Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Tina Nguyen: Cubs are being fueled by NLDS loss to Brewers (Hour 2)

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

In the second hour, Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris were joined by Fox-32 reporter Tina Nguyen to discuss a variety of sports topics, including the Cubs’ outlook for 2026. After that, Rahimi and Harris tried to solve a mystery surrounding a comment from Bears general manager Ryan Poles at the NFL Combine. Later, they held the Halftime segment.

This hour is brought to you by Cars for Kids. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score, and we're expecting Tina Wynn from Fox 32, reporter at Anchor, who went out to spring training in Arizona, talked about the Cubs and the White Sox while she was there. And we've got a, we're a week into spring training already, just like that. It's a nice thing. Well, not a weekend, but like a week into the games in spring training. You say a week into spring training.

week closer to opening day. That's right. A week closer to opening day and the socks flexing all people. That dollar is going to be. Tyler, you're going to owe me a dollar. Marshall thinks that the White Sox are going to hit more home runs than the Cubs this season. And I bet him a crisp dollar. Then I have a feeling is going to fall into my lap from the gods because of such an outlandish prediction.

You think that, wait, so you think the prediction itself was outlandish? Yes. Wow. Okay. Marshall, I have a $2 bill in my wallet, so I'll even double down and I'll do a $2 bill on the bet for you. I can only ask this guy for so much money. Like, I found a dollar on the street to fund my bets with Marshall.

I don't know that I can just find $2. But he's just got $2 bill, two for one, special. One piece of paper. Dangerous. Worth twice as much as a dollar. Dangerous with the $2 bill. Comes, by the way, not that you care necessarily, lost to the Angels yesterday by a final of five.

to four. I care. But do you care? A little bit. Matthew Boyd, who I care about, was the starting pitcher of record, and he had three innings and three strikeouts. So nothing to be alarmed by. We saw James and Tyone and his start give up two home runs. I'm not necessarily concerned about that either, because James and Tyone has given up home runs before. And traditionally in spring training, he's also working on like seven different pitches. And he's like, which one do I want to use this year. Oh, maybe not that one as it gets sent out of the park or whatever. Isn't it like him narrowing down basically 10 pitches to like five or six? Isn't that how that goes in spring training for him? James and Tyone is a mystery to me because he's the guy who at the same time he's

one year he's decided to not use a sweeper because it messes up the rest of his stuff. Next year he'll bring it back and then somehow it's key to his fastball command. I've never seen anything like it. I just like the fact that there's more optimism, follow me on this, about both baseball teams heading into this season, then I feel like has been in a long time. Cubs coming, of course, off of a playoff series. The socks two years now removed from setting the record for most losses in a season. And it feels like both teams are trending in the right direction, one clearly ahead of the other. But still, if you are a baseball fan, there are reasons to be optimistic about this year. Oh, yeah.

I mean, I don't think there's any doubt that the White Sox actually made efforts to get better. You're going to see a whole year of Colson Montgomery, Muno Takamurikami. We're trying to figure out who he's going to be as an American Major League hitter coming from Japan, how he adjust to that hitting. Now, in the pitching, he's going to the World Baseball Classic, so he doesn't get the same type of spring trade. length that a lot of other guys get, but definitely optimistic. And I did get a bit of a laugh, by the way, speaking of the James and Tyone game,

because you know who countered as a starting pitcher for one inning for the Colorado Rockies in that game two days ago. Jose Quintana. How do you feel about that? I think he was a good pickup by the Brewers last year, and I think he's still serviceable for depth. But unfortunately, in Quintana and Colorado, that might, That might mean you allow a lot of runs come the regular season of baseball,

just because of how that goes. But overall, just as we check in on the Cubs and the White Sox during spring training as we await Tina Wynn. You know, also the Cubs got Michael Conforto signing him to a deal where he might make the team. And Conforto seems to have an open mind about it, by the way. Jordan Bastian talked to him, and he says he feels like a prospect all over again. I want to know if there's a player that you are looking at specifically that maybe you didn't think about, maybe as much about in the off season, but now that the spring training is here that you have like your eye really finally tuned on. I have a guy.

I'll start and I'll give you a moment to think about this. But for me, it's Miguel Amaya. And here's why it's Miguel Amaya. He was supposed to be a prevalent part of the Cubs plan in 2025, suffers injuries. that makes him not even a part of what happens in the playoffs. And if he can have a great year, it can do one of two things. It can propel him forward. But also, I don't know that I expect Carson Kelly to bounce back

and do the same things he did last year. And if he doesn't, you kind of need Miguel Amaya to play at a certain level, both defensively and I would argue offensively as well, especially if the Cubs are going to hit those home runs that you're talking about. Well, and that's it. You need more home runs from the entire. higher Cubs lineup now that Kyle Tucker isn't in it. That includes Alex Bregman. And I think you're on to something, Marshall, because having that unexpected offense

out of the catcher position was something that was a pleasant surprise. Cubs catchers hit 29 home runs in 2025. That was the fourth most in baseball from that position. So to have the catchers actually produce offensively, not only was it great that we saw Carson Kelly do that, but I think there is more of an expectation from Miguel Amaya. Hi, Tina. Hello. Tina went from Fox 32's coming in. We've got headphones for you to your left.

