400 in the slug department. But it doesn't matter when you're getting as much as you're getting from him, not only from a fielding standpoint, but a solid bat to ball contact-wise. And also the havoc that he can create on the base pass as well with his speed. I would like to see him hit more homers low. I would like.

Like how many more homerous? What's the number? He doesn't have to sell out and like do, like, hit, and Nico probably wants to hit more home runs too. 15? 12 to 15? How about 12 to 5th? How about 12? His career high is 10. Okay, let's go, let's go 12 to 15. 15 is a 50% improvement. Off his career high. Yeah. I understand that would be a 200% improvement off

each of the last two years. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. That's a tough call because you don't want him to change things to swing for the downs, but I think there's certain adjustments on certain pitches that he could make instead of hitting it off the wall or hitting it in the gap, maybe hit it over the wall. So I kind of wanted both ways here with Nico. Good job. Hey man, I'll give you guys a dirty little secret about me, Mark Rody. My favorite Cubs player growing up and probably, I'd still say he's number one.

And there's got probably a 2016 Cubs, but I covered that team too closely to call one of those guys my favorite, well, Schwerber. But my favorite Cubs. Where is he right now? Where are they now? We know exactly where Schwerber is. and didn't he hit home run on first day. On a slow train to the Hall of Fame.

My favorite Cubs player, Mark Grace, who was a singles hitter on base machine. As a first basement. As a first baseman who, it was hard for him to hit. His career high on homeruns, I'm going to guess is 17 or 18. I'm going to guess is what it was. But he was usually a 10 home run guy.

But I loved guys. And I sort of evolved out of that in the slug era, like especially watching the Cubs of 2016, where it was all. about hitting the ball over the wall, but I'm kind of getting back to my roots a little bit when we think about Nico and Mark Grace, who I just loved watching that man hit baseballs. Love Tony Gwynn. Loved all those guys, the Wade Boggs is, the Tony Gwyns of the world.

And as Lela said, Nico's kind of a throwback. Well, and Tony Gwyn, you know, not just famous for hitting it to the 5.5 hole, but just the career strikeout numbers were wildly low. And when you consider that compared to what happens in baseball now, it's nice. day. It's funny you bring up 2016 Cubs because that was the era where then we heard a couple years later, Theo Epstein say the offense broke.

And then we've been trying to find it ever since. It's coming flashes, but we're still trying to see that. We saw it in the first half of last year. And that still is a question for me that remains not entirely answered. But Nico

Horner not being on this team doesn't solve that. And so when you see him hit the way he did last year where he was a consistent presence, where he was batting 297. The defense was there. You saw Dansby Swans and Eniko helped win you ball games with that defense playing at an elite level. It makes sense as to why they wanted to make this move. Is it too aggressive to say this and to believe that this year could be the best offensive team since the World Series team? Because that's the way I'm looking at it. 2017 was also a very good offensive team. Okay. The problem was the

Brewers had a wildly successful season in 2018 that kind of stopped it. You know, Mark, you remember this. That was when Javier Baez and Christian Yelich were going neck and neck. And then we saw Yelich pull away. Yeah. And just have a month of September that was outrageous. Then they played that game 163. I was there for that.

And I had to go into the Brewer's locker room afterward in their clubhouse. Ooh. No, happy Milwaukee people. The reason I say that is because if these guys just play to the back. of their baseball cards, according to last season, with Alex Bergman being healthy enough to play, let's say, 150 instead of the 117 play last year. That's a 30 home run season for him. You can make the argument that this team will be the best since that World Series team

because they just have more guys. Remember, say Zizuki has not stepped on the field, and we don't expect them to be on the field for another week or so. Say his offense would have helped yesterday. Anybody's offense would have helped on a day where you get four hits total. But I think overall to look at this team and understand what the weakest points of this team are and to be encouraged by the weak points, if you will, and that's to me Matt Shaw and was this byostero so far. But I expect those guys to hit.

Your guy. There's another piece of this contract that reminded me of the one Ian Hap signed when it came to the loyalty that the Cubs gave Ian Hap and just the vote of confidence. And that was the no trade clause. And that was also brought up. And we understand that Jed Hoyer said that that was part of the reason this deal. got done. I thought that that was significant to bring up as well. Your style has been, if you believe in a player, you believe in them totally because you give no trades. This is from what we're told no different. What is that philosophy like when you

see these players, especially the ones that come through the organization? I think a player like Nico, I think that it was very clear early on in the negotiation that that was going to be, you know, you know, there's going to be no deal without it, which I get. You know, he was going to get that in free agency if he, if he went to free agency from a team. And so for us, that was a pretty easy decision. And obviously he's a guy that, you know, given who he is as a person, it's, you know, he's a guy we want to be here for a long time and want to be sort of a, you know, a core part of our organization. So that wasn't a hard decision.

But like I said, like obviously, he was going to get that free agency for sure. Yeah. Sorry, go ahead, Marshall. No, I was just going to say, if you think that he wasn't going to get a no trade clause, you don't know what you're talking about. Because we were like, oh, you got a no trade clause? It's like, yeah, because in free agency, that's what they're going against is what happens at the end of the season.

If you don't sign him to an extension, he's going to get the no trade clause. I also love just how great of a guy Nico Horner appears to be to the point where Jed Hoyer during that press conference was saying that he tells his kids, be like that guy. If you could be like Nico Horner, you're going to be doing pretty well. like we never really know these guys, but I feel I feel pretty comfortable in thinking that Nico Horner is legitimately a good guy. And I like that and that means something.

And he got us a pizza party on Friday. Oh? Rundalis came through with the Nico Horner pizza. Grotty missed a big day, man. They gave us a feast. Chicken fingers. Oh my God, you guys had PCA on. Mr. PCA was on the radio.

What a day. What a day. Dad Crow Armstrong. Dad Crow Armstrong. Never mind that Crow is actually his wife's last name. Just go with it. Yeah, we have a threat at halftime, too, for the afternoon show. We'll get into that a little bit later.

Also, keep listening for your chance to win a pair of tickets to Outlaw Music Festival, which makes it stop at the Credit One Union Amphitheater in Tinley Park on August 25th. The light-up includes Willie Nelson, the AVet Brothers, Lucas Nelson, Stephen Wilson, Jr., Sierra Hall, and more. Tickets are provided by Live Nation. They are available at LiveNation.com. Enough of this. Enough of this. Baseball talk with professionals and sons.

Too much negativity. Blargh. We need positivity on this show. Let's yell about the Aligni. Yeah. Because they did something that they hadn't done since 2005. And I say that with emphasis, because other things happened in 2005. So, Aligni, congratulations.

Let's talk about them next. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. Back to start. They'll shoot another right wing three. That's no good. rebound Wogler. Final 19 seconds and that is going to do it. The celebration here in Houston by Illinois's faithful has begun. Brad Underwood embraces his assistance in front of the

Aligni bench. Final two seconds as the party in Champaign has begun. The fighting Aligni have punched their ticket to Indianapolis as they are headed. the final four for the first time in 21 years. All the Illini done in this tournament has been win, no matter what, even when the first halves may look slow. Congratulations to the Illini for being in the final four for the first time in 21 years. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie. I'm one of four three, the score.

And I'm glad to hear, Mark, that you had the same energy about the Aligni and Iowa game that I had about getting unnecessarily emotionally attached to the Illinois State National title game from football season because I was like, I'm going to commit to this game. And then I did. And then I was rewarded with chaos football. And the align I run has had its twists and turns in this tournament. I do have an emotional attachment to the team as people probably know if you've listened to me through the years.

I'm not the biggest college basketball fan anymore. but Illinois is a team after DePaul that I've always rooted for. I have many friends. My brother went to U of I.S. I covered every inch of the postseason run, like as was on the road for the 2005 Aligni team, which went to St. Louis and ended up losing to North Carolina, Sean May and that group. So I already do have a natural attachment to it.

But guess what, guys, where my emotion really goes up. When it's winning time for a team that, yes, is based in Central Illinois and Champaign, but which most of its students are from here, from Chicago, from the suburbs. Yes, I am into it. It is winning time. It is championship time. And guess what? As watching it through that lens, as just pure fan and not analytically, not because I had to take notes for work,

but because I was watching it with my heart, it was a painful game to watch. It was so painful to watch Illinois, miss every three that they were taking, miss every easy shot that they were attempting in the first half. To watch the one guy on Iowa was sustaining them throughout this game. They had one guy to stop, and that was Bennett Sturts, and they couldn't stop him until they eventually stopped him towards the end of the game. But watching it, like, from this standpoint, and I'm not like, I watched this game with my parents, and my mom, even noticed. Like, she was like, boy,

Eugene was like, boy, you are just, because I'm pumping my fist. It's like, you don't really get into these games as my, I like was down for it, but watching it that way was painful.

It was painful to see Keith Wogler go two for seven from three. They were, Illinois was three of 17 from three in that game. And they just, it was painful until they finally pulled away late with that 80 run. And then I finally was able to take a few deep breaths. Maybe this is why I don't watch. college basketball emotionally because I'm very emotional about it.

I too is a public school girl going to North Texas where we don't put on airs and such and I went to a public high school as well. I don't know why the lead public institution of the state has the stepchild complex at times, but I'm into it because I get it. I support Illinois, period. And so I identify with the Illinois and the fan base. I can tell you do. Yeah.

So I also have often been. I've often been hopeful, only to be disappointed by random games. You guys know what I'm talking about, not just on the football side, but the basketball side as well. And watching them shoot those absolute clunkers where at one point, I feel like in the first half, they were zoning themselves. They're just standing there with Iowa zone. And I'm like, wait, move around.

Make a basket. And then nobody could shoot. And you're going to have those games in the tournament, by the way. I'm pretty sure I called that when I was like, you're going to have those games where you cannot shoot to save your life, but at least they rebounded. And rebounds is what helped them get out of this silly mess. Maybe I was watching a different game,

because I didn't have any of these feelings that you guys are talking about. The whole time I was like, okay, this is okay. Here's why. Here's why. Because in the first half, when they were missing all of those threes, I was like, all right, you ain't even made threes yet, and you're still just right here hanging around, and I understand.

Iowa jumped out to a 12 to 2 lead. And I was like, okay, this is not ideal, but Illinois has more talent than Iowa. That was undeniable to me. But Alainai tells you that sometimes they have more talent and that they still lose. Okay, that's fair. But I was like, eventually they just need to punish them. And guess what?

When you outscore a team 40 to 12 in the paint, 24 to 2 in the second half, that tells me you're going to be able to win. Even in a game in which, coming into this game, Illinois had never hit less than five threes in a game. As you mentioned, three for 17. That 18% 3-point percentage, the lowest they had shot all season. But in the end, Keaton Wogler was out here, Keaton Woglery. And why I say that is he got to the line seven times. He led the team that was 18 for 21 from the line. And I tell people this on Instagram over the weekend.

Listen, Pager Stoyakovich is that dude, right? And his son, Andre, is not his dad. No. He didn't take a single three in this game. But he was... Bulls to the basket like nobody. And won. Well, I needed that.

I needed more from I was like, get it to the 7-1 guy. They can't shoot from the outside. He had a weirdly quiet game. Yeah, he had a bad first half. He had a very bad first half. But look, for Andre Stoyakovich to be off the bench, to go seven for nine from the field, to go three or four from the line, and to score the 17 points, that's why this Alignite team is so good. Five players averaging double figures, and you don't know any given night who's going to whoop you.

Well, that's scary, too, because who is going to step up? Keaton Wogler is going to step up here to you. He did 25 points and then the other part two, to add to what you're saying, Illinois, like they have done in all of these games, they out muscle teams. They out rebounded them 38 to 21. They were, it gets to a point where. 16 offensive rebounds, Mark. But, dude, Iowa started out with a 10-0 lead.

It's fine. It's the beginning. Maybe for you. No, no. That was not fine. I was super annoyed. When they were just standing, the most insulting part of it was watching them zone themselves. in the two, three during some of those possessions.

I'm like, you know what would help is if one of you screened, is if one of you decided a ball screen said something. When everybody is standing around watching the point guard do something, and I know that's a lot of college basketball. But that doesn't mean that I have to sit through it in that particular game. Now you get the rematch against Yukon, even though the players are all completely different. Now you get the rematch from a couple of years ago,

where you saw them in the elite A and they were a absolute buzzsaw, went on to win the national title. But more importantly, every match of this season. Well, but I also wanted to point that out and then mention that this is a true redemption opportunity for them. Yukon Duke was a top five all-timer, isn't it? Is it not? College basketball tournament game? I mean, the Brailand-Mullin shot with a 0.4 left.

What all Duke had to do is hold on to the basketball. Duke's inbound plays have now beaten them like that, you know, Houston, that was the one last year or two in-bound that helped seal it for them, that they had, like the inbound Yukon was running, it's, it's carbon, in some ways cut and paste in that respect. Like the inbounds,

the inbounds, we see it in the NBA too. The inbounds will beat you if you run a well, but like sometimes when those inbound plays are too good, it's just,

you don't want to choke on that. Good thing that, John Shire's the head coach and not Kevin Welder or all the assistants would have been fired after that. Fair enough. You're right.

We have more Alain I talk later in the show, by the way, with Jeremy Warner, one of our favorite guests, that will be at 1225. so if you want to check that out. In the meantime, we've got to get to the NFL owners meetings

and talk to Kalyn Kailer, the senior NFL reporter for ESPN. She will join us on the other side of this brief commercial break because there's already a lot of news coming out regarding possible work stoppages in the NFL that will affect the league and then also the latest from the owners meeting. So that's next. This hour is brought to you by Menards. Save big money at Menards. Brian, did you have much dialogue?

at all about Ian Cunningham and the compensatory picks. Yeah. I'll see most of you guys at the league meetings, and we can talk about that. I'll leave that alone right now. Yeah, don't think that we're not thinking about that, Ryan Poles, because we're thinking about you thinking about thinking about it. Where are the draft picks, NFL? Let's go to our hotline and bring in a guest who is at the league meetings and doing work.

It is Kailing Kailer. always like talking to Kalyn. She joins us via our hotline. And she's on Twitch. Twitch.tv. TV slash The Score Chicago. She's a senior NFL reporter for ESPN. You can check out her content on Instagram at Kalyn Kaler Reports and on TikTok at KDog Reports. I'm glad to see that account is getting more love. She's also at Kalyn Kailen on Twitter. Hey Kalin. Thanks for joining us. Hey guys. Thanks for having me. What is the latest that you're hearing right now? I know that you get You get to the NFL owner's meetings and sometimes there's news that happens immediately and you're on the ground running. What are you sniffing out so far?