This is my first rodeo here. Welcome to the rodeo. I'm really excited. Hey, speaking of that, did you see the news that Diego Pavia has decided Johnny Mansell is his mentor? Aggie. Tina went to Texas A&M, so I'm very curious to hear her answer. That is an interesting choice.

I'm sure he's got a lot of wisdom through all of his experiences that we all No mouth. How are you guys? Happy Friday. We're good. I think it's got to be, please don't do what I did. Totally.

But then he goes to the club and has the bottle service and the sign that says F&D. I don't necessarily know that that's happening. Last time I was in College Station. Actually, it was for the Notre Dame and A&M game. And I think Mansell had just opened up a bar on Northgate. Northgate's kind of where all the college kids go out and have a little fun.

And I think it shut down. last time I heard. So, but. So not business advice is what you're saying? Not business advice. Not business advice. Again, as what Leila said, you know, don't do why. Kind of buried the career there, didn't it? We all have ups and downs in our careers that we can relate to. So I understand that. Tina, I'm just really curious because I know you were at spring training and you were doing a whole lot of work in a whole little time. We were out there on the grind. It was so fun. You were, you had your feet on the beat, if you will. Let me ask you this. What was your single biggest takeaway from spending time with the Cups specifically when you're out there.

Ooh, okay. I got the chance to talk with Jed Hoyer, Craig Counsel, and Matthew Boyd. I think the biggest thing, because I was with the team when they lost in Milwaukee in the NLDS. And, I mean, that locker room was so, it was emotional. It was the whole, like, Kyle Tucker, like, and even with what the answers he gave us after that game, you could tell, all right, like, he's out. But it was really an abrupt ending because, I really think they thought they had a chance.

I think advancing after the NLDS was really their biggest issue, especially when it came to pitching. And obviously in the offseason, Jed Hoyer has really addressed that. So I think at spring training, that loss still lingered with the team. I mean, you talked to like a Carson Kelly, Kate Horton, too. Like, they obviously didn't forget about it. And I think the biggest thing I took away was them using that disappointment and really turning it into motivation going into this season.

And like Craig Counsel, I talked to him one-on-one, and he just said how this is a really tough team to get on. Obviously, you've got a veteran group, them bringing in Alex Bregman. I think them having that postseason experience as well. One, they got a taste as to what that's like, and for a young player like PCA, right? I think, obviously for him going into this year, consistency, how can he be the player that he was before the All-Star break? But they got a taste of it. So they're hungry for more. And I think from counsel's perspective, too, he saw how this group really bonded together when they obviously went on that run and were winning.

But at the same time, like, they really want to make it back there. And as you said on our show on CST Sunday a few weeks ago, like it's NLCS or bust here. And I feel like when you look at the like the NL Central, this is the year for them to do it, right, to really dethrone the brewers here. So yeah, it really, it was great. It was obviously you also have like Alex Bregman coming in. three-time All-Star, like two-time World Series champ, someone who brings in a ton of postseason experience, which is huge, but at the same time, like, Craig said something to me that really stuck out to me.

He was like, this team's very, like, baseball-y. Like, they love, like, the nitty-gritty. And obviously, Alex Bregman, everything that I've heard about him, he's such a student of the game. And so he's someone that wants to pass down, like, all this experience and wisdom onto, like, a player like PCA. I mean, we were with the Cubs. I spent two days with the Sox, two days with the Cubs.

I mean, day one there, like, Bregman was already in the clubhouse. And obviously, hearing PCA talk about how much he's helped him even just through their conversations about when he steps into the box, his mindset, his swing, getting his on-based percentage back up. Like, Alex Bregman, that's the type of player also. Not only can he perform well on the field, offensively, defensively, too, but you're getting someone that all these younger players, like even a Matt Shaw, right? You should pick his brain because he's going to bring in a ton of great, um, great knowledge and experience. We're talking to Tina Wynn, Fox 32 reporter and anchor in studio with us on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, The Score.

Tina, you mentioned talking to Matt Boyd. He got the star yesterday. He went three innings, had three strikeouts, looked very consistent. We know he's coming off of a massive amount of innings for him. So what was your takeaways from just talking to him, knowing that so much responsibility landed on him. He's a little bit older. He's got to manage his body and his workload this year to kind of be able to

replicate those results from last year. Yeah, I mean, obviously, like Matthew Boye, an all-star year last year as well. Again, somewhat. I asked him how was like the off-season? Because I'm always curious to know how guys kind of decompress after this season. And what he said, he was like, he's got a lot of kiddos. So he just was really full on parent mode. I think some of his kids played basketball too. So he was like full on dad mode there. But I think the biggest thing for him was, again, just how hungry this group is. And you look at their rotation too for the Cubs right now. Obviously, it's the spring. So once we get into the regular season, games actually matter.

We'll see how this pans out. But there's a ton of depth here. I think adding, like, an Edward Cabrera to is really huge for them. When I asked Jed about it, he said, Cabrera has been someone that they've been trying to get. They had conversations with Marlins last season, too, but he's 27, got a ton of upside. The pitching staff, this is how he described them to me.

He's kind of like their darling. They've always been enamored by him. So they're really, I'm really intrigued to see how this goes. But yeah, I think Matthew Boyd and just overall, again, going back to the run that they had in the postseason, like they want more of that. And again, like, I just want, like, Craig Counsel, just like, this is a team that's really hard, hard to get on. And when you've got a group of guys like this, like, you know, I take that as like, this is like your year to really go out there and compete and make a run. It did give that darling kind of feel when they signed them in the way they talked about Cabrera because it's like, that girl that you've been feeling for a long time,

but you didn't have the nerve to go and talk to her. They're talking now. Now they're in a full-fledged relationship. Well, I laugh because, Tina, I don't know if you know this, but our texters are the ones who came up with the phrase. Matthew Boyd is not, he's not a stepdad. He's the dad who stepped up. And then that became,

and that gave us a lot of great sayings. Like Matthew Boyd taught me how to tie a tie. Matthew Boyd told me to shut the door. We're not air-conditioning the world. You know, Matthew Boyd said you better turn the light off when you leave a room. It became a very dadism conversation. But what you said actually kind of replicates that idea.

You know, what you said, it kind of reflects that, that that energy very much was happening in the Cubs Clubhouse last year. I mean, it's like unfinished business. Also, because I was there so early at spring training,

obviously they've overhauled the bullpen. So it was so, like, interesting for me to see like, Hobie Milner, by the way, Texas kid. Hobie Milner and like Edward Cabrera coming up,

like meeting, one another, like there were so many new faces where they're all really trying to get to know each other. So that was really interesting too. But yeah, just a very unfinished business feel for the Cubs going into this year. And I mean, you also like look at, I'm so intrigued by PCA and to see what kind of season he's going to have. But I think especially how he starts to, because obviously we saw two different PCAs before and after the all-star break. And I think for someone who's such like a young superstar. One, I think his friendship with Caleb Williams and like the bond that we've seen the two, I think is really good because obviously PCA, like for a moment, we were like superstar

level, that kind of conversation. And then I think when you have a young player, obviously the second half, we saw how it goes, his numbers dropped. There's like from a human element, there's got to be some kind of like, in a sense, like fear of the unknown. Like, how is this going to go? But again, I mean, you were on the magazine of like whatever the Chicago magazine, kind of making fun of the Dodgers a little bit. Like if you're going to talk that kind of talk, you got a hundred percent bring it on the field. So I'm really curious to see how his season really starts to. But again, I think the friendship with Caleb Williams is really interesting to me because you have two guys right that can really relate with one another when it comes to the pressure of being a young

superstar and of course like playing in a city like Chicago too. I love it because it's a contrast within that clubhouse when you talk about the younger players of Pete Carr Armstrong, Matt Shaw, who are learning from these veterans. Meanwhile, over a Camelback Ranch, it's like, who are the adults in this room? It seems like you have a bunch of teenagers. I mean, I know they are young adults, but comparatively, these guys are certainly trying to find their way, even though a lot of them had really good first steps in Major League Baseball last year. What did you think of the White Sox?

So many fun storylines. And I know the socks, obviously spring training does not matter. but like the fact that they're off to a strong star, I'm like, I'm all for it. Like I am 100% all for it. I think some of these younger players like Colson Montgomery, obviously we know with him getting sent back down to Arizona. I talked with Ryan Fuller 101 too about that. I mean, he just said at one point it was kind of like, like, how is my career going

going to really pan out? And the fact that he, I think it also too for that to have worked, Colson himself had to really buy into it and really trust the White Sox organization and really trust Chris Gatz and trust Ryan Fuller too. I'm so excited to see what kind of step forward. It's like Colson Montgomery takes. But I think when you look overall at year one, the 60 wins, they got a taste as to what it's like to win.

And I think for Will Venable and his coaching staff, like you have to definitely credit him for the just year one foundation that he laid down. Like yeah, they lost 102 games. But like, I really don't think that happens this year. Like I think they're definitely going in the right direction. But also to, yeah, that's right. Mutataka Morikami. It was so fascinating to be there and to really observe it.