Yeah, so this is, in relation to recent meetings, this is actually a pretty, like, boring meeting. Like everyone I talked to is like, yeah, there's like nothing going on, like nothing interesting is happening. However, I would say the biggest news is the negotiations, the CBA negotiations that are not going well between the NFL referees association and the league. That deal, that CBA, the current deal, expires May 31st. It's March 30th. So there are basically two months left for the two entities to work something out. But, you know, there's been a lot of chatter about that. And we had a couple league sources tell us yesterday that the league is essentially operating under an assumption that this CBA, based off of the recent negotiations and how things were not making any progress between the two parties.

You know, one source told us they're very far apart, and it would take an act of God. That was literally what this Leaguesource said, is unless an act of God occurs, they are preparing to go forward with replacement officials. And what's interesting about that is that 2012 was the last time that there was a lockout with officiating, and they used replacement officials that year. And it went very poorly. The most famous incident of that experience was the fail-marry between the Packers and the Strait. Seahawks when the wrong team was awarded the touchdown and it decided the winner of that game. And that was a really egregious example of what can happen when you have a very different level of officiating out there on the field.

Those were, you know, low-level college officials and they just were not prepared. And so what the league source told us yesterday is that the last time around in 2012, the mistake that the league views that they made that time around, is that they did not start preparing for replacement officials until July. And they're already preparing now is what the league sources are telling us, is that they are preparing now. They are, you know, reaching out to college officials, D1, D2, and D3, and they are going to start training them as if they're going to take the field this season, beginning May 1st was the date that a league source told us,

is when they're going to start training. these officials. Now, they can't have them on the field until this current CBA expires, which is May 31st, but they can start, like, onboarding them and beginning this process of getting them ready for an NFL season because the reason it was so bad the last time around when they used replacement officials is the speed between the college game and the NFL game is so different. So this time around the league, the league sources that we spoke to yesterday said to us that they're not going to find themselves. position. Like they're not going to panic this time. They're going to be prepared and they have to be prepared for the expiration of the CBA based off the fact that the two sides are still very far apart.

And Kaelin, it seems to me people might not understand just how much of a drop off. You kind of explained it there when you talked about the speed of the game being so different. But I'm just as interested as all these new rules that they're trying to implement to help, I guess, aid these new officials if they come into play with the replay and how replay. And how replay play may look very different in accordance to this as well. Yeah, so the leagues were told us yesterday, they are going to work on staffing and the, they already have replay officials assisting on every game in from the league office every Sunday.

That person used to be at the stadium for the game and they actually moved that replay official to the league office this past season. So there has been, you know, a pretty big staff of replay officials that work out of the league office every Sunday and they're, you know, remote. into the game basically they have all these different camera angles and so they've expand the owners are expected to vote to pass a proposal that'll be tomorrow that would give that room a lot more oversight and the ability to overturn more calls than they currently can so that's gonna help a lot because the technology has

advanced a lot more than it had than it was in 2012 so that aspect is going to help a lot they're still not going to be you know officiating the games from New York There's still going to be judgment calls made on the field by, you know, hypothetically, these replacement officials that will then need to be overturned by those in the league office. So you're still going to have, like, it's, I don't think they're going to be able to avoid an absolute mess happening if they use replacement officials. Now, a league source told us yesterday that this was like a direct quote. We didn't put this in our written story because it was just so, to me, it seemed so, like, entirely ridiculous. I was like, I can't believe someone said this, but like, a league source said that the fans will not see a difference between the officiating

this past year. Only an act of God would make that legit. The fans see a difference between the competent crews and the incompetent crews now. Now. So that is, I mean, that's the level of like, I mean, this is, this whole thing is, like, gross to me, honestly, because, like, the referees association is using the media, the league. is using the media and really the only thing I'm confident in reporting right now is that the league is preparing for the expectation that this CBA is going to be expiring without a

new deal negotiated in place to replace it because it's very clear that like from the statements both sides are trading back and forth here that like there's a lot of um you know there's a lot of anger and like frustration for sure what are they so far apart on like can you share some of the specifics of what the desires here are on both sides? So the league's messaging is very much like all we care about is improving the performance of the officials. And they'll say there's been quality, there's been performance issues in the last couple years.

And they want to make changes that they think will lead to better trained officials. But that's a very complicated goal to achieve. And essentially the NFL RA is not in agreement with the way. that the league wants to do that and for the pay that the league is offering. Now, the word out there is that the NFLRA wants a 10% increase in pay. The league, league sources told us yesterday that they're offering a 6.45% increase over, I think it was six years. And they want to do a six year deal because they don't want the CBA expiring at the same time as the players, which is 2030. So, they don't want both parties to be expiring at the same time. So anyways, but the, the, the, the, the, the,

finer points of the league's stated goal of like we want better quality officiating, the finer points are they want to shorten the dead period, which is a period that extends from the Super Bowl to May 15th where the league cannot contact officials because these are part-time jobs still. So the officials are supposed to have that as their time off, essentially, it is their off-season. And so the league wants to shorten that and they want the ability to be able to assign officials that they have deemed need more training to, like, alternate leagues like the UFL, for example. They want to be able to say, hey, you are required now to go officiate in this spring football league. Right now, it's like something they can suggest.

The league can suggest it. And the officials are paid for their time there, obviously, but it's not something they can require. And the league wants to be able to require officials to go do more officiating in other football leagues during the NFL off season. And they also want to be able to extend what's called the probationary period. Right now, that period is three years. And during that period, the league has the ability to fire any official they want to during their first three years on the job. They don't have to give cause. They can just say, you know what, we don't like the job you're doing, you're out.

And the official has no recourse. They cannot file a grievance. They cannot, you know, do anything to try to get their job back there. They are just done. So the league wants to add a fourth year to that period. And the NFLRA, obviously, which is like fighting for the rights of the officials, doesn't want to agree to that because they see that as a fourth year where there's no access to the grievance process. The league will frame it as, oh, well, this is going to be a fourth year where we can continue to develop this official. We can continue to give them training.

But the flip side of that is it's a fourth year where they can just fire whoever they want to without showing cause. So the union, the referee union is obviously opposed to that. And the referee union, their main fighting point is they believe they are underpaid in comparison to the officials of other professional sports. And the reason for that is because the NFL plays less games. They're basically paid for the game is that they work. And so their per game pay is better than all the other leagues, but they have less games. And it's, I mean, you can view this on both sides because the league's talking point would be, well, it's not a full-time job. They're not doing anything during the dark period.

They're only working two days a week. They're out home with their families, six nights a week. Like, they're only expected to be away from their families like the night before the NFL game. And then they can work their other job. They're at home. Like, we don't expect them to travel during the off season, whereas these other sports like football, sorry, not football, basketball and baseball, you're on the road a significant. amount of time. So the NFL thinks, why do we need to pay NFL officials, like other sports officials get paid because we're not asking them to do what other sports officials do. But the NFL

RA would conjecture, well, we're doing everything you're asking us to do. You're just not asking us to do more because that's the inventory of this sport. And you're making billions of dollars. Why are we not getting, you know, a raise there? And the league has said in a statement, like on the record from Jeff Miller that the increase that the referees are asking for, as this is what they're calling it, is almost double the rate of increase that players have received in the salary cap raises over the last CBA. Now, I have not back-checked that directly. So again, that is the league's statement there, but essentially, like, the league's going to frame this about performance, but it's really about what they want to be paid. Like, it's really about money is what it comes

down to in the end. And one thing that was interesting that a league source told us yesterday is that, and I haven't yet talked to any owners about this, I haven't gotten anyone to want to talk to me about officiating because the league actually issued a gag order to all of the club employees saying like you're prohibited from speaking about the CBA negotiations with officials. I tried to talk to Todd Bowles, who's on the competition committee, and also Sean McVeigh, who's on the competition committee today about it and they both, you know, politely declined to comment. And I tried to get two other, I saw a general manager in the hallway yesterday and I saw another head coach and I was like, hey, like, even like, you know, anonymously and they wouldn't even go there. So I think it's going

to be really hard to like get the sense of like, are coaches nervous about replacement officials? Our owners nervous about the, you know, alternate, like the option that this might happen. Like I would assume that they are because I don't think that's an outcome that anyone wants, I haven't personally spoken, I haven't gotten those opinions yet. But the league framed it, a league source to us framed it that owners are alarmed that the negotiations have not made progress and they're alarmed essentially that like the NFL RA has been so opposed to the measures they want to introduce to develop officials. So owners are alarms is, was sort of the headline that we went with yesterday because that was that was

interesting. And again, that didn't come from, you know, an owner specifically that came from a league source who has had conversations with owners about this. But it does seem like this is like going to end with the expiration of the CBA and no, no new deal at this point. Well, and Kaelan, I think you're simply reporting to us. You're, you're saying what you've heard and what you've gathered. And in that, the information is contradicting itself. You know, so the NFL says that fans won't notice a difference between the current state of refereeing, which fans are already displeased with, and then also that there are crews that need improvement. So they're contradicting themselves.

The other thing is NFL players also only play 17 guaranteed games a year, but they get paid full-time for the work that they put in. And the referee's decisions affect games as much as a lot of the players, and more so than a lot of the players do at times. And Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk had a good post about this the other day where he was sort of like detailing what this could look like if officials were full-time. And a league source did tell us they have as part of their proposal the option. They're trying to, and they're proposing to make the 17 referees full-time. And they would then travel to New York, I believe they said like every Tuesday to work with the league office staff officiating department there. And then they would go back to their crews on the weekend and be able to like disseminate all that information. So that is something that they're asking for per league source that the league is asking for.

But Florio had a good post about this where he was sort of saying like, well, you know, you could create a world where every single official is full time and you expect them to live in like two major cities that are easy to get to the rest of the country from. And it wouldn't be like that would be expensive for the NFL obviously. That's going to cost a lot because you're moving everybody into a full-time job. You're going to have to pay them a little bit more than you already do. And the average official makes $350,000. So that's already a pretty good salary for something that's considered part-time, right? But I think, like, it's the league has this view that, like, these guys don't do a full-time job. And I would argue from just from what I know about talking to officials, seeing when they do their job.

knowing how, again, players, what are NFL players doing right now? They're on vacation, you guys. Like, they're not, you know what I mean? This is like, this is the time where they can take a break. So I don't really understand the argument that like, oh, these officials don't work because like from Super Bowl to May, they're not working. Well, neither are the players. Like, the players aren't either. The coaches are the, you know, your personnel staff are definitely working in this period, but your players are not. So if you're going to compare them to the players and say, well, the players only got this amount of raise over this time. It's like, you know, the officials could very much be at, like, an NFL practice every day. If they,

if it was a full-time job, they could be going to, to NFL teams actual practices during the week. Because some teams will bring in officials. Like, they'll bring in, and they're not NFL officials, but they'll bring NFL officials into training camp. But, like, during the season, some teams will bring officials into, like, watch practice. Like, you could have NFL officiating crews doing that every week. there's so much film study that's required of them. Like, they're not just showing up to the game on Sunday, going in blind. Like, they get notes on their performance in the past week that they have to review from the league office. They are watching film of the club they have next to get ready for their tendencies,

because there's a lot of things you need to be aware of when you officiate a game. Like, there's, you know, you've got to know, okay, this team likes to run quarterback draws a lot. all right, so the umpire, you got to get ready to, like, be running with the play because they're going to be moving the clock, right? Like, it's all these situational moments that you have to prepare for ahead of the game. And so to say that it's like a part-time job is, first of all, like, I don't even think really true in the current state of things. And then it would be, to me, to fill their schedule would not be hard. If you wanted to make them full time and change the dynamic, to give them the work to do would not be difficult. Well, Kaelin, as usual, we appreciate your reporting on this.

We know it is something that you obviously will continue to track. Your latest story with Kevin Seaford is live at ESPN. Sources NFL, far apart with NFL array to begin hiring replacement reps. Check it out if you get the chance. Kalen, thanks so much as always. Thanks, Kailen. Thanks, guys. Have a good day.

Check out Kalin's TikTok. She's doing work on there. K Dogg Reports. Also, it's a great title. Why can't you be MD Dog Reports? I'm down. I think dog has been taken, though, obviously. MCAT?

I was saying, isn't MCAT more appropriate? Well, the problem is it's also a medical school entrance exam. Maybe that man's getting ready for a medical school. Yeah, MCAT. You know about the MCAT? I don't know about the MCAT. I don't know about the MCAT. Maybe.

Maybe you need a part-time job. I might. You never know in this business. It is ridiculous that they get paid the salary they do, but yet they're not full-time. They're basically trying to split a baby. Like if you want people to do more and have more responsibility, then just make them full-time employees. And then guess what? They probably won't officiate like it's their part-time gig.

That's a pretty great part-time gig. Which is beneficial to all. I want a part-time gig for $300,000 a year. One where I make huge decisions that affect millions of dollars on the outcome and I'm not entirely responsible. I'm going to need the $350 though. Yeah. Oh, you need the plus.

You need the change. I got you. Twitch says they don't want any more burner accounts for you. You guys are no fun. We need more burner accounts for Grotty. Sure. I mean, like all my accounts have been deleted and taken away from me anyway. Get the dual factor authentication.

My latest, by the way, is, and I think this is fixable. But, you know, I've lost my Twitter. I've lost my Instagram. Facebook now, since I got my iPhone up, you know, when you do the updates and nothing is the same and you can't readjust to it, like now Facebook won't let me back on because I have to authenticate, which I will. Dude, the multi-factor authentication is the way. Well, I'm looking forward to that.

that already is built in, the one protect. Just use that. Okay. Oh, yeah. I do that. I can hook you up. I'll hook you up. Yeah.

Well, it's not my fault. I lost Twitter and why are you looking at me like that, Marshall? Oh, it's your fault. Why? Because you got suckered into clicking on something you should have a hookupon. I probably did. You're probably right. And a multi-factor would have stopped that from happening.

I thought you were going to say multiverse for a second. Why? I'm not sure. Okay. So how do we put this? Guys, I don't think he's coming back. I don't think Michael Jordan's ever coming back. What?

Let's listen to why I think this next. Rahimi Harris and Grooty, midday's tidal tune on Chicago Sports Radio. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, The Score. And remember that time, we all got excited about Michael Jordan. Got to be on NBC, on the NBA on NBC. All those insights. And we thought it was going to be some sort of regular contributor role. And instead it was just an interview in one room where we got microdosed the same interview for several weeks.