At one point, it was Jesse Rogers and I. We were watching him take ground balls around first base and working with Phil Nevin. And they were kind of working on with him with his hips and stuff, but like the mechanics of all that. But just seeing like, because his translator was there and seeing in real time in a sense how that is, how they are communicating, kind of figuring it out. one of the players described him as a freakish athlete. So when he was like taking live VP, it was so, it was like for me, cool to see all the players just like, it's like a unicorn. He's like, like, what kind of player did we just get? Obviously, having him on the team brings a different level of buzz and excitement because back home in Japan, when I talked to some of the Japan media members, like, he is like a superstar, such a prolific hitter.

One of the best to come out of Japan holds the record for a single season in home runs. I think 56 home runs in one year. So for them to get a player like this, because you typically, like, from Japan, you see, like, more so, I think, pitchers that come out of there. And for the socks to get, like, a slugger like this, really interested to see how his season, how he trans translates here to the MLB. But when I talked to Ryan Fuller, he was saying, like, back in Japan, they see a ton of, like, splitters. So here in the MLB, you're going to be seeing multiple different pitches, velocity plays a role into that, too. So I asked him, like, what are you guys doing to prepare? pair him for that because obviously like whatever you do right now when you're facing your same

pitchers right and it's also it's spring guys are still trying to like figure it out but when it comes to real time like what are you trying to do to help him adjust and so um obviously here in america there's a ton of different technology he's getting used to using different bats balls and everything but exposure therapy is something they're trying to do which um essentially like they could put like yoshinobu yamod on the mound and kind of have it like refusely reflect the real time, like the spin rate, the ball and everything. So whenever it really comes to the real deal, hopefully that can help him adjust a little bit, a little bit quicker. I know, exposure to therapy. I'm like, am I in therapy now? Therapy's good. Everybody should do therapy.

If you haven't done therapy, I'm going to tell you, go ahead, nudge you that way. That's just me. Well, and the World Baseball Classic, he'll see different, he'll see different pitchers. And yeah, to your point, you know, show to Imanaga throws which two pitches best, fastball and splitter. I understand you could stay with us for another segment. Yeah, you want me to? Yeah, because... You still want me around?

We're going to do a game called Name that Bear's Individual. Not Bear, because it's not a player. But we're trying to figure out a comment that Ryan Pohl's made on the Todd McShay podcast. Ooh, okay. And we're doing an informal survey. And you, the listener, are also involved in this. Because I want to play it. And let's all figure out who he might be talking about.

Next. Rahimi Harris and Grohney. Midday's tidal two on Chicago Sports Radio 1043 The Score This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie at 1043 The Score. Are we really going to play the Who's Your Guy on this? I like it.

I like it. For whatever reason, our computer system just decided to log me out of a bunch of stuff. So Ray is being kind enough to log me back in if you're watching on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash the score Chicago. And in the meantime, so I'm going to have to move the mic on the air. noise. In the meantime, Tina Wynn is here from Fox 32. Tina is kind enough to stay for another

segment. Ryan Poles was on the Todd McShay podcast, and we spent a lot of time in our first hour talking about that. But then there's also something that Ryan Poles said that, man, in the spirit of transparency, he will tell you some things. But then this led us to all ask a lot of questions. I don't want to get like two names involved. Well, you don't have to, I will say staffing-wise, I would say, you know, like the theory of like the talented out of... Yeah. Just there's been a situation where a really smart person that was doing some really good

work, but maybe not the best teammate. And I probably held on too long and it created some harm in terms of just stress on other people. So just the learning point there is, you know, if it goes against being a good teammate, which is one of our things, it's okay to move on maybe even quicker than you think because of the effect that it can have on others. So that was Ryan Poles saying like that there was somebody on the bear's staff. Staff.

Right. See, you're already like, well, what is staff? Who on the Bears staff? And I don't know if he means coaching or front office. I tend to think coaching. Yeah. What was the question? What was Todd's question to him?

It was sharing a time in your career where you feel like you failed. And he's basically saying I had a jerk on my staff who was really, really talented. And because he was so talented, it took me longer than it probably should, well, definitely should have. Because if you get rid of somebody, the earlier the better, then it definitely should have to get rid of. of said person. And we're like, well, who is he talking about? And not the best teammate. Not the best teammate.

And so I would guess maybe an in-season firing of an offensive coordinator. Oh, so you think it's OC because I know you were thinking for an office. Yeah, initially when you said coaching, I said maybe OC, but yeah. So that's that's. Well, when you say offense coordinator, you're implying a Shane Waldron. Exactly. So what made you think it was on the coaching staff more so than it was in the front office? Because I'm just identifying real problems that I saw in real time get solved.

And Shane Waldron clearly had a problem with how he was communicating with whether it be the head coach, the front office. Because, you know, Matt Iber Flues ultimately is responsible for Caleb Williams development, but he's the one working closest with Caleb Williams in his rookie season and his development. And he didn't make it through the year. And they may have thought before then to get rid of him. And the same could be true for the head coach, if we're being honest. Yeah, I thought maybe it might have been Matt Eberfluse,

but I don't know that bad teammate has ever been used to describe him. Although, Zaire Franklin had a lot to say when it came to how he was treated as a rookie on the Colts. I'm leaning with Marshall on this one. I think especially since you said mid-season, someone on the coaching staff, I initially thought, it said,

Shane Waldron that he's talking about because you, and then I don't have any insight info, so I'm just speaking from, yeah, but you obviously saw the offense

in 2024, year one with Caleb, like it just looked like there were so many times you're watching, like, what are they doing? And then Ryan Poles,

what do you say, how it affected other people too? So I don't know, I'm kind of leaning with you more on this one. I'm thinking maybe Walter? And maybe, maybe it is just a front office member

that we don't know about that was doing great work in scouting and everything else and to just be like but but also ryan poll's if you look at certain reporting he likes yes men if you look at certain reporting well i will say this you know we mentioned the tyler dunn piece just from the just from the aspect of polls talking about the media and the influence that might have on a pick of his i'm like well was that the was that tyler dunn's source that polls is talking about Someone angry and clowning him for the way he was talking about players in meetings. Mm-hmm.

Maybe so. I don't know. Fast forwarding through certain quarterbacks and focusing like Caleb is our guy. Caleb is our guy. When I consider the sources of that piece that that might indicate one of them might have been in that article. Who do you think it is? Well, at first I thought Iber flus, but I don't know that there's enough. I don't know that, first of all, I don't know that Iber flus would have been a source on the article.

So those two things are separate. I don't see that. Secondly, I think that I don't know that teammate is the right word. But then again, the evidence of how many times Iber Fluse basically said it was on the players as to why they didn't win. Like they had the right plan. And, you know, it was basically a lack of execution or this play was supposed to go like this or like, oh, we were supposed to have intercepted Joe Flacko a fourth time. Despite your defense also drawing up a play in the same game where Justin Jones was in past coverage.

Okay, cool. So, you know, maybe it was him. The lack of accountability from Iber Fluse, that might be the bad teammate thing if we're, for being honest. But it's not like Shane Waldron ever came up with some accountability in any of his press conferences ever. Right. I don't recall. You know, that's the thing.

At least with Fluse, I recall. That's just how the nature of the job is, though, where the head coach is going to get that kind of, that kind of criticism. And the other thing with Shane Waldron, too, is he just wasn't very good. and he wasn't good at explaining things either. And so you got to either be a good communicator or a good tactician or at least a good explainer of what went wrong. And I felt like he didn't take any of the accountability. And so that's why a bad teammate thing strikes me.

Yeah, that was pointed. Now, Tina, you're doing something really cool at Fox tonight that I wanted to make sure we got to because there's a huge game tonight in college basketball. Huge. How big? Yeah, Illinois taking on Michigan. This is a battle royale, third ranked Michigan, 10th ranked Illini.

And it's on Fox tonight. It is. And we've got a post game show right after the game with Kendall Gill. So super excited for it. Yeah, this is going to be such a good game when it comes to, obviously, Big Ten seeding in the NCAA tournament too. Both teams are coming off losses. I think for Michigan, right, if they could get this one, huge because they just lost to Duke.

But for Illinois as well, their last three losses have been overtime losses and they've been by single digits. I talked to Andre Stoyakovich yesterday. I love saying that last name. Peda, I think it was dad. Yes. Yeah, I mean, obviously, like execution late down in the game, especially in those close games, it's going to be huge for them.

But Michigan's good. They've got loaded with talent. This game in general, a lot of lottery picks here. So you know from like an NBA standpoint, you're going to have a ton of scouts watching this one. But Michigan, like top five, I believe, in offensive and defensive rating defensively, they're so physical.

And Illinois, like, they can shoot the ball and they can score in so many different ways. Their bigs can really stretch teams out. So it's going to be really, I feel like it's a bit of like a chess game here between these two teams. So, yeah, super excited. And then obviously Kendall Gill is going to be on with us, too, to break it all down. So, yeah, really pumped. What's your favorite thing to cover? I'm just curious.

My favorite thing to cover. People ask me this often. And I'm like, because there's so much to cover. I know. I honestly love, like, kind of being everywhere, like love, everything. So I was in Vegas for two and a half years before this. Dipped my toes a little bit and some betting. So that's kind of fun to understand and get involved in when you're winning. Just so I, people understand. When you're winning. I text. She's one of my consultants. I will text

Tina. Am I really? Do Tina posts some gems about about a game she'll be watching? Like you do not shy away from a good bet and a good wager. Many times I've texted her on a Sunday morning. Hey, what do you think about this game? What do you like for the individual parlay? Oh my God during the NFL season. I'm like, yes, yes. And Marshall was hitting, which means I think you were too on some bets. I was on a massive losing streak for a while, so I like took a break because it's time to step away from it.