And then pretty quickly it became not as topical because you want the biggest name in the history of your sport to talk about the biggest issues in your sport. And then that didn't happen the same. It's more insights to his excellence in his time than it was to anything going on currently. And I, because I observed the Raiders for years, keep thinking it's commitment to excellence. But that's an entirely different thing. But I don't mind that I make the joke. So I say all of that to say this. It would appear that Michael Jordan is talking to other networks with a little more candor than he did the commitment to excellence.

So here he is with Gail King on CBS Sunday morning. Saying the part that we all wondered out loud, are you ever, are you ever coming back? Michael? When I said I wanted to retire and get to a quieter life, I wanted to get away from basketball in terms of what I represented in that arena and how big I've gotten. And it was such a huge burden for me. Here, I'm not in that same realm, still not the same as me playing in Chicago and those types of things. But it's something that I think keeps me alive. When you say burden, what do you mean burden? The burden of living a certain way trying to maintain whatever everybody's perspective is for you, that is a burden. Then at some point in time you say, I'm tired of doing that. Nothing left to prove. Nothing at all.

Is there a teeny tiny part of you that misses basketball? Oh, yeah. Oh, 100%. It's not just a teeny. It's a huge piece. But I've compensated that feeling through NASCAR. But that urge to dream that if I wish I can still pick up a basketball, I would. I would love to do that.

Believe me. My competitive juices is yet. Yeah, I would definitely love to do that. Gail King is all of us. As she's asking the question, hearing the answer, is like, but we love that version of Michael Jordan. And the reality hits that he's never coming back, Mark. Honestly, I'm just like anybody.

I want more Michael all the time. I would love some United Center moments that he just won't give us. But I hear him. Like when he says it's a huge burden, that is a man. being dead honest, like saying, and that's always what I suspected, that the love that he gets is, and it sounds crazy, right, is overwhelming. It reminds me of, the analogy I am going to make here, kids, is one Eddie Vedder from the lead singer of Pearl Jam and how he couldn't handle, hated being the voice of a

generation, which he was dubbed in the middle 90s, and they hated, hated Pearl Jam, mostly Eddie Vedder, hated their fame because it got to be too much and it was a huge burden. So while I hate the answer because it means that we're not going to get as much, Michael, I love the answer and I accept the answer from MJ. There was a part of me that wanted to make a joke about how he's gotten soft. But realistically, there is no joke to be made here. The problem is he exceeded expectations for so long that then that became the expectation. It's his own success.

And I think we don't understand how much he actually pushed himself, even though we saw glimpses in the last dance. I don't even think we scratched the surface of what he must have done to himself mentally every single day to do what he did on the court every single day. We saw some of the victims, you know, the scoppurals of the world, things like that. We saw some. But we didn't see all of all of what that took out of him every day. And when he tries to allude to it, it's almost with an air of trauma. and when he talks about how he had to redirect it with Gail King just now, and Gail was all of us asking those questions.

It makes sense as to why he feels the burden of having to meet that expectation every single moment when he is in that role and why he's so guarded with how he talks about it now. And what's kind of satisfying as a Michael Jordan fan is to see him have the level of joy and success in this new role where he's not like the guy, but he is obviously the owner, so he is the guy in a way, but it's not the same. And think about what happened with Charlotte, you know?

Think about when he was an executive, how he was treated. Well, also, when he was in charge in D.C. He was not a great, he's not great in management, like ownership. I don't want you getting in trouble, like Charles Barkley got in trouble for telling the truth on that. MJ will never talk to me again? Is that what's going to happen? I remember. He's never talking to any of us.

Having watched just about every inch of the Michael Jordan, you know, he started when I was in junior high. So he hit me in a place that is like... You're formative years. Yeah, yeah. We all can understand that. And didn't miss very few games. I remember Michael Jordan saying something during one of the championship runs, probably the latter three, where he said something, where he said, I can't wait until I get to be at those restaurants with all these bulls,

fans eating pizza and drinking beer. And I remember thinking, what are you talking about? You're Michael Jordan, man. You're living the life. You are the goat. You are the greatest. Why you want to sit here with all of us drunks eating pizza and appetizers? Because that's what our social lives were. And that, like I think about that a lot because that is like the stress of being Michael Jordan was something we didn't understand. He was lying to himself because he thought that one day he could do that. He was never going to be able to do that. No, no, let himself go. He was never allowed to let himself go like the rest of us. No, think about how we talk about every single thing he does.

Think about the crying Jordan meme. Think about the ceiling is the roof and how we obsess over that. When I maintain that I understood what he was trying to say, we hang on as every word even now. Like other Chicago legends like RIP Ryan Sandberg, he can go out in public and, you know, talk to people and there's a certain level of, yes, you're famous,

you're Ryan Sandberg legend in the city, but he can enjoy himself. Michael Jordan isn't even afforded that. Well, think about his other career, too. Think about how people obsess over his shoes. Everything he touches when it comes to basketball is at the highest level when it came to that part of his individual game. You know, not the executive part and the ownership part, notwithstanding.

But the shoes and the obsession that people have over his shoes. I mean, the loyalty is never waning. And so I wonder how. how that kind of stretches into into him doing this. The Ryan Sandberg thing that you just brought up, like that comp is interesting

because when Rhino played, he was distant. He was, he did not impress super stardom. You know what I mean? Like because of the, but then, yes,

he finally did. He finally did in, it took him a long time even into retirement before he sort of, he came out as right, I am Ryan Sandberg. It took him time.

And Jordan has done. all of that except for 50 times more than any other athlete that's ever been through Chicago. That's what's crazy. He was never going to beat the allegations of being that guy. No matter how far removed from retirement he is, he's always going to be...

He comes in right now, he walks down Michigan Avenue. What's going to happen? Flodded. Ma! Chaos! Right, and we're going to hang on every word he says. Imagine being that? Somebody brought up the Beatles as another the Beatles hated being the Beatles. It gets

tough. It's like Michael Jackson levels of There are very few people who would deal with, I mean, the Pope knows what it's like, you know? Yeah, our Pope. Our Pope is a little bit more approachable, though I'd like to think. He waved in tanny on his trip and everything. What's up, Ray? You just got, you guys made me just think of the last dance where Michael Jordan was sequestered off in his hotel room and looked miserable and couldn't walk anywhere

and talked about that lonely feeling of not being able to go anywhere. It is. And it's a cliche, but it's so true. it truly is lonely at the top. Like there are times where people in certain levels of their business and certain positions that they've been in, even in media, I think you don't have somebody else to talk to about those things. Certain people do have problems that are essential to them.

But not everybody has the hope and the joy of that person like they do watching Michael Jordan. That's the problem. And we don't want to have to think about. relating to that. So obviously we can't. But no, but I didn't want to. Why aren't you at the United Center?

How come you're not more accessible? How come you're not an ambassador for the Bulls? What about the Bulls? What about the Bulls? But sadly, I hate that I get it. I hate that I get where he's coming from. He gave more to the Bulls and the city of Chicago than any other athlete. We can actually give back to him because we're, to a degree, bothering him

every time we want to give him anything. Think about how we treated Derek Rose. Like just Derek Rose being one of the best from the city and then he gets drafted unbelievably by the Bulls and probably given the percentage. It was believable. And if you think that the lottery is rigged. Wink, wink.

But think about how people tore him down, you know, and for him to have to go through that. I mean, a million fold with Michael Jordan? A million fold. Yeah. And we're not being hyperbolic, I don't think. No, it's not. That's the crazy part.

Yeah. That's how I always say, like, in the realm of athletes, that have come through Chicago. Like, you can make your list, and you could put Walter Payton on it second if you'd like, but Jordan is like a billion, billion-de, billions of any other athlete just walk through. A billion-D, Marshall.

At least, at least, and oh my God, I sound like going through a relationship with this man, and I don't know him. At least we know it's not personal to the Bulls and to the City of Chicago. It doesn't sound like it's personal to Bulls ownership. That's a great point, Leila. That's a great point,

because it did feel that way. It felt like... 100% felt that way. I was like, oh, you like the fans and other places. You like being home better. You're just kicking Chicago out of your life, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I mean, he was even at a North Carolina football game this year. How dare he? Well, when I watched this interview with Gail King, the thing that I learned about Michael Jordan was, like, of course he had the hole in his heart that only basketball could fill. We knew that from watching the last dance, but now that he is an owner of the...

2311 with Dead 1311. 2311 with Denny Hamlin and NASCAR team, like that competitive meat is being met for him. No, you know what it is? Yep. You know, I can't even believe I'm saying this. He loved the game too damn much. Hey, man, when we talk about filling the hole, that's addiction stuff. Like, that's stuff that I learned going through what I went through.

Like, we're all trying to fill our soul. Like, there's a hole in our soul that we're trying to fill that people use things to. And Jordan uses, we know this about him. He uses competitive. addicted to competition. No one's denying that. He's not a joke. He said it to Gail King. He said to Gail King, he wish he wasn't this competitive. He literally

says it in there. Yeah, and he has to fill that until he doesn't. You know? It's just disturbing. We didn't even get into the goat stuff. That's probably another discussion for another day. That even that was upsetting. Yeah. I mean, I think we should paraphrase

it right now. He doesn't believe in the goat thing. Like he says that he gave, it was another great answer. He gave, he credit to those that came before him. So it was another very mature, very acceptable answer, even if he is the goat. I know you said it already, Lela, but it has to be said again that the eight-minute interview that Gail King did was better than all of the insights to excellent. Sorry, Torrico, you blew it.

It's not Terrico's fault. He got a one-time shot. Mike did not blow it. Knowing how that stuff goes, there's a whole pre-determined how this is going to go. there's a discussions are had before the discussion on camera has ever had. Yeah, he was on the clock. Yes. Plus it's Gail.

Come on, it's Gail. Who's not going to open up to Gail? Gail's a hell of a journalist, man. Continues to be in a tough time to be a journalist for her. So credit to Gail because she got more out of Michael Jordan than any of us ever did. Thanks, Gail. Station announcement next. What time is it?

It is halftime. It is halftime. And Michael Jordan isn't coming back. was her last segment to talk to gail king sad i'll get over it eventually give lela a hug will you real quick no i won't 11 o'clock we talked to kail and caler and she gave us some really good insight on what's going on with the the officiating situation in the nfl and believe it or not it can and will probably get worse 1045 we talked about the alinae going to their first final four since 2005. We'll talk more about that at 1225 with Jeremy Warner.

The Cubs should not have lost two out of three to the nationals. And Nico Horner got extended. It's half time. We have a station announcement. I think we're kind of rubbing it in, actually. We're kind of being jerks about this because it's for us. But we want you to go. Next Friday and Saturday, April 10th and 11th, we are broadcasting live from Circa Resort

and Casino in Las Vegas. Enough of this, if it's rating or not, mess. I'm tired of it. I've had enough. I'm going to Vegas. Friday from 10 to 1245 and Saturday we're doing a special show from 11 to 1245. And why are we playing that music? Because Mark Grotty's going to be there.

Are you excited? It'll be my first official trip to Vegas with the score. And I want this, I want this music following me around wherever I go in Las Vegas. No, it 100% will because this. Stadium swim music is on at all times and the DJ is really good. Ray, you're pointing at me. You know. Oh, yeah, I was just going to say this is the Grotie vibe will be ever present at Stadium Swim when we do those shows in the cabana.

Let me put it to you this way. Mark's going to be doing the shows with us, but he won't be. He's going to be one with the music and his heart and soul and his body will be present with us at the pool at the cabana. But Mark will be distracted by the music at all times. Hey, Okie and I are just going to be chilling. Man. That's your boy?

Yeah. He does do this song, right? Yeah. I don't we've like had this debate. No did Las Vegas DJ. Circa is going to have special food and beverage deals for the golf tournament. And every angle of it will be shown at Stadium Swim. It is an HD and it does matter and make a difference.

You can actually read greens and stuff. It's pretty neat. Come out and hang with us. And Mark at Circa Resort and Casino, Las Vegas. Home of the World's largest sports book. And Marshall won't be injured. this time. You get to walk around. Let me just, why you say that out loud.

Marshall gets to be outside. Let's go see Metallica, man. Let's not say we did. They're not there until September. I need you to, yo, he's a little too excited. I am, Drake, this moment. We're still two weeks away from, or less than two weeks away. What should I call it?

The GDM, the Grotie distraction meter will be at a 25 out of 10. You're right. And I don't need a lot of extra stimulation to be distracted in life. So, yeah, you may see me. like Vegas Haug got nothing on me, man. Wow. I'm scared of that statement. Because I hung out with Vegas, huh?

I saw the sunglasses. I'm a big dog in Vegas. I'm a high roller. I did not. What is this from? Grotie, that's you. I don't know it is, but I don't remember that. And you know what?

That's part of the problem. He probably won't remember what happens next week in Vegas either. I don't remember what happened the last time I was there. I've been there for too many, I've been there for multiple bachelor parties. So cliche, I know. Well, there's a lot of fun. things you can do. You can choose your own adventure in Vegas. That's true.

Ray and I make a yearly pilgrimage to the Walgreens. And even that's an entertaining trip every time. Is it not? Yeah, it's a very interesting and different scene at a Walgreens. And we've seen around here. And I'm just getting like travel size toiletries and stuff.

Well, the Vegas crowd. That's what it is. That's what makes it. Oh, I got you. We just need to keep the running tab of the GDM at all times. Grotty distraction meter. I asked Mitch if we could go to Reno and he said, Nope. Why do you want to go to Reno?

I don't know. So far away. They did that show there. That is far away. Reno, Reno 911. I thought that was hilarious. I want to see like what goes on there.

You want to see if the cops are really like that. Yeah. It's all. It's the only reason. There was a time where Dan thought it was legitimately going to drive to L.A. from Vegas. Were you there for that? Oh, yeah.

What was that? Five hours? I'm kind of like Dan then. I thought it would be reasonable to go to Reno. I thought we could walk there, but no. No, that's not how that works. Probably like three and a half to my dad's house. You know what?

It's going to be hot, Grotie. So I hope you're... That too. Sunscreen. Sunscreen for everyone. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Hey, man.

I was told by the skin doctor said, hey, you should wear... People should wear suntan lotion, even in the winter. It's so true. Yeah. You have loved our conversation last week. What day was that? Thursday, Friday. Tim Doyle was out here threatening tanning with a playboy bunny sticker.

I heard a little bit of that. Like the worst of our generation. I love that he owned two. it for him to be like, guys, you see this dark hair I have? It's actually gray. I dye my hair. I was like, wow, the first person ever who just straight up and I dye my hair. Thanks, Tim Doyle. Tim is not afraid to tell you some stuff. No, he's not. Guys, I don't dye my hair. I'm just one of it. Don't out there. Oh, natural over here. Now I'm trying to figure out what would happen if you're tempted to. Like what? I have, like, I'm like, I'm like, some gray in the, uh,

facial hair. No way, couldn't you get? I started to have to get, I had, I started to have to, I had, I started out to color my hair because it was gray at like 29. I used to dye my hair a little bit. 29 and I had gray hair. Wait, wait. What age were you when you started dying? I died my hair. Like 37 or eight, I was getting some gray.