But two nights ago, I believe when was it when the Spurs played the Pistons, I won like back-to-back parliates. And I was like, I think she's kind of bad. But here's the thing with betting, though, once you feel good, it humbles you real quick and you're like, all right, off my high horse. So yeah, I like to cover. So when I was in Vegas, the Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup. And I was there for Bruce Cassidy.

And if you're a big hockey fan, Bruce Cassidy, listening to him just talk about hockey, oh my goodness gracious. You learn so much about the game. So definitely have an appreciation for hockey. Obviously, like I'm from Texas. Like, same as Layla. Like, you grow up learning to throw a football. Like, you don't learn how to skate.

You learn to throw a football. So obviously, like, high school football. Obviously going to A&M, too, is huge. And then, like, here in Chicago, I've always been a baseball fan, but having two teams, like, just learning, like, true ins and out of baseball here. I honestly love all of it, which is probably kind of a bad answer. Just want to let you know, I was in Vegas for the parade. For the Stanley?

You were? I was on the bus with it. I was on the bus with, oh my gosh, Nick Hague, Chandler Stevenson, and Aden Hill. And they brought on the, oh, I probably saw you somewhere. Well, I wasn't there for the parade. It just happened to be going on. As I'm trying to get to the Usher concert, my girlfriend got his tickets at the time and went to Vegas and saw Usher. And it just happened to be the night the parade was going on.

Did you attend the parade in person? You can't miss it because if you're down, you know the route of the break. I got videos. You just like, they went down the strip. Like they stopped at T. The end point was T-Mobile Arena. I just beat on the bus, which I can only imagine what it was like here in Chicago when the Hawks are on the run.

Like I've just seen photos and videos and I'm just so. Grant Park and the millions. Yeah. Like so mesmerized by it. But there was just bodies, people like little ants. It was so cool. So, wait, did you go to the concert? Yeah.

We made it. Where was it? It was, I think, MGM? MGM. Yeah. Vegas never sleeps. I know. We got to do, there's a bet that Marshall and Tina have made.

And I think we can't, we don't have time to follow up. We don't have time to follow up. Darn. It involves food. But I think, I think we've got to, you may have to come collect on our show in a couple weeks. Let me know. Yeah.

I'm not winning the bet. I'm not winning the bet. That's all you need to know. I don't think he's winning the bed. Thank you. me either. So I get the steak dinner at some point. Yeah, so Tina, you're going to have to collect on the show. I think that I think those are the rules. I don't make the rules. Yeah, she does. You make the rules. I follow Layla's rules. We all chip in on the rules and then we just sigh at the end.

But you don't squelch on a bet. So there's that too. You're a man of your word. I pay up. All right. So next time you're on, we'll have to do the ceremony where Tina wins the bet. Oh my gosh. Thanks for having me on. I have to tell you guys, I was so pumped about this all I was telling Ray, I was like, I have to contain my excitement and be professional and not getting it to. I adore you both. How professional do you think we are? Yeah, we're not doing. Look how we're dressed.

You're dressed nicely. I'm just kind of like, I got to go to the TV later on today. I'm typically not dressed as nice. Like Tina mentioned, a huge game tonight on Fox 32. Michigan, Illinois, basically a March Madness preview. Very exciting game. And you've got a line eye post game with Kendall Gill, who I think is going to love being able to talk about his alineye tonight. So this should be fun.

For sure, for sure. Excited for it. That's Tina Wynn. Thanks for joining us here in Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Coming up next, it is halftime. And there was a lunch mistake made that is terrifying for one child. We will get into it next. The Spiegel and Holmes show.

Afternoons 2 to 6 on the score. The mega project bill, it made its way out of the House Revenue and Finance Committee. That's a step in the right direction. And I will say to anyone that's like, well, Illinois should have voted on it. Guess what? They could have done this. week had the Bears not canceled the meeting with them last week, which they then could have voted on today had the Bears not canceled so they could do the dog and pony show with Indiana last week.

The Spiegel and Holmes show. Afternoons 2 to 6 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043, The Score. And always live on the free Odyssey app. I'm Pat Boyle here to help you meet the books with Westwardong Sports. The Pistons host the Cavs and I think Detroit rolls them in this one. Donovan Mitchell has already been rolled out and at the time of recording multiple other starters for the calves are credible, including James Hardin, who has that fractured right thumb. The pistons are the second best net-rated team in the NBA over the last 15 games, and Cleveland won't be able to make up for spite of his absence, even if Hardin plays.

I'll lay the points with Detroit. I'm Pat Boyle, Bet Smarter and Beat the Books. Download the BetMGM app today. My name is Whitney Allen, and I'm a widow. My husband, Ryan died. We never thought we'd ever have to use life insurance, but the unexpected happened. With Ethos, signing up was fast and 100% online. You can get a quote in seconds, applying. and minutes and get same day coverage. No medical exams, and you can get up to $3 million worth of coverage.

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What time is it? It's halftime. It is halftime. Marshall Harris, Layla Rahimi, and you, and we thank Tina Wynn for coming in from Fox 32 to chat with us about her trip to spring training, me chiding her for going to Texas A&M. All she does is win, win, win, no matter what. afraid to look at her Twitter too because she shares

those wagers that she will make and she has been hitting. I like how she said, is she back talking about herself? Hey man, I like a little third person, lift up, hype up. Tina's part of the crew. She's part of Team Midday show. Like when there's a hangout, we all welcome you to hang out with us. Tina's one of those people.

We got more hangout coming up with Clay Harbor at the top of the hour. We do because that's how we do. We also spent the first hour talking about Ryan Poles on the Todd McShay podcast. And if there's one piece of advice, Auntie Leila can give to you. I don't think your mentor should be Johnny Mansell. That's all.

It's laptop. You and I both found the story at the same time. And there are many layers to how this ended up getting to be a story that I think we need to talk about. So here's

the gist of it. Number one, do you guys know about the online trend of cut water awareness? Cut water being the drink, the canned, mixed beverage, if you will. If you don't know about the effects of cut water on society, you might want to check out TikTok because there are all these testimonials of people and what happens when they drink cut water. And one of our mutual friends also had the same

effect happen when she and I went outside one night back in December. So cut water is a serious business. I've had it. I enjoy it, but I also understand that it can sneak up on you. Not only can it sneak up on you. It can sneak up an old child lunchbox. This is an insane story. It adds to it that it's cut water. Here's the story. Martini and Students Lunchbox prompts Georgia police to warn parents.

That is not apple juice. And then the subheadline says, that as a whole parent had a long night starter pack, read the tongue-in-cheek warning from the local PD, along with a picture of the canned martini that was packed in a child. lunch next to Doritos, I might add. So solid pull if you're an adult like me, but maybe not for a child's lunch. My favorite part about this is the quote that went with the Facebook post from the city of

South Fulton Police Department. Before you send them babies off to school, this is in all caps. Check the lunch box. That was the caption on Facebook. Because you know what happened. Parents probably busy, you know, like trying to get everybody out the door on time, which I do not envy your your struggle every day. It grabs the can, thinks it's like probably obviously a can of something else. And lo and behold, it was a cutwater lemon drop martini. No, but Lela. Made with vodka triple second lemon juice.

Is that what that particular cut water was? Yes. Lemon drop martini. Let me tell you something. The espresso martini kicks especially hard. Not that I would know. South Fulton Police Department is here for the jokes, by the way. Here's a quote from the police.

Now little Johnny Dunn pulled up the third period talking about who want fruit snacks. No one good and well. He got a lemon drop martini in the zipper pocket. Tighten up, twin. That is a police quote. I'm glad that everybody can have a sense of humor about this. Like at least it was,

at least it was everybody laughing. But the picture is worth a million words here. It really is. It really is. This story, I'm telling you, When I saw the story, I was like, this isn't real, is it? Hey, what does the text line say? Because the text line kicked me off.

I was scrolling and then it was like, you were no longer allowed on our text line. I'm like, I was scrolling. It wasn't texting anybody. Well, just to make sure people understand Cutwater. 312 says, cut water is no joke. First time I had it, I pre-gamed on two of them before going out to the bar. I never made it to the bar. I never made it out of the house.

That's one text. 217 says, reminds me of the story of the parent who, brought their kid a Mike's Hard Lemonade at a baseball game. Oopsies. Lemonade? Mike's Hard Lemonade. The headline from Best Love or Best Life says, everyone says these canned cocktails are getting them super drunk.

What's the deal? Play the Seinfeld rip. I do like Cutwater, though. I've had it and I enjoyed it. Okay, so here's what we're looking at here by a comparison of blood, of alcohol content with the Cutwater. So, spike-can drinks are typically 12 fluid ounces. You can pick up tall boys of beer, which are 16.

Here are examples of boozy drinks and their corresponding alcoholic beverage value. So that's a percent. Mike's hard lemon has an ABV of 5 percent. Truly has an ABV of 5 percent. White Claw is 5 percent. Cutwaters 12.5. What? So if you're just picking this up thinking it's just like a random canned alcoholic beverage,

you just don't know how strong it actually is of what you're saying. Dude, the fact that, number one, alcoholic beverage in the child lunchbox, bad. Cut water? Yo!