So I did it until, like, I did it for like 10 years. It was only like in the last five years. I was like, all right, enough of this. I'm going to let it go. So I don't know. Maybe I'll die again. Maybe I'll do it again. Like a distinguished gentleman.

Yeah. So that's what they always say. I do think a lot of men look better with gray hair. That's what everybody says. Like I, age better and I hate it and I'm jealous of you all. I don't know. I don't know if that's a nice thing to say, but I don't know if that's true.

I cannot call anybody I work with a silver fox. Oh, okay. All right, I'll do it. You silver foxes you. I'll take it. I feel like that's like a consolation prize. Oh, you're a grayer looks distinguished. Silver Foxx.

You're the top of your game, bro. It implies that you've done some things. Yes. And Silver Fox means you can still pull. Thank you. Yeah, you're on your duck hunting. Thank you, Marshal. Thank you.

Skeet shooting. Thank you. I appreciate that. I should be more grateful to the compliment. What's Grotie doing? Pull! Pull! All he does is pull, no matter what. So this is just one segment. Now imagine many next week. We always have a group of listeners who will come out and say hi to, and it's always nice to talk to you guys. Like, we have a friend who's a pilot. He comes out. I think, I think, did we see Corey in Whitewater, Wisconsin there one time? I forget where we saw Corey. Oh, in Vegas? Yeah, but the point is we usually get some really nice listeners

who come out. Stadium swim is a really fun time. I'm not just making it up. I would rather that be my office, but that seems kind of expensive. I'm just trying to stay healthy between now and next, what is that? Wednesday we leave?

Thursday? None of this gout bersitis for you or whatever fresh hell I learned about. When are we going again? I was in a static thing. It's next week. We fly. Oh, my God.

That's coming right now. And guess what? We better create some hashtag content because we got to report to people on these security lines. Hopefully the situation is a little bit better by then. Glad I got that real ID. It was clear and easy when I went.

It was, there was no line. They said it's bad in the morning. My last name is Rahimi, and I used to be on the selected list. That's a different thing. So we'll see how this goes. More like Redreamy. Are you allowed to say that? I don't know.

You're not even there yet. That's true. Are you ready? Are you ready for this listener? I don't think you can handle this. All that jelly? We are not going to be able to do a show. All right.

I'll sit out. Ray, the music is going to be too strong. You know what? Like, you know it is. You and I both know in our heart of heart. Grody is going to be living his best life in Vegas, man. It's hard enough for me to concentrate because I memorize lyrics to every song. Mark standing up is what took this whole segment to another level.

This is it up and the music. This is what happens. I'm glad you sat down. I'm glad you said down. When they play this at Soldier Field, I have to contain myself, but it's very difficult. So in all other circumstances, I will not contain myself. I get you a monster energy drink and just turn it. No, no. I have an idea. What if we just do what like dogs at dog daycare do,

where they just run around and tire themselves out? Maybe we should just run around and tire ourselves out. I might need that. I don't need that. Grotty probably needs that. I'm going to need that. We'll be running on a treadmill for 10 days. I'm going to look for a war table. You know, that game war, higher or lower? I understand war. Yes, that's what I do too. I don't understand anything else except for a war. Higher or lower. That's a good starting point. I think so too. Wait, do they really have that? At one of the casinos the last time I was there, they did. I'll have to figure out the casino. Oh my goodness. That's

actually fun. That's hilarious. I don't know. Maybe they do have it at Circa. I don't know. They have a great sports book. I can tell you that. I've seen all the pictures, heard all the stories. Circa is a 10. I'm loving this. All right. So we will be in Vegas next week. Coming up next, it's time for five on it. This hour is brought to you by Cars for Kids.

I got five. It's time for five on it. Rahimi Harrison Rooney. Bring you five topics on their minds today. On 104-3 to score. I got five on it. Number one. What's one encouraging sign and one discouraging sign you took away from Chicago's baseball teams this weekend?

Encouraging Kate Horton and the Cubs just general production on Saturday. I thought that that was great to see. And then Craig Counsel doubled down. after the game and said he's stretched out he's ready to go go throw 100 pitches if you need to Kate Horton I love it I want to see what you can do so that was encouraging and then

honorable mention encouraging goes to Monotaka Murakami for hitting three home runs despite all the other outcomes of the White Sox so that was my discouraging was all the other outcomes for the White Sox when Ozzy Gien on the post game show on CHSN says

throw the ball around the plate I lost it. I lost it. Because he and Chuck were in mid-season form, and I felt bad for them. Also discouraging was losing two out of three to the Nationals. You're not supposed to be doing that. I don't care that it's early. Okay, so you lost two out of three to the Nationals early.

That's not good either. I love the self-made sound effect there. Okay, so if we're talking about encouraging, for the White, Sox, it's very simple. Monitaka, Murakami. I have power. What? Yes, you do.

And it's on display. That excerpt from an interview before the season started with Chuck Garfine, where he was very, yeah, I don't know English. I know enough to tell you this. I have power. I mean, call him he man at this point. Because Prince Adam ain't walking down the street. He ain't walking out of that socks dug out.

Understand this. She got out scored. Really was a big deal. Well, yeah, look, He-Man's twin sister, Shira separated birth, also a big deal. We don't need to get into all that right this particular second, but I'm glad that you noted that Shira and He-Man were a thing back in the day. All right, so look at it like this. For Mune to come out and hit three home runs, one in each game, to become one of four players in Major League history to start their careers like that is a big deal. And I talked about this a little bit over the weekend.

the blank gun. Were you guys familiar with the term blank gun? No, this is a term that Japanese ball followers use. You'll love it once you hear it.

Blank gun. It's a home run that is hit when a team is far behind and don't really have a chance of coming back. A blank gun. Yeah, that works. A couple of blank guns from

our boy, Muné, in games one and two of the series. They were outscored 20 to three. He had two of the runs. You remember the first one, Chase Midroth to start the season. Got all of that one he did.

Yes, and then things went very badly against Jacob Mizorowski. So most encouraging thing is definitely him. For the Cubs, same thing. Alex Bregman, hey, what's up, man? Two home runs in the first weekend, I'll take that. You're off and running. We're not worried about what kind of start you're going to get off to, as Grotie alluded to earlier

in the show. Most discouraging, it's very simple for me. For the Sox, how could it not be Sir Anthony Dominguez? You went out and got a closer because you said, we're not losing games in that manner anymore. Then you blow a 7-2 lead as we watched Dominguez in combination with Chris Murphy give up six runs.

Christian Yelch hits a pinch hit home run for the first time in his career? A three-run bomb? I mean, no doubt about it. In the career? In the career. And that's why they're 0 and 3, although Mune does have three home runs. And then the most discouraging thing for the Cubs, it's got to be the fact that you drop two of three to a very bad Washington Nationals team.

Maybe the Nats play 500 ball this year. I don't know. It's early, but you should win series at home. You should win two out of three games that you play at home. That's how you get to the 90 plus wins that all three of us predicted at the start of the season. Most encouraging for the White Sox and discouraging for the White Sox. For me, happened in the same game. It was a sports tragedy for the White Sox yesterday, the way they blew that game. But the Colson Montgomery Grand Slam had me jumping up out of my seat.

That was nice to see because he might be the most important prospect, most important player on the White Sox this season in terms of, if you do you have something in him? It sure looked like they had something in him last year. To see that Grand Slam, that's the most encouraging thing that I've seen. And I can't go any different than what you said with Sir Anthony Dominguez. That was a disaster. you want him to help in those situations and you want to be able to potentially flip that man

by the time the season gets into the real part of winning time. I don't think it's happening today. I don't think it's happening today. We'll have to do the Sir Anthony Dominguez value meter. It just went down. He has time to build up that trade value though. Yes, he does. The sad value meter?

It's a very sad value today. He literally went under. He is at negative value. right now. Can we make it like the knighthood meter where he's like losing his nighthood and it's rising and falling? I think I said that in the group tag right? Like nighthood. Yeah they're going to have to delegitimize that man. My favorite today's got to be the MD, what is it? The mark gritty distraction. It's Gdm. It's Gdm. Meter. Yeah. Trademark. Oh, bad. It is, uh, it is always building. Um, as far at, uh, don't get me all excited. When did you get in? 10. 10. When did you get in?

But for the Cubs, most encouraging for me, has been Ian Hap. I love that he's off to a fast start with the Homer. I love that he's hit one from the right side, which he's always working on. Always, I read a story about him working on in spring training, working on that right-handed slug. He has hit one from both sides of the plate. That is a perfect start to me for Ian Hap, who hopefully will be. He will be, right? Ian Hap will be a part of this show.

He makes his season debut on this very show, Rahimi Harrison Grotie, at 1125 on 104.3 to the score. Tomorrow, 1125 a.m. Put it in your calendars. It's going to be a weekly thing. He also passed up. You guys should ask him about this too, because I don't think he'll be here tomorrow. But he passed up, it's wild that he's been here for 10. This is his 11th year with the Cubs. He passed up Andre Dawson, 17th all-time on the all-time Cubs home run list, which is, while to consider. But, you know, when you're here, when you're around for 11 years, you're going to pile up some statistics. I wonder how cool he thinks it is that he is moving up on Cubs record list. The thing, guys, I was really bothered by the Matthew Boyd performance on

opening day. That was very discouraging to me to see him give up the, the seven runs, or six runs over three and two-thirds. He did strike out seven. I guess that's the part where you look at and say, okay, there's a little bit there. Just needs to do a lot of strikes. The best pitch to hit is also a strike. That's a great point, Leila. And it's just like it's with the uncertainty on with Shoda Imanaga, like Boyd has to be on his best pitching behavior.

So I'm a little bit discouraged by that. Number two. Shout out to our program, Director Ryan Porth for submitting this great question here. Are the Cubs going to regret trading Owen Casey more than they'll regret trading Cam Smith? Oh, man. Okay, so did we all kind of notice what happened the walk-off home run that Owen Casey? I still call him Big Red hit because they looked real happy in their 1993 teal, Florida Marlins-style jerseys. Everybody looked real happy with what went on. So that was a, it reminded me of how I felt, though, when Jake Berger had gotten traded to the Marlins and then Jake,

Baker also hit a walk off and then things changed except the problem is Jake Burger had been in the league a lot longer and Owen Casey hasn't he's still got a lot of potential okay so I guess my answer is Owen Casey I know that Kim Smith is still a very big part of what the Astros are trying to do he had two runs to his name and he scored but his I think he's still very much a work in progress from a hitting standpoint but either way you you traded both for for limited time with Edward Cabrera and respectively Kyle Tucker. So I still think it's Casey, but it's also because of his potential.

You're saying they're going to regret trading Casey more than Smith? Yes. Okay. So I think they're going to regret trading Smith more than Casey. And I say that because I think Casey's going to be a star. I think he's going to be a star. I think he's very good. Five for 10 so far in his Marlins tenure.

They've got their first 3-0 start for the first time. long time but it was against the Rocky so let's pump the brakes on this being like an all-time team or anything uh but five or ten a couple doubles in the walk off home run that's impressive here's why i think the camp smith thing is going to be uh more regret it regretful ultimately did they get what they wanted out of cowtucker yes they made the playoffs they won a playoff series i would argue that this team is going to do more with edward cabrera and so i i really think that more, they're going to miss Casey when he is, I think he's going to be an all-star. I just think he's going to be an all-star.

I spit on this question. Oh, wow. With all due respect to Ryan Pardth, I have, like, just when I initially heard that question, zero regrets. Why? Because I think Edward Cabrera is going to be fantastic for the Cubs, changing the identity of their rotation. It's a starting damn pitcher.

So I get it. Like, Owen Casey might be very good. I'll take the very good starter over the very very, good outfielder. So I got zero regrets for that and you nailed it too. It was exactly what I was thinking with Kyle Tucker. Do you have the season that the Cubs had without Kyle Tucker? Do you get to be in a position to win a playoff series without Kyle Tucker? It sucks giving guys up like that. We always talk about the Glabor Torres trade for a roll-dis chapman. Sometimes you've got to do things to win. I have zero regrets. I don't like the question. Sorry.

It was more the Soler for Adam Warren, wasn't it? For who? Jorge Saler, when did he get traded away? There was some trade in there that like didn't make sense and it never made sense. I think that was 2016, wasn't it? Because he was not on, Soler was not on the World Series team, right? No. Who's he traded for?

I shot to top of my head, I forget. Okay, not the one for Griffin Canning. Wow, he's been traded a bunch. Hold on. We'll check that out. We'll figure that out here in seconds. There was some trade that sent away Jorge Saler and it like bothered.

Hmm, okay. I mean... I thought it was Adam Warren. I had a lot of hope for Horace Oler. He blossomed with Kansas City, right? Wasn't it Kansas City? Yes, and they got Wade Dave. Oh, that should not have bugged you.

Wade Davis was excellent with the Cubs. That was a good trade. Oh, no, it wasn't Horaceous. It was Starling Castro. For? Adam Warren. That was the one that bothered me. I just got here at the time was up.

His time was up, man. Like the Cubs had stopped liking Starling Castro. I feel like that's how the Astros were about Cal talked about it. Yeah, they had a son Russell. They loved Edison Russell over Starland Castro and then ultimately Javier Baez wins that whole Wade Davis for Solair. Yeah, that was a good trade.

Really good trade. I mean, he was an excellent closer for the Cubs. Wade Davis was. In a season, it was 2017. I feel like Soler and Castro both had the similar vibe of up-and-comer and then Warren and Davis were both relievers. Those are some pricey-ass trades, man. Yeah, I mean.

That's all I got to say about. I love the excitement or the potential of Salera when he was with the Cubs. Like, I mean, that dude was like the most powerful looking guy that I've seen in a Cubs clubhouse, but didn't translate at least while he was with the Cubs. Number three. It's five on it on 104. Through the score with Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody. Here's question three.

We now have a three-game sample size of MLB's automated ball strike challenge system, also known as ABS. Is ABS going to stand the test of time? Yeah, but we'll see. CB Bucknor? Like, is that what this has come down to now? Is it just ABS versus CB? Keeping CB honest.

God help us. What if Angel Hernandez was still in this? Bring back Eric Gregg from the grave. I saw a quote that came across. It said no one wants to be embarrassed. I know it is hard to referee. I don't think anybody, an umpire, I don't think anybody is questioning that.

So just know you're still the best of the best or the best of who's available at this job. So you're going to need the help from the computers, and it's going to be okay. Buckner wasn't even the one who was most affected by this, although Cincinnati Reds fans will tell you otherwise. Chad Wichson had seven challenged calls, and all seven were overturned. That's more than CB Buckner. He was doing the Giants and Yankee series. Yes, it's going to stand the test of time and then some. It's going to be further enhanced, and eventually we're going to get robocalls.

Yeah, it's common. I think you're right. I love it being there. I think the players have to get used to making that split decision too. Like Nico Horner had a moment, was it Saturday or opening day, where he probably should have gone for the challenge and did not look. What this does, and Boog has done a great job, like watching the telecast, talking about how, like, what it's going to show actually is that umpires are really good.

But there are those days where the umpire is just trash, where he's just, for whatever reason, he's all, we know these days. where both dugouts are chirping, that will stop that from happening. Where everybody is on the guy, that's what it takes out. I agree with what Boog has been saying, and good on him to say it, that umpires are mostly very good at their jobs in an era in which the ball is moving like it's never moved. It's going faster than it's ever gone velocity-wise. So it's a hard job.

They will be shown to be good umpires, but this will eliminate bad days. We have a good Bears question then. we're just going to save because there's a, there's a, our final question today is one that we definitely want to get in based on something that was in the headlines this weekend. Swiss food giant Nestle says about 12 tons or 4,013 793 candy bars of its Kit Kat chocolate brand were stolen after leaving its production site in Italy earlier this week for Poland. The company based in Vevey, Switzerland, said in a statement Friday that, quote, the vehicle in its load are still nowhere to be found, unquote. while we don't condone stealing trucks full of chocolate and candy on this show, if you were to pull off a candy caper, what would you target? Okay, first of all, a candy caper needs to be the next name

for whatever version of video game you play on your phone, Candy Caper. Number two, where'd the Kit Katz go? You can't just, like, hide 12 tons of chocolate. It's going to melt in a lot of cases. So you've got to keep it cold or room temperature. Where is it? Where is it Europe? So you can go from Italy to Austria to the Czech Republic,

Chuchia, depending on the acknowledgement, up to Poland. All right? So that's a lot of countries where it could have disappeared run off to. I would steal Twix. Left and right Twix. I will not discriminate. I will steal them all. You stole my answer.

But I'm in mine too, by the way. No, really? Everybody pays for three feet of Twix. Are we a Twix? Are we a Twix family? I guess we are. But I was going to be more specific. All right, fine.

Football-shaped Reese's peanut butter. Okay, fine. Pepperoni, pizza, combos, cracker style. Football-shaped recess. They are scientifically better. I was a lot. What the hell? Oh, my God.

Why do they make other candies? But my Twix thing was I was going to be the king-sized Twitch. Twitch? Not Twitch. Shout out to King-sized Twitch out there. Shout-outs. The Twix-sized Twix is what would be my target. I want all the king-sized twicks.

I want extra Twix. All right. That's a good flex by you. Damn. I mean, what other candy is there? Eminems. How about regular old-fashioned Eminem? Shout out to the old-fashioned Eminemes.

They're nothing wrong with that. They'd never go out of style. Oh, peanut butter emin-ms? Oh, peanut butter. Also, Easter's coming up this weekend. You know, I gave up sweets for Lent. Please don't eat peeps. No.

Okay. Cadbury creaming. What the hell? Cadbury creamings are amazing. I'm not going to hear this slander from you. I'm not going to yuck your yum. I'm just going to say not as yummy. One time for Easter, I got a Cadbury Cream egg,

and then you opened it up, and it was filled with Cabbery Cream eggs. Costco's selling a 10-pound chocolate bunny for like $100. The ear is like two feet long. Layla's face. I hope you're on the Twitch right now. Not to be confused with the Twix. Your face, when he said that? I had said nothing.

I think somebody needs to buy Layla something. No, you're the one who gets gifts on the show. I have more of anything that I can ever want. You two are so generous. You guys have gifted me many times. You are still stealing people's mugs. I give you a whole thermos. I actually was going to bring the thermos today,

and then I decided I didn't want to bring coffee. Ooh, A1-5 says Dubai chocolate. Man, you're on to something there. I do love pistachia? Low-key, chunky. Do you guys like chunky? The little chocolates with the peanuts and raisins? Like, really good, actually.

It's been a minute. No raisins for me, sir. Okay. Oh, you don't like Ray. That would be a problem. All right. Well, none of this candy talk. We've got to get back to the Illini.

Maybe Jeremy Warner treated himself after they made it to their first final four in 21 years. Let's ask Jeremy Warner, publisher of Aligni Inquirer. com to talk about Illinois in the final four. Amazing. Next. Lela Rahimi. Marshall Harris. Mark Grody.

Rahimi Harris and Grody on 1043. The score. Another miss. Illinois's got it and that's all she wrote. It's been 21 years for the Illinois. But finally, the road will take them to Indianapolis. Illinois is going to the final four. Love that our friend Kevin Harlan was on the call for that on CBS.

You know where to find Kevin when he's not calling. He's calling with us or at Taco Bell. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104. the score and we get to talk to one of our favorite guests this time of year and I feel like I feel like I would be in a good mood if I were him we go to our hotline and to twitch twitch tv slash the score Chicago Jeremy warner he is the publisher of aligni inquirer dot com covering a final four team Jeremy what is it like for you it's new well for me I've never done this before and it's easy for me to reflect on this because when I really started this website,

it was the bottom part of the nadir for Illinois, missing four straight NCAA tournaments under John Gross turned into six and then really kind of seven years because of COVID, where I didn't cover an NCAA tournament. And because of COVID, I didn't cover an NCAA tournament in person until 2022. So I've been able to see the low point of this program and where Brad Underwood has brought it. And it's why I thought Saturday the story was Brad.

What he has done to lift this program from the bottom half of the Big Ten, from mediocrity, from, you know, just kind of accepting that NCAA tournaments weren't a given at a place like Illinois that's got such a great history of basketball to where now they're at college basketball's biggest stage for the first time again in 21 years. They've made two elite eights in the last three years. They're one of the best programs in the Big Ten. He deserved this. And to have that moment to climb that ladder and do that, that's just an accomplishment for Brad

who is known as a fiery coach, but I think the biggest thing for him is he's been flexible. He's been adaptable in this era of college basketball. And he's changed a lot. He's grown a lot despite being in his 60s now. And it's all led to his best roster and his best team and obviously his best march here. So his players deserve a ton of credit for everything they've done. But Brad's the catalyst to all of this, Illinois, basketball mattering again in your area

in Chicago. It matters again. It matters across the state. It's kind of a unifying thing for this state, for this university. And Brad's kind of the guy, along with Josh Whitman, the Illinois athletic director brought him here and has given him every resource. I thought it was his moment on Saturday. And Jeremy, I couldn't agree with you more.

And what was interesting about watching this, it feels like a culmination. Not to say the align and I are done, because certainly two more wins takes this conversation even further, but to understand that Illinois has more wins over the last seven seasons than any other Big Ten school, but they had yet to reach the final four. Now that they're doing that and understanding what happened in the first half of

that game against a very good Iowa team, it felt to me like this might be the best coaching job in game that he's done all season given the struggles that they had from beyond the arc. I also think part of that, Marshall, is they have the best roster that makes them as bulletproof as possible, right? Like that Kofi and I.O. team was a small team outside of Kofi. Coburn. And if they didn't have a good shooting night, other teams could just kind of overtake them at certain times. It didn't happen often. But Brad had a bad coaching day that day. Didn't make the adjustments. But Houston in 2022, when Illinois won the Big Ten, just a way more athletic, longer team than Illinois and Brad knew he had to get there. 2004. Now, I don't

know if anybody beats that Yukon team. Nobody did in the NCAA term. No one came close, but Illinois just did not have the level of talent and size that Yukon team did. So, Brad figured out a way to go get size and skill and went over to Europe and got most of that. And now they're becoming an NBA factory for guards after Iodosumu and Terrence Shannon, Casper Seacoshonas, Will Riley, and they just hit on an evaluation like Keaton Wogler. It's just this team is so well-rounded now that it is playing some defense. Now that it has some bite on defense, this is historically the best offense we've ever seen since Ken Palm started tracking data.

It's the most efficient offense we've ever seen. So they have so many answers on that end that at some point the dam is going to break because they have shooting. They have guys who can get to the basket. We saw that with Andre Astroyoakovich and Keaton Wigler. They have guys who could score in the post with Thomas Lavisov Ivisich and David Mirkovich. They get so many of their offensive rebounds back that even misses turn into efficient shots for them. But also now they're defending.

Like now they're shabbing physicality on that end. this team becomes really, really difficult to beat. I don't think there's some massive underdog. Like Michigan and Arizona have been the best teams for most of the year. Duke was in that conversation too. But if they're able to beat Yukon and they're favored in that one, this team has a chance when it plays its highest level. So I don't think it's some Cinderella story.

There's not some flash in the pan that Illinois got here, but it took them some failure of not locking in on defense about losing some leads midway through that season, that this team's finally learned into that and figured it all out. Jeremy, I love the way you put that at some point in time during these games, the dam is going to break because you could see the physicality, the giving teams one chance at the basket, out rebounding them 38 to 21. But man, they made me nervous in the first half and the three's clanking all over the place, missing the easy baskets. It's Iowa getting out to the fast start for whatever reason. Maybe it's nerves, slow starts, stuff like that. I'm getting to something here.

That is, I know it has worked with Andre Stoyakovich coming off the bench. But because he can get to the basket and create that shot and you don't have to depend on being cold from the outside, should they start Stoyakovich or no, stick with what they've been successful with? Mark, I stick with what they have because Michael Tewip who joins me in our podcast all the time. on field of 68. He's the best analyst. He needs to be put on BTN if they're listening. He breaks it down as he has a pressure release valve. So if they do have a slow start, Andres Droyoakovich comes into the game and just gives them something different, gets to the rim, gives him a great defender. I thought that's where his best impact was

what he did against Bennett Sturts late in that game on defense with his length. But I think he's bought into that role for one. I mean, this guy was the most expensive player, Illinois brought in this year and he was kind of expected to be their leading scorer and then he's kind of accepted this roll off the bench where he's still one of their leading scores but he's just kind of that sixth man give a jolt of energy and having that I think is huge I think the argument would be putting Benham Rickhouse back in the starting lineup just because he's longer he's got some defense to him but I do like having Andre off the bench I wouldn't mess with anything at this point I think I know they value Jake Davis he does struggle defensively

at times, but it just doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He can be a three-point shooter for them. I understand why that's been a storyline, but I do think Andre gets to see the game a little bit as a starter, and I think he knows when he comes in. It's usually for Kyle and Boswell, and he can take some pressure off of Keaton Wager, David Mirkovich, and kind of be that go-to-guy. So I think that mix is working, but I don't want to overlook what he did defensively. His length, he was not a defender when he came to Illinois, but Brad Underwood, thought he could be a really good defensive player. That's going to be a ticket for him to the NBA because he's not a great shooter.

Just his length, his athleticism, really bothered Bennett Sturts, who was really carrying Iowa to the lead for most of that game. We're talking to Jeremy Warner. He's the publisher of Illini Inquirer.com. And we also get a bit of a rematch here. You know, this is a game with Yukon where these two teams, Jeremy Aligni and Yukon met. was it November 28th? So earlier in the season, that was at Madison Square Garden that ended up being a UConn win.

Dan Hurley looks like he's on level 10 when it comes to making contact with referees and the intensity that he had. We saw in that Duke game. And I think then there's also the element of what happened when the Terran Shannon team lost to Yukon. We had Brad Underwood on our show on Friday, and he said he thought he had a final four team that year, and they lost to the eventual national champion. And you know, what do you think about the rematch aspect of this in so many different ways coming up? Yeah, what's fascinating is it is a rematch, but it's completely different teams. Illinois, after that game, they had Keaton Wogler off the ball. He was just kind of a shooter in the corner. David Mirkovich rarely had the ball in his hands.

After that game, they decided, you know what, we need to put Keaton-Wagler the keys in his hands. They did, and we've seen what's happened ever since then. Keaton Wogler is the best NBA prospect that remains in this final four. He's putting together one of the best seasons in Illinois history. I did not use the qualifier of best season by a freshman. I'm saying one of the best individual seasons we ever seen. He's getting a jersey in the rafters because he's an All-American. He's the Big Ten freshman of the year, all-Big Ten first team, most outstanding player.

He matched Bennett Sturts, shot for shot. He had one more point at the end of the game. was so tough and physical against Houston. Did a lot of things defensively and on the glass, along with scoring 13 points. He's the engine now. And Yukon hasn't gone up against a lot of guards like Keaton, who are NBA-level lottery-pick kind of guys.

So the offense has just completely changed since when Illinois last played Yukon. Now, Yukon had some struggles at the end of the regular season and in their Big East tournament. But Dan Hurley is 17 and 3 in the NCAA tournament. And there's just a culture of toughness, physicality that they bring. Illinois is actually a bigger team than Yukon. They're a better offensive team than Yukon, but Dan Hurley, whether you like him or hate him, you know how his teams are never going to quit. We saw that yesterday. Braylon Mullins was a non-factor in the game

before. We just saw the confidence builder he just hit to make NCAA tournament history yesterday. So this is going to be a great matchup, but is a different matchup than we saw. And I understand why Illinois is the favorite because just their roster, I think, is better than Yukon. But big test for Brad Underwood and his staff because Dan Hurley's staff clearly is the best, if not one of the tops in the country. Always a pleasure to talk to you. And I'm so glad we get to do this at this point in the year. Jeremy Warner, thanks so much for being here.

Thanks, Jeremy. Anytime, guys. Thanks. That is Jeremy Warner. You can find him on J. Warner 24-7 on X, publisher of aligniteenquirer.com. We also want to let you know, call her. to the score contest line 312540-0-670 will win a pair of tickets to the Outlaw Music Festival, which makes it stop at the Credit Union won Amphitheater in Tinley Park, August 25th. The lineup includes Willie Nelson, the AVet Brothers, Lucas Nelson, and more tickets are provided by Live Nation and are available at LiveNation.com.

Next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, some talking is getting done over at the league meetings, And Ben Johnson is on one. So we're going to let you know how he, he may be having a bit of a Michael Jordan, Gail King moment too. We'll do that next. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Spares tight end.