Maybe something happened the night before where you had a cut water. This reminds me of French class where we all had to bring like French product. And one of my classmates brought like what he said was near beer because of La Bierre, right?

And it wasn't near beer. It actually had alcohol in it. And we were in fourth grade. Do you see the problem there, Layla? I mean, a little bit of a problem, yes. Yeah, so the teacher was, like, looking at it, and then she read the ingredients. He said, I'm sorry, but this actually has alcohol on it. We can't drink this because we're eating all the food that people brought.

Oh, yeah, no, that would be bad. Yeah, we were nine. Just go with Bree. The Twitch mob is asking, have I talked about this before? No, you're getting it confused with my obsession with original four logo. Oh, four loco. Oh, no. But not just any kind of

For Loco. Original For Loco. We're not doing that. If you drink original For Loco, I would like to know how you've survived on the planet. Four Loco is like a one-time experience from what I remember. Yeah, because they changed the recipe. They had to literally change what was in the product because it was too dangerous. See, this is why I like to say with my friend who also had a cut water.

this is why we like to say that we're worried that we're going to be the old woman in the club telling the kids they don't go hard enough at like 60. We're going to be there at 60 years old being like, you guys didn't go hard enough. We drink original Four Loco. We drank cut water. We're outside. We listen to bingers hip-hop music. It was trap music every day.

There was a restaurant. I mean, I've already kind of that way now. And I'm worried that it's just going to get worse. Layla, there was a restaurant when Four Locke was at its peak, which we know was a very quick, up and down. When it was at his peak, they had a restaurant appropriate for the brand,

really. With a four loco tasting menu in which food was, you know, made with For Loco. Oh, God. Yes. That sums it up.

That sums it up. That sounds terrifying. So, yeah. Also, 317, maybe the most accurate of the text from the text line. I got kicked off. Nap time for the kiddo.

Man. The TikTok videos about the cut water stories are hilarious. I have had a cut water. I have a bad alcohol tolerance as it is. So I can't tell you if it was the cut water or if it was just me drinking that led to the inevitable same result. Layla 708 says drank three OG four locals one night in college and woke up on the grass in my backyard.

At least you're in your backyard. I had an intern who ended up waking up in a park. You know that intern. We won't say, okay, we'll wait until the break to get the intern's name. And he woke up in a park. scathed and was mad about it. I was like, you have no right to be mad about waking up in this park. Be happy that you

are in one piece. There's no bodily damage to you. Exactly. I was like, okay, yeah, I get that you're mad about waking up in the park, but you also need to be relieved. I need you somewhere to show some atonement. There's blackouts and then there's four local outs. It's a different level.

Different. Original four local. I just am all, I'm really intrigued as to how it can. I need the origin story of original for Loco. Like somebody's got to be able to fill in the gaps for me. Did you see the graphic that came up a couple years ago? It was like emerging brands. And the brands were very interesting. Number one, it was like great value stuff. And I'm like, who doesn't know about Walmart? But okay, interesting. Another one was like Google

sheets. And then like number 24 was for Loco. And in all caps, I was like, number 24 is coming for all you other brands. You know what that is? And For Loco liked it because they get my intensity. That's like Miami of Ohio getting into the rankings. Like, yeah, you're undefeited. but wait until they figure out what it is. And yeah, you might ask the problems. I have a lot of Miami of Ohio friends who are very proud of the undefeatedness in the ranking. They are very proud. 847 on the text line.

My wife just leaned over and asked me, whatever happened to Bartles and James and Zima? That's a good question. They tried to bring Zima back for a little bit. I don't know what happened after that because I stopped. I had to stop when, you know, the first time. Bartles and James, weren't those wine coolers? Yeah, those are all wine coolers. Is that something you drink?

If my memory serves me correctly. Is that something you drink at a pool or something like that? I think that's how they were advertised. Like, you know, it's a crisp, refreshing drink on a warm day. Zima is malt liquor. Aren't some of these seltzer's malt liquor too? I don't know, Lela. I've been off the stuff for a while.

I just, I need to, I can't, I can't delineate. So, yeah, I think the Twitchmob has a correct here. Zima was a gateway drink, college freshman year, 1999. That's a fair assessment. 630 first tried the Mai Tai Cut Water in Vegas before they started popping up all over the Chicagoland

area and three of those things, unfortunately, set my wife off on the plane and we almost got kicked off. No. I can see that too because you think you're doing well and then you realize wait a minute, I'm not so well and I'm not really in a, I'm in a

confined environment. You're on an airplane. You're on an airplane. Like you're stuck. You are. Whatever length of the time of the flight. That messes with a lot of people. So the moral of the story is check the can before you send the kiddo on the way. You think Clay Harbor's ever had cut water? Good question.

We should ask him. Next.