Cole Kamet. Cole, welcome to the party, pal. Well, thanks for having me. I heard it was a big day. So naturally, I dropped everything I had 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 blast that in the locker room. Beautiful back! Rahimi Harrison Grody, Midday's Tyndall 2 on 1043 The Score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043, the score.

And the league meetings are going on. I don't know if you guys recall, but remember when Ryan Ryan Poles was like, talk to me about the league meetings of the draft picks. And I was like, I will, Ryan Poles, metaphorically speaking, because I'm not there. Point is, they're happening. We're seeing the GM meetings take place now. And we're also seeing a lot of stuff being discussed. Courtney Cronin had quite the synopsis of what Ben Johnson had to talk about.

We're going to turn around some of that audio for you and bring it to you at 125. And Ben Johnson picked up where he left off. He has kept that same energy, as we like to say. And for all the discussion we have had about who's going to be wide receiver one, now that DJ Moore is out of the building, apparently Ben Johnson wasn't happy with the entire apparatus. Her report says this, Johnson isn't happy with the offensive staff for how they didn't coach wide receivers to get open enough. I want to also add this, emphasize getting back to fundamentals and OTAs on catching the ball, to address drop issues.

What did you see in that regard? I don't get that. Who's drops? Rome. You know, that's something that we'll talk to him about. I don't think that was a thing with him coming out. And so I don't want to speak that into existence. You know, that's something as an entire offense,

we're going to emphasize here in the springtime, getting back to our fundamentals, back to the basics, as simple as that sounds, and catching the football is part of it. And so we'll make that a big point of emphasis, and I think we'll see improvement from that. I mean, it's pretty cut and dry to me. They asked him about Rome dropping the football.

He's basically explained to you that, hey, last year was my first year with this guy. I don't think it was an issue when they took him with a top 10 pick. So now it's not just on Rome, but everybody involved with the receivers to make sure they just don't drop the freaking ball. There was a lot of drop balls. That was a problem. And Rome had a loud one because it was in the end zone. and as I've said many, many times in my conversation with him, he didn't take any excuses, and Rome was about as down and as serious as I've seen him in the locker room and in both locker rooms out at Hallis

and after the game at Soldier Field. Obviously, I was usually a gregarious guy. He was pissed off at himself for that. So I'm glad that Rome was pissed off at himself for that. But yeah, this extended even to Colson Lovelland had some bad drops too. So this was, that was an issue I thought overall with the receivers, especially towards the end of the season. Bears were among the league leaders, if not the league leader in drops. And Rome, as we broke down the numbers, I don't think any of us fully realized until we like read them out loud that he had only caught less than 50% of his targets.

And so when that happens, you realize where completion percentage comes into discussion. one of the first things Ben Johnson said at the end of last season was he needed his receivers to catch the ball better. I did not think that meant just one person. But when you hear him talk about the need to have guys get open better too, and that was calling out Antoine Randallel, which we think is one of the most highly discussed vaunted members of this coaching staff. Do we not? We all feel like they speak very highly of him. So that was a bit interesting to hear that part of it put out and pull.

public. And, you know, what's interesting is not every ball that a receiver doesn't come up with is considered a drop. Like, according to pro football reference, Rome-Badunzei had two drops. You'll be shocked to who the leader in drops was on the Bears last season with five. Oh, no. Oh, no. Alameda Zakias.

He's no longer on the team. When you said, sir, I was taking you seriously when you said you'd be surprised. I would have been surprised to hear DJ Moore had the most. Oh, no. I was fine. Very facetious thing. Okay. My bad.

Two drops for Rome is also. It's also surprising. And then Luther Burton had four drops, DeAndre Swift with four drops as well, DJ Moore with three. Look, it was a problem because even balls that weren't necessarily designated as drops, they were catchable balls that they didn't come up with. You draft people at a certain position. A top 10 pick is supposed to not drop balls or come up with better catches, you know, to translate to Pete Crowe Armstrong, a five-star catch for a receiver that's drafted in the

first round or in the top 10, that's more expected of you because you were drafted where you were for a reason. And as for Ben Johnson apparently calling out Antoine Randallel. Again, it reads from Courtney Croton Johnson, isn't happy with the offensive staff for how they didn't coach wide receivers to get open enough. I mean, look, if Ben Johnson is going to be this transparent head coach and talk about the players and talk about himself, remember very early in the season when he went through a litany of things that he was not happy about his own coaching.

Of course you call out the coaches. Antoine Randallel L is a good story. He is local. We all love Antoine Randallel L. But that doesn't mean that he is impervious to making mistakes and needs to coach better. So I appreciate it, man. I mean, I think about Ben Johnson now, what's this guy going to be like in his hopefully seventh or eighth year with the bears? Like the power and the control and the transparency.

That's right. Knock on wood for sure. Back on your bear sculpture. Yeah, the bear sculpture should be knocked on. It's a little far away. Yeah. But you go behind you with the wood all. at all times. There it is. No, I think that, you know, but it's going to be interesting to see

how the transparency weighs on people, affects people if he needs to alter it. But for now, it feels very refreshing. Well, and also, what does that look like? How does that, because we've, we talk all the time in the NFL about scheming players open. We talk in the NFL about quarterbacks being able to cheat some of that and lead a guy. But then there's also Ben Johnson and being a hell of a play caller and play designer. So what didn't happen in your designs where guys weren't open like you had wanted to see? You know, that's part of it too.

It sounds like it's more about route running and understanding the scheme. And look, it was year one. If we all look at the success from year one and say, what can carry over to year two, I think most of us are pleased with what strides the offense took overall. But that's not good enough for Ben Johnson because he used to having the number one,

offense, if not a top three offense, in the NFL. Yeah, and I also go back to the, and I think we all do this as reporters, when a head coach is speaking like that, or when a manager is speaking like that in baseball, anybody, you want to know who they're calling out. And obviously Rome was directly asked about. But I wonder who else falls under that part of it. Alameda Zakias can, he's gone. He can't hurt you anymore.

But would you say burden? Burden, he did have some like consequential drops, too. And look, we all love Luther Burden. But again, he ain't there yet. He's not there yet. Well, and, you know, what part, when he says coaches and receivers, he's not saying things about quarterback, but is quarterback a part of this discussion?

Yeah, I think the catchable balls in terms of putting it in place where it's a runner's ball is that as part of the discussion. I think he's not happy with the entirety of the offense because he understands how good it can be. And he is a madman. And he's going to try to get it. where it needs to be. Well, I also think of, like, for example,

what is one thing we say about Tyree Kill, for example, every single game? And we were saying it about Jackson Smith and Jigba, every single game last season. How do you get that open? Doesn't happen on every play, but it would happen. And that's when your explosive play happens.

And you want that to be a bear's receiver, and that should be a goal. Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison-Gretti, more talk from the owner's meetings. That will happen at 125. And in the meantime, one of our friends of the show, Lance Bronsowski, Seamhead himself. His TikTok has been on fire lately with a bunch of great pitching analysis. He's with Marquis Sports Network.

He'll join us next. Softly, and this is going to do it. Peter, over to first, and that's the ball game. And the Nationals come into Wrigley and take two of three to open the season. Not to start to the year. No, no, not ideal. It really is not ideal. This is Rahimi Harris and Grotie.

That is courtesy of Marquis Sports Network, Booghambi and Jim DeShay's JD on the call. And another Marquis employee who we always enjoy talking to. Joins us via Twitch, twitch.tv slash the score, Chicago, and our hotline. It is Lance Brodsowski, Marquis Sports Network, player development analyst, co-host of the Cubs Now podcast. I just think Seamhead, Lance,

You love baseball on a level that is impressive to those of us who love baseball. I appreciate that. Thank you for having me. Hope you guys are good. It's warm today in Chicago. Oh, my God. Oh, we know. We're excited.

Oh, yeah. We're in a Chile studio. In the meantime, not only have you been analyzing, I think, some really great work you've been doing on your TikTok regarding pitches and mixes that a lot of the pitchers of the league are doing, you're also analyzing what you're seeing on the Cubs. You know, what stood out to you after, unfortunately, going down two or three to the nationals? Kate Horton is the best pitcher on the staff. I said it preseason and I'm standing by it.

I just think this is his season. The reason it's funny I liked him heading into the year is that I thought the strikeouts would tick up. Last year he was on a pitch count. He wasn't throwing like more than 80, shady, five pitches to start down the stretch. And as a result of that, he just pounded the zone and got a ton of outs. And he was incredibly effective, one of the best pitchers in baseball. My thesis was that he would lean into more whiff. But we didn't really see that in this Saturday's game where he threw against the national

And I'm curious to see like how he develops as a pitcher and whether that's something that he embraces more or whether we just see Wrigley wind blowing in. He's throwing a bunch of force seam. And as a result of that, he ends up carving through a lineup. But he has multiple paths that he can go down as a pitcher. He can embrace the wind blowing in and throw a bunch of fastball. And alternatively, I think there are going to be situations where he's on the road in a park that's maybe more advantageous for hitters where he can go and generate some whiff. So I love the malleability. he has as a pitcher to be able to strike the ball but also generate a ton of swinging miss. Listen, I love that talk about Kate Horton because I think he is without a doubt, the ace of the staff.

Going to the other end of the spectrum, what we saw yesterday from Shodhamanaga, I would argue it's not as bad as everybody wants to make it out to be because guess what? The win was blowing out at Wrigley he's going to give up home runs. Craig Counsel understands what the story is. We should all understand what the story is. That being said, what did you make of

his performance yesterday? And is this in line with what we should be expecting from Shodamanaaga? Is it in line? Yeah, I mean, he's going to allow homers. Counsel said this in his postgame presser. I think that's like, that is who he is. These guys with these more vertical shapes that want to pound the zone as aggressively as he does are just going to run into barrels more often. And you're just really hoping the winds blowing directly in from right field when he allows those barrels to righties. I'm encouraged by the

velocity being back. We went through this dance all of last season where we're thinking that he could just command the ball better at 91, 90, and he would be fine. I always just, just, didn't believe that. I thought there was some residual from the hamstring. Most of the time, if someone's not telling you about an injury, you can look at ball velocity or just raw backspeed. We saw this with Kyle Tucker kind of back into the fact that he's not entirely healthy. And we saw that what showed us. So the fact that he was 92 is really encouraging to me that looks a lot more like 2024. I will point out to the ball that Joey Weamer hit. It was the weekend of Joey Weimer for some reason. I have no idea why. This happens occasionally with like,

wouldn't we, didn't Scooter Jeanette come in here and hit like three bombers randomly? I mean, it is what it is. It's a great pull by you. Man, that hurts. I know, I know. But Weimer's ball, the ball that he hit, okay, that was the second lowest home run off the ground, Shoda has ever allowed. That ball does not get hit out.

He could throw that a hundred times. It's getting out one time. You take that away, we're saying a completely different story. We're singing a completely different tune. So I'm not worried about him in the context of the Vlo is back and that ball that Weemer hit is just never going to get out. I don't know what Weimer had on him. and then Boyd had a change up down below the zone that he also clipped out.

Like, I don't know what to tell you about Joey Weamer. That to me is all random. Six for six with two walks. I mean, we had a good laugh about it earlier that we talked way too much about him over the weekend. Like this is not, we should not be bringing up Expo's history. Weamer. Yeah. Yeah.

He became, maybe we saw it right before our eyes. He became a Cubs killer. Keep Weamer, Weemer, Weemer off of Wrigley Field. At least he's not in the division. You know, Lance, let's just keep going. on rapid fire with the starters. I am looking. I think Cubs fans, I think we're all looking so forward to seeing Edward Cabrera pitch with the Cubs. What has, what is your scouting report on him from what you have seen in the past with the Marlins and what you saw in spring training

and what Cubs fans should expect out of this hard throwing right-hander? He's very unlike other pitchers the Cubs have had. And I think that'll be refreshing. I feel like for a while the Cubs always have always had these lower velocity. guys not so tantalizing from a i can't wait to turn the tv on and watch this guy no offense to anybody who's been in the rotation last five years but you know i think cabrera is of a different breed he reminds me more of like the you darvishes and the jake gerietas of years past where it's just insane stuff and sometimes when you watch him it's hard to fully understand how he's getting the ball to move a certain way or like why his change up is 94 miles per hour so there's going to be moments i'm excited to see

like JD's analysis and boogs just around how odd he is. There's just not a lot of comps for him in the league. I guess maybe like a San Diego Contra's around there, and they both came from that Marlon's kind of power change up era. But he's really funny. He throws everything hard. The velocity is somewhat unorthodox for the Cubs of the last couple of years. He's going to get a lot of strikeouts.

The start I saw when he was down in Arizona and I was doing some stuff for Marquis. I thought he was leaving everything up. So, I mean, he's going to run into some outings where he gives up some barrels because the change-ups kind of tipping up in the zone. He loves using that almost as like a sinker, an early count pitch. But there's also going to be games where he strikes out 14, and you're like, what on earth did I just watch? And that to me is really exciting.

From a more nerdy standpoint, with the Marlins last year, he took off because he stopped throwing his forcing fastball. The Marlins were like, hey, your sinker's better. You could get it in zone equally as much, and it's going to allow less damage. He threw that a bunch, and his walk rate finally ticked down to more of like a league average level. Prior to that, you go like 22 to 24. We were all just kind of complaining and dreaming on what he could be if he was in the zone more. So that is the forcing usage is something I'm curious to see how it unfolds with the Cubs.

The Cubs I think were top three or four in forcing fastball usage last season. I do think some of that is influenced by the park they play in and the aggressiveness you can have and the potential to not allow a bunch of barrels and be in zone. Cabrera to me, I think that I don't want as much foreseen, but I'm also not Tommy Yadavit and Tyler Zambron. and these guys were far smarter than me, primarily because I saw him be amazing last year throwing like 10% forcing fastball. So I don't know why you would kick him back to 25, 20% forcing fastball. But again, that's a really nuanced topic that you could nerd out on and see in the game,

you know, if you want to hop to baseball Savon and you like looking at data in game as I do. But just sit back and enjoy him. The breaking ball's sick. The changeups insane. And he's going to blow your mind. Now, I think we do have baseball savant open. And there are times where we do want to get into the weeds. And I, I wonder if they just think that everything has to be built off of fastball command establishment first. Like, it can be that simple of an idea, Lance. It could be, but I just, I don't think, this may be harsh, but I don't think he has a ton of command. Like, the reason he's good is because this stuff is insane. Like, he's a guy where you just set up central target, pre two strike. And you're like, if you get the ball anywhere in this box,

we are happy. Like, he's like a starter version of Daniel Palencia. Like, anytime Palencia talks about command, I like cringe up. I'm like, I don't think. that guy's ever going to be able to command the ball. That's not a problem, though. He's just going to rip 100 miles per hour over the plate, and you're not going to hit it because the sheet's insane. Like, we don't need to complain about how he can't command the ball. Like, it's way overrated with guys with big stuff, in my opinion. And I think that applies to Cabrera. I just want in zone, roughly in zone, not like heart of zone, but like if he can be in the box, he's going to be fine because the stuff's so good. Well, and the break is, is silly. Like, I wouldn't be surprised if

catchers have to spend significant time getting used to him, too, because the break on that change up is almost circular. It's really weird. Yeah, it minds the, the shape of his sinker. It's just a lower spin rate. So the ball's not spinning as much. He's thrown in with slightly weaker finger. So it's a little slower than the sinker.

But I struggle with like how, I obviously never stood in the box against where Cabrera. But I'd love to talk to and I'm just going to try to this year as teams come in and out. What like the visual is for a hitter on that pitch? Like, does it just look like a sinker? But it's slightly slower. so you're always off it.

And when he pairs that with the sinker, is it really hard to see? You know, I'm going to try to hop into like the Brewers and Pirates Clubhouse later this year and kind of poke around and see like, hey, you saw him in April or June or whatever. Like, what did you describe to me as a layperson what that change up looks like?

Because it doesn't look like Kyle Hendricks change up or showed a splitter. It's a very different pitch to the point where it's, I don't even know if he could classify it as a changeup, but that's what we have to do from a classification standpoint because he already throws a sinker and he already throws a forcing fastball and some other things.

We are nerding out with Lance Przdaowski. He is the Marquis Sports Network, player development analyst, also the co-host of the Cubs Now podcast. All right, we're nerding out on the pitching. Let's nerd out a little bit on the hitting. I'm so fascinated by Pete Crowe Armstrong's start to the season with that new extension in hand.

We've already seen him lay down two bunt singles. We've seen the speed at work. Is this just him saying, hey, look, I know I need to get on base more, in your opinion, or is he just taking what the defense gives him? It's a combination. You know, that first bun on opening day, I don't know why the Nats were shifting them over that hard. Like that feels like something that any team from an advanced standpoint is just going to look at and be like,

oh, yeah, you can't play the third baseman at shortstop against him. You just have to put him on the grass. And you're like, hey, Pete, if you want to do that again, we'll try to throw you out. You know, and then you decrease the probability that's successful. To me, you're right, though. It's really about the OBP. I would bet Pete's aware of this, too. I'm not sure if he's deliberately said, hey, I want to get my OVP up this year.

But that is how you unlock like top five MVP votes. If you just want to look at war, which I think is really how a lot of people vote now for these awards, is just kind of staring at those leaderboards. We ran into that with Drake Baldwin over Kate Horton last year. I don't really know if anyone watched the full season outside of market of those two players. But I think people just looked at the war leaderboard and were just like, no, Drake Baldwin's higher. I guess he's the rookie of the year.

But I'm saying that because the way you unlock the higher rung of performance for him and you make this contract that he just signed looked very very. team friendly is if he can get on base more. I think we need probably about like a 15 to 20 game sample of his chase rate and in some of the other metrics just to understand how he's swinging, where he's swinging. I don't want to, I don't think I've looked yet actually at what his chase rate is and what his OVPs. I want to give it a little more time as opposed to like assuming that one weekend is enough for us to assume that he stopped chasing or he's chasing more. It hasn't changed. So that's really when I'm locked on. It's just a tough, it's a tough call to make as to

whether he's now unlocked this other ability of his game. I don't think it's going to be something that is immediately unlocked, though. Like, it may take some time, but I'm encouraged by the fact that he has said this. And Bregman's also said in some press conferences from spring training. Like, swing decisions are incredibly important. And the more you can corral Pete into the zone, stop him from chasing, the more damage he's going to do, and the more frequently he's going to get on base. Lance, I'm sorry, I am going to ask you another pitching question here.

And I'm going to take it down a level. and that is to ask you about the Cubs 20-23 second rounder, a man by the name of Jackson Wiggins. What do the Cubs have in Jackson Wiggins? And is it inconceivable that we would see him get a starter to this year? No, I think he's got a shot of getting a starter two. He's really electric. He's a big dude. He's got a higher slot.

So I wouldn't comp him to like Ben Brown, but that aesthetic of pitcher where it's super tall in the mound, a little over the top. And he rides his fastball really well, throws really hard. The thing with him is just the fastball. quality is so exceptionally good. The problem is that he hasn't really zone the pitch enough right now. And I believe even in that first start at Iowa they had over the weekend or was that Friday, I don't remember off the top of my head. But that is the thing to watch. He's been a little sporadic in terms of command. When I did, I have a substack and I did like a top 40 pitching prospect

ranked. And he and this guy from New York, the Yankees Carlos Legrande, who kind of popped all over the place on social media in spring training because he was throwing like 101. They, they feature somewhat similar approaches from like, hey, I have this insane fastball. I'm going to throw it like 60% of the time. The difference is that Lagrange is just striking the ball more. He's in the zone more. So you can project him a little more aggressively as a starting pitcher. The key for Jackson Wiggins this year is really like, am I confident enough to start him just that he's not going to walk three or four guys in the bigs against major league lefties and righties? The quality of the fastball is so good. It's just more what I was talking about, Cabrera, I'm just like, if you're roughly in the box, man,

we are going to be very good with that pitch. Like we don't need, we can get to the point of halves, you know, like maybe outer third, inner third versus right. There's something along those lines up in a way. Like you could play around with those other halves of the plate, but he's really a guy that could just rip four seam over the plate and he's going to have success. It's just a matter of how do you get him to the point where that's more corral?

I anticipate them doing a very similar thing later in the season that they did with Kate Horton where he comes up more as a reliever or he's piggybacked if they need it. If not, if the rotation stays healthy, and, you know, everyone's dealing and you have, like, you have too many stars, you know, like say Ben Brown and Assad look amazing, and it's like, well, they're the sixes.

We have five. Then I could see him sliding into more of a raw pen roll. And maybe he's used a little like Palencia was last year, where you have Palencia on the ninth, but now you have like this kind of trump card, really strong pitcher who could be a closer on other teams used and say like the fifth or the sixth inning as you push into playoff time.

That's kind of where I see maybe his role happening this year. I like that. And then 2027 is probably the year where it's like, is he a starter? Like, let's actually push this to the point where we can see what the upside is as a starting pitcher. We're talking to Lance Brozowski, the Marquis Sports Network, player development analyst on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. And Lance, just building off of that question, outside of Daniel Polencia, which reliever do you think will be the best for the Cubs this year? Can I go Caleb Thielbar?

I don't know if that's a weird one, but I really like what he did last year. I think he's kind of a funky guy, you know, like in the past, he used Mark Lerner. Jr. as like your fake lefty because he had a splitter so he could face lefties and not have issues and such. But Theobar, I think, is just, he was nails last year. I don't really see any reason why he wouldn't come off that trajectory that he's been so strong on. You know, I think that he's kind of this wild card that maybe not enough people are talking about in the sense that he can be matched up with lefties if he'll be Milner runs into issues, although Milner's probably your left-left killer. But he could do that. He could also, with the breaking ball he has and some of the

spin that he can throw, get Ritey's out because of how vertical he is from a slot standpoint. I think it's a little bit tough for Ritey's to pick him up. He's the guy that I think you're going to look back at it like July and be like, oh yeah, look at he's the second best reliever in the bullpen. And maybe he's not used in the eighth per se, but I think that he's the stability that a lot of the times early in the year, at least the last couple seasons we've been searching for from the Cubs standpoint of just like worrying that maybe the bullpen isn't good enough. You know, they pulled in some reinforcements. And I'm excited to see those guys blossom. again, I'm really not trying to overreact to one weekend of outings and like Mayton getting

out of the basis load of jam and such. Like, it's the first game of the season, you know? Like I was thinking the other day, like the football equivalency of this. Like this series is three games. I think it's about three percent of the season. Three percent of a football season is like just over a quarter, I think, just about like, say two and a half, say like five minutes into the second quarter or something along those lines. It's like, would you overreact to five minutes into the second quarter of the bear season and make all these assumptions? That's I'm kind of like trying to zoom out. Yes, we would actually.

We would be absolutely laid, Lance. Point taken. Yeah. Point taken, bad example. We overreact to everything about the parents. We're not bragging about it. We're just telling me this is what we would do. Yeah, yeah, sorry. I'm trying to calm myself down.

Lance, this is always a good time to talk to you. If you want more of Lance's work, check it out, not just on Twitter at Lance Braz, BROZ, but also on TikTok where he does some of those video breakdowns. And check them out on the Cubs Now podcast. Thanks, Lance. Appreciate you, Lance. Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. Take care.

Thanks, man. That is Lance Brodsowski, who's great every time. I feel like we talk to him and learned something new every single day. I want to nerd out more often. Let's keep that going. Yeah, if not here, then where? Yeah, limited. Yeah, limited resources.

Yeah, that's us. Don't say we never gave you anything. We have more things to give away. Caller 6 to the score contest line. 312-540-0-670 will win a pair of tickets to the Weezer the Gathering Tour with special guests, the shins and Silver Sun pickups. Oh, nice. Yeah, I actually want to go to this too.

I love the pickups. At the United Center, it is on September 22nd. Tickets are provided by Live Nation and are available at LiveNation.com. That looks like a great show. More from the owner's meetings coming up next. Ben Johnson, we told you we were going to get some of that audio for you. So we will have it next. Rahimi Harris and Grody, Midday's 10 to 2.

on 104-3 the score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 The Score, and Ben Johnson spoke earlier today at the NFL owner's meetings, and he had a lot of quotes, but none of them may be as powerful as this note that we got from Courtney Cronin. That was, that was, it kind of runs in the same vein of Michael Jordan and Gail King from Jordan's interest.

saying he loves the game so much that he had to take a back seat. Ben Johnson is also taking it personally because here's what he has to say. As much as you loved, the Bears first playoff win in 15 years, well, that's not exactly what Ben Johnson is thinking about. He said coaches will be hypervigilant to any complacency and entitlement after the success of last season. While he was happy to hear from fans and supporters, quote, for about a week, end quote, about how exciting the 2025 season was.

He doesn't want to hear any more about how good the bears were as they have moved on to 2026. And to that I say amen, Ben Johnson, because guess what? The majority of people who understand football are definitely on board with that sentiment. Ben Johnson has spoken, and while I understand his sentiment or trying to move on himself,

I have bad news for you, Coach. you're going to hear about this game for the rest of your life because it was the Green Bay Packers and it was the first playoff win in 15 years. And I do think that the head coach definitely needs to move forward because we've talked a lot about what he wants to improve on. But you can't escape that win. You just won't be able to until you get more in the playoffs.

This is where you are. So I'm sorry, but people are going to keep bugging you about this and talking to you about you making them happy about the bears for the first time in a very long time. As the Bears reporter, I will keep that in mind with my lines of questioning to Ben Johnson out at Hallis Hall. But to Layla's point, I'll talk about a winning bear season whenever I damn well please on this microphone. However, and I have done this many, many times, I've gone through the list of Bears winning seasons, which most of the time, most of the time in Bears history are followed directly by a, as Marshall is doing, the drop off the table. sign language there. It goes off the table.

2018, my last example, and you guys know how much I found I was in the 2018 season. It dropped off the table in 2019 and subsequently for that entire Matt Nagy regime except for the one weird ass 500 playoff game against the New Orleans Saints. Doesn't count. That's fine. I am not going to argue that. But if that's the message to the players and to the coaches, then guess what? I am great with it because it sucks when you have so much hope after a winning season.

And then it's like, what happened? Where did it go? We're six to three lost to the Green Bay Packers on opening night after the 2018 season. No. So good, good for Ben Johnson, but bad for Ben Johnson because we'll continue to talk about winning seasons here on the score. There is a former score employee who said that she got to serve Ben Johnson last week. And she posted it Jenna Duddleston on her Instagram. And she said at the very end, she waited until the end.

But she said, thank you for making me happy as a Bears fan and having the most fun I've had watching football in years. And you know what? It's been past a week. And I think Jenna should be allowed to have that conversation with Ben Johnson. So, yeah, as the media will comply, because that's typically what we do. It's diplomacy and whatnot. But he's going to hear about it from fans for eternity. Yeah, he did a good thing for everybody.

Okay, but I think his point that we need to focus on, what you just talked about, Mark, he understands what happens next and what could happen next, right? You either get better or you get worse. There is no in between when we're talking about forward progress for a football team. No, that double entendre was not intended. I did not mean to be punny when I said that. But when he says, quote unquote, hypervigilant, here's the point. he's making sure everybody in his organization understands that was nice, but it's certainly not good enough.

It's not up to my standard. And they have to get better in 2026 just to hold on to their current place as the kings of the NFC North. I think if we don't take what he says here and apply it to the grand scheme of things, and I get it. Chicago's happy for the first time and a long time about what happened over the course of a football season. But his point is the one that you guys really need to take in. and that is the fact that I don't care anymore about 2025 because it's over and done. All I care about is the present, aka the future, which is what's next. I mean, I get it.

That's what I was saying. But fans are not going to comply with that. And I think that's fine. If fans don't, quote unquote, comply. There's two parts to this, right? I mean, like, we're always going to talk about it, but he should give a different message to the locker in what he's doing. Which, yeah, and I think he doesn't want players to Uncle Rico this and be like, well, if I had been put in the state title game in 1922, then we wouldn't have. lost. You know, he doesn't, he doesn't want players to be like, oh, well, remember that hot playoff

game I had? Yeah, no, that's not going to count next season. And I think that, and I, I'm going to point the finger at the head coach and the GM as well. I think there was a lot of, you remember 2018? Finger guns. Well, yeah, yeah, we do. We also remember how you guys didn't answer at all after that. And how, how you didn't even respond to the adjustments that were made in the playoff lost that year. So, yeah, I expect my head coach to adjust. I'm thinking about steak right now. You know what I'm thinking about steak?

Because you've just mentioned Uncle Rico. Didn't Uncle Rico eat steak every day? There was a lot of steak consumed on Napoleon Dynamite. Except by Tina the Lama, who ate ham. And tots in your pockets. That was a big thing. Steak and tots. Steak dinner, boom.

Is that what I just heard? Mmm. Steak dinner, boom. I do think that there is a contrast to point out here. but it is perhaps on the part of the head coach not wanting this to be the basis and wanting to move forward himself. And Mark, you know that players and Bears fans were not the only ones talking about 2018. You know that the guy who was named the coach of the year and the GM who was named the executive of the year did a lot of that previously too. Well, yeah, because the only problem that they had was a kicker.

That was it. It was all Cody Parkings. According to them. Right. All they had to do was fix the kicker. get the right guy in here, get Eddie Piniero going, and they were going to be just fine. I mean, that was sort of what they were telling us without telling us that.

But this is, Ben Johnson said this right away. I think it was after the Rams game, after the loss to the Rams, right away he said, get a good look. This ain't coming back next year. And to some degree, I was like, okay. You know, like, I understood, like, defensively there had to be changes. But I did not know that, you know, Drew Dalman was going to be gone. Well, he didn't at that point.

I understand that, and that wasn't necessarily what he was referencing. But he is right with the massive changes that we have seen on this team, at linebacker, at safety, at corner. He's right. They're going to have to do all of this again, but better. Like the guys that were good, Luther Burden has to be better coming up this year. Colson Loveland, as much as good as he was, he's got to be better this year. Caleb Williams, as great as he was in the second half in the second half in the year. the season. He's got to be better this year. So it's going to be a bit of a grind for the bears this

year and every year. Well, and you mentioned when Ben Johnson knew about Drew Dalman. And you said at that point he didn't know, well, guess what? Thanks to today, we now do have an understanding of when he found out about Drew Dalman's retirement. It was around mid-February that he reached out just what he wanted to do. And so I know Ryan and I are very appreciative for him. letting us know as early as he did, just where he was leaning. And, you know, at that point, it felt like he'd given this a lot of thought. And there was no really turning this thing around. And so very respectful for that.

And just the process that he took and to come to his conclusion, I don't want to speak for him, but he's got a lot of reasons why he decided to do what he did. But, you know, I couldn't be more grateful than to have my first year as a head coach with him because I really valued that position highly. We put a lot on his plate mentally, physically, and he answered that bell. He's a big reason why we're able to get the plane off the ground last year, and so we'll forever be grateful for him. Can the plane stay in the air? That's my question. It's off the ground, sure, but now you need to know that what you've decided to do in lieu of Drew Dalman can help you keep that plane in the air. Well, and he's positive about Garrett Bradbury, and we needed to hear what he thought about that problem.

position as well, understanding his influence in getting Drew Dalman here. So it was mid-February when they supposedly found out that Ben Johnson found out it was March 3rd that it was announced. So they did have some, Dalman did do the bears the courtesy of telling them early on and somehow some way it was kept under wraps and kept a secret until March 3rd when you two, I don't believe I was here, but you two heard that shocking news. that the Bears All-Pro Center was no longer with the team.

So that's a challenge right there. Oh, yeah, found out on air. Yeah. That still remains one of the more shocking days I've had in this job. You just don't see that coming. We almost didn't believe it. We looked at each other like, wait, are we? Yeah, fake news.

Are we reading this right? Right. And Ray was telling us in our ear while we were listening to the White Sox talk about International Women's Day. It was nice. They were trying to give flowers to people. one of the socks tried to holler to a leapa. Did Frank Thomas get mad about that, too?

Or no? Did he have any problems? Just put it on the list, Mark. Just put it on the list. Frank. Sometimes you know how the thing that percolates is not the main thing, and then you find out later there's other things. Percolate?

Is it time for the percolator? GDM out of 10. It is not time for the percolator. We don't have time for the percolator. Friday and Saturday, we will percolate away. What do you mean we don't have to be? time for the percolator. That's ridiculous, Marshall. I was going to say, is it the first line of that. It's time for the percolator. It is. Also on the newly created Grotie distraction meter.

Here we are. Here we are. Distracted. Percolator. So Ben Johnson did talk about Gary Bradbury, and I needed to hear him talk about his new center too. We went through a whole process with Ryan and his crew and then of course Dan Rochard and Kyle DeVan had a heavy say in it as well, just in terms of evaluating what the replacements were going to look like. And so we came to consensus that Garrett was going to fit us like a glove. You know, obviously he had a lot of success last year, made it to the Super Bowl, very cerebral player. Joe Tune knows him really well.

So there's some natural chemistry that I think we're going to have on the inside. He's going to fit what we like to do in the run game with our wide zone, running off the football. And when we watched it, we felt really good about what he didn't pass pro as well. And so I think he's going to be really what the doctor ordered for us in terms of, you know, it's hard to replace a guy like Drew. He had a pro bowl season and played really, really well. And yet we feel like Garrett's going to fit us really well also. I believe everything he's saying because the one that tip me off was the former teammates in college with Joe Tooney

and understanding that I believe in Ben Johnson. And if you believe in Ben Johnson and you hear him describing how that process, went with Ryan Poles and the front office, and then down to Dan Rochard, the offensive line coach. If everyone's on board and Ben Johnson sees the fit, why after one season of this and previous seasons in Detroit, would you not believe what Ben Johnson's throwing out there for the offensive line? Yeah, look, I'd rather Drew Dalman.

I think Drew Dalman's a better center, but I don't think Garrett Bradbury is a bad center. You know what I mean? Like he's not probably at the level of Dalman, but I think that if the guy's 30 years old, been around for eight years, he understands what he's doing in the National Football League. I think the big thing there, too, is Ben Johnson continued to talk about outside zone run scheme. So that doesn't appear to be changing.

And of all the adjustments that Johnson may want to do after a season or that the coaching staff may want to do, it seems like that is an aspect of their game that they want to maintain consistency. The better question than becomes, do you feel that way about DeAndre Swift and Kyle Mononga? It would appear that they do, which is another question that a lot of people had as to whether or not they would be there. the time has passed, cap casualties, or not Menangai, but Swift, or if something would change in that department. You know, the draft is still in front of us. Who knows what they'll do in the draft and maybe address running back even further?

But yeah, you're right. Lila, that cap casualty time where you're like, ah, is DeAndre Swift the one that's going to have to be cut so they can make room to get what they need on, I don't know, the defensive line, but we haven't gotten that answer. Or do they try to move up and get Jeremiah, I love? Oh, you want to cook with some grease today. Hey, they tried to do it last year. They have second round picks now to deal or a pick swap or if there's a way to get up higher.

They also have multiple needs now, which can be addressed with those same picks. I mean, they're going to have to, like, next year, like one more year of DeAndre Swift, they are going to need a prominent running back at some point in time in this Ben Johnson offense. I think the Bears could afford to have DeAndre Swift as they're starting running back again this year for sure. But I certainly wouldn't rule out running back in this draft. I think that that is fair given that we know how they were last year. You're right. They go from Ashton Gentie talk to end up not drafting it back until the seventh round.

Well, and they tried to get Trayvion Henderson, too. That too. And we saw them pivot in perhaps, I think, unexpected way. So that changed things as well. That was a weeder article. Your partner did that one for the Chicago Tribune. That stays on my reading list. Yeah, weed man.

Yeah. Thanks to him for hooking. us up with the sound today. We shall be recording an edition of the Take the North podcast early evening tonight is one that should drop for you, Take the North fans out there. That's right. Yeah, what's the calendar now? In terms of like when we do podcasts.

Yeah. So we do, during the regular season, we're pretty loyal to three podcasts a week, sometimes four. During the regular season, or excuse me, the off season, we're two to three. We happen to be doing three podcasts this week because Dan is at the owner's meetings and And as we've been talking about, lots of news and interesting things coming out of it. So three Take the North episodes coming your way, coming at you this week. You know what else we get? The composite.

You know the picture where all the coaches stand together like at school? Yeah, yeah. Isn't that neat? That's always fodder for discussion. Who's standing where and next to whom? Who's taller than who? Who makes somebody look tiny and that kind of thing? Like, where's Dan Campbell?

Does he just put his collective wingspan? around everybody and... Like Mr. Belvedere? Yeah, Mr. Belvedere was a big man. Remember? Well, the picture at the end of the opening theme was him standing behind the couch with his arms just spread around the family. I did not... I don't go that deep on Mr. Belvedere, but good for you. Yeah, that was a favorite in the house.

Really? And sadly, the way I learned about Bob Euker as a child and not with baseball. That's okay. Well, Bob Euker was much more prominent in beer commercials and on television than he was, and as a broadcast. And every was, was a baseball player. That was the joke. And Tommy Los Surre. was Slimfast. That's right.

If you're a kid and your parents didn't watch baseball, you had to go about it on your own. Yeah. A lot of players didn't like Tommy, though. I know some players that didn't like Tommy Lasota. I know somebody who may like a player's dad. His name is Mark Grody. And did I hear that he wants to give bears out to Pete Crow Armstrong's dad?

Yes. Mr. Dad Crow Armstrong? I think it's just Armstrong. I heard on Sunday. DCA? I heard Matt Spiegel replaying an interview on hit and run that Spiegel in the Homes, I believe, did on Friday the same day you guys talked to PCA. Yes, I am getting that confirmed here. And that's something, it was a great interview.

The whole thing was great, but something really got me excited that Mr. Armstrong Crow, Mr. Crow, Mr. Armstrong said. It's just Armstrong. Right, because his wife is Crow. Crow and he's Mr. Armstrong. It's fun to call him DCA or something. Dad Crow Armstrong. I love that. I love that.

So Mark has some bears to bestow. I do. And I have a question about retaliation. Next. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Could you imagine Lovey Smith doing the whole good, better, best thing? And saying bleep the Packers. Come on, guys, good better best.

Never let rest. I'll see you on Tuesday. Middays 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotty on 1043 The Score and a programming note for you this Thursday. Join us at Wings and Rings on Hullstead before the South Side Home Opener. We'll be talking Chicago baseball and more. That is Thursday from 10 to 2 at Wings and Rings on the South Side. We always like doing that.

That has become a bit of a tradition. So we are happy to continue it this year. In the meantime, we had Pete Crowe Armstrong on on Friday. and if you missed it, I strongly recommend going back and checking it out. YouTube is one of the places you can listen, the Odyssey app as well. And if you listen online, maybe we included the non-bleeped-out version. In the meantime, later that day, Matt Armstrong, his dad, joined Spiegel and Holmes on Friday. And Matt talked about his love for Chicago sports.

Are you enjoying the NCAA tournament in what the University of Illinois is doing? Yeah, that was a fun game last night, right? Like I have them in my final four too. So I feel really good about that. Yeah, they look really good. Yeah, you should. Yeah, you should. So growing up, were you, were you in a Linae fan?

I mean, what was your sports fandom? What posters on the wall? Give us a thumbnail of you. Okay, so posters on the wall, Walter. Walter. Hell yeah. Yeah, he was it for me. it sort of started and ended there.

Like, I didn't have a no disrespect to them. I loved them. I didn't know a pub or a bull or anything like that. Like Walter Payton, like in some weird way, growing up, I had a lot of us felt this way. We felt like we knew, you know. I just love. You're breaking up a little again, Matt.

If you could move back to where you were. You know why? Hold on, guys. I'm holding this with my hand, and I put my hand over the mic and it puts over the camera. All right. Thank you, sir. So, yeah, you felt like you knew Walter.

Yeah. Yeah, just, and I loved him. I just, I mean, he was, he was my, like, hero growing up. So, so, yeah, but. So Jared, Jared Payton is a friend of ours and a friend of the show, friend of the radio station. And Jared will love to hear that. And the Peyton family has a big presence in town still. Yeah, I, that's fantastic.

I hope he does. I hope he, you know, I hope that dude lives the whole rest of his life here in great stuff about his father because he meant so much to, uh, this city and, um, to young guys like us growing up. Like, he was just so special. Um, yeah. Um, but outside of that, you know, my college, it was all college basketball. I didn't really, I had friends whose brothers actually went to Northwestern. Like from like, 1982, I had, I knew somebody who went to Northwestern and, played football there through like 1992 or three or something like that.

Dennis Green years, right? Yes. Yeah, exactly. So I went to a bunch of Northwestern football games before they were any good. But college basketball, it was DePaul and Illinois. I'm overwhelmed. I mean, all of that.

I am driving on 290, coming back from the suburbs and listening to Spiegel replay this on hit and run. I had not heard the original airing of this on Friday and hearing him say all of that, that the Walter Payton part of it, the DePaul part of it. It wasn't even in this, but he also mentioned how he was a DuPage Valley player of the weekend football at one point in time, a story which Paul Sullivan wrote about in the Chicago Tribute. It's the way he just kept going, right? That's what got you because you were like, oh, okay.

And then you're like, oh, okay. Wait a minute now. Like me growing up, DePaul, Illinois, like college basketball teams, for sure. Like it's DePaul number one with a bullet. But Illinois is my second team for sure. So all of this, ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to Matt Armstrong. Matt Crow arm, but Matt Armstrong. Sir, sir, look at me.

Congratulations, 8.5 bears. Wow. For a guy, yes, 8.5 bear. He is from here. That's five automatic bears. Add three and a half, 85. 8.5 bears. Wow.

Yeah, that's huge. He also sounds like his son, or rather his son sounds like him. Like some humility in the way they talk? The tone of the voice and how they actually speak. Oh, right. Okay. No, there was, yeah, we were, we were having fun with that just listening last Friday. Ray and I were listening to the interview on the afternoon show.

But here's the other question here. Is it our turn to go interview Fred Horner now? Because the afternoon show interviewed Matt Armstrong. Do we retaliate with a dad interview of our own? since Pete was on our show. Yeah, they're like, oh, oh, you got Pete. Well, we're going to get the dad. Yeah, Fred Horner.

You're right. I also like the name Fred. I feel like Carl Williams would be the go-to-it. No, no, straight to the top. That would be great. Well, Mark? You should have Carl Williams. Yeah, you know what?

Maybe one of these days when I see Carl outside of the Bears' locker room, standing with the other parents. Yeah, because you've talked to him, right? I just exchanged pleasantries with him. did say something kind of corny to him one time. I did say, I did the, you should be very proud of your son. It's Carl or James for me. James Adunze?

You know it. Oh, James has had some things to say, hasn't he? Let's get a bear dad on, bear dads. Or Fred. Since Nico had his extension. Okay. I think they've already had Fred on, though. Did they?

Well, we can retaliate again. We'll have one. Yeah. Done. 8.5 bears, Matt Armstrong. Congratulations. Speaking of Spiegel and Holmes, they are in a special location. We're not going to see them in person.

Tonight, Matt Spiegel and Lawrence Holmes are throwing out the first pitch before the Cubs play the Angels right here on 104.3 FM. Pregame starts at 605. First pitch is at 640 and you might be saying, wait a second, Leila, you stupid head. The Bulls are also playing. They can't play on the same frequency. No, they can't. So guess what we're going to do?

670, Bulls will be on 670, Cubs will be on 1043, and oh, by the way, Pip Spiegel over here is going to sing the seventh inning stretch. We'll do transition with them next.