Kap & J. Hood
7/10 9 AM: Otis the Owl brings the Cubs good luck
We're putting the band back together. The nerve center of a great rhythm and blues band. Chicago's home for sports. ESPN Chicago. What's up everybody and welcome in to the cap and J. Good morning show on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. It reminds me chosen to chosen a few DJs come in this weekend at Jackson Park. That's going to be lit. 3, 1, 2, 3, 2, ESPN, 3, 3, 2, 3, 7, 7, 6 is our telephone number. With David Kaplan, Jonathan Hood with you. We've got Shay. We've got Jack. We've got you here on this Waddle Wednesday. Don't forget to watch the show on YouTube, YouTube.com. Make sure that you go to the ESPN Chicago channel. Same thing on twitch, twitch.tv/espin1000Chicago. Cap the Cubs win against the Baltimore Orioles yesterday. The first of three in an important series because you want to find out where you are. Same thing with the St. Louis Cardinals. That'll be the next series for the Cubs after the match ups against the Orioles. It's interesting to note that the Cubs are 43 and 49. Just as they were last year, 43 and 49. And the conversation at that time I recall you and I talking about is Cody Bellandrick's expendable. Will they trade them? Will they continue to add on? Which jet going to do because the pressure was on last year? You and I talked about it. What are the Cubs going to do to add on? Yes, they're struggling now, but the Cubs as a group said no. No, we're going to turn this around. But the Cubs failed, but I think Jet also did the same by not adding on enough to push the Cubs over the top into the playoffs. Yeah, I said to you that my biggest complaint with what the Cubs as an organization did was if you are going to listen to Dan's B or whoever was in Jed's ear. Remember, he said Dan's B was on the injured list and all he did was come around. So you can't break us up. Play is just a GM. Then you owe it to the team to try to win. Either break it up or you owe it to them to try to win. They got Jamer Candelario. He's okay. And they got your guy, Jose Quas, who the other day set a major league record by hitting two batters in his first three pitches. That's not trying to fix a beleaguered bullpen. Leave him alone. He's not very good. He's on the Blue Jays now. Yes. They did not go all in that. And I'm not telling you they should have gone and tried to get one. Soto, but you could have added to your bullpen. So now the question is, got two more with the Orioles, four with the Cardinals, then the All-Star break. And right around the corner, the 30th is the trade deadline. This month. So what do you do? Well, I mean, if you can go out and play good baseball the rest of the week, one at a time, then I think you probably want to add on in your bullpen. You're getting healthier. But let's let this week play out first. Now, if you are still under 500 and not playing good baseball, say for instance, you lose side three against the Orioles. Well, that's expected because the Orioles are a better ball club than the Cubs. Then the St. Louis Cardinals, who the Cubs have been breathing life into the Cardinals. That team was dead in the water. Then they play the Cubs. Oh, look, they've turned it around. They're saving jobs, the Cubs in that last series they played against the Cardinals. You're correct. Saving jobs. Correct. Because Marmal was close to getting fired. He was gone. They're probably going to unplug the thing and now look at the Cubs. I just think this whole thing is fascinating. It's not the typical, oh, look at the Cubs. Not spending money. Last place team. Nobody cares. No, it's different. The reason why it's a topic on our show cap is because it's a far cry from what we're used to. In which the Cubs move forward into different Cubs team than it was when you were a kid. When we were all were kids. It's a team that is spending money. But yet you're not getting enough in return. Last night's game was a step in the right direction. So you said their record last year, the exact same. Around this time was 43. Around this time was 43. They were able to get to the high water mark of 12 games over. I think 80 and 68 before they crash landed. Yeah. And fell short. If this team can get the 12 over, color me and press because I don't see that. No question. No question. But the question still stands on what you're going to do though. Standing still doesn't get it done because we've criticized the bulls for years and this new regime about standing still and not really adding on and doing anything. So it's got to be one or the other. You can't stand still. Either you're going to trade off parts or you're going to say, you know, we're going to make a run. You make it a run to what? Even Jed told us on opening day. We're not where we want to be yet. That's pretty honest. He was always a great interview. Yeah. He was very honest. We're not in the league of the Braves and the Dodgers and the Phillies. You got to be starting to get close, dude. You're going into your fifth year next year. That's on me for not asking the follow up. Why aren't you? You're Chicago. We're not. We're not Des Moines. No shot at Des Moines. I'm just saying like that we're not some small market or just a non factor. It's Chicago. Why aren't you where the Braves are? You know, why you're not where the Braves are or our team is because you have not been able to get in a position as an organization to say, "Chicago's baseball, here's who we are." When you just throw money at the situation cap, that doesn't mean that you have a system. They don't have a star. They don't have a face of their team. Let me go deeper though. Let me take a step deeper. When you are to the successful organizations that we talk about on a daily basis, have a system in a way of playing. They have a mission statement. The twins who I hate, the reason why that had a hard time even embracing the twins and what they've done is because they had a system from the minor league system on up. The Tom Kelly twins, you know what you were getting. That's correct. You were getting fundamentals. You were getting hitting the other way. You were pulling for your teammate. You were doing St. Louis Cardinals baseball. The reason why you hated Cardinals baseball, not because they beat the Cubs in a regular basis. But the Whitey Herzog Cardinals, the Shane D's Cardinals, knew exactly how to play the game the right way. And you'd say, "Well, why is our team scuffling?" Because it starts from the system on up, the minor league system on up. And so with the Cubs, it's not necessarily about what I need to spend $250 million, $300 million, $350 million. Who are the Cubs? And I think post the championship, it's hard to define what Cubs baseball is. This is what the White Sox are trying to be, right? Like Pedro said, "We're going to play the right way. We're going to kick teams ass." There is no definition of what that is over there on 35th Street because they got nothing. Nothing. So that's why I say with the Cubs, it's different because of the money you spent. But you can't clearly define post Theo what this is. What is Cubs baseball? I don't know. Better starting pitching than they've had in a long time. Spotty offense, lousy bullpen. Now they're getting healthier. But if I told you they got merry weather back and they got this hunker biggie came up and looks like he might be a piece. You can convince that team's going to get rolling and I mean red hot. They put themselves in quite a hole. Yeah. I just say like you can go through baseball. You got the package like I have and watch the Orioles the way they play. The Guardians, the way they play. The Phillies, the Brewers. You know, some of them do it with small ball because they don't have the big mashers and some say, "You know what?" The Shays say ambush. First pitch fastball. Just come out of your shoes and hit it as hard as possible. Ambushable. We're just going to just get the three run homers often as possible. And we'll have power arms six through nine in the bullpen and we'll beat your ass. You can't say that for the Cubs. You can't. They sit ten games back. They're in dead last in their division. One game behind Cincinnati. One and a half behind Pittsburgh. Six back of the Cardinals. Yeah. Not good. So not a good place to be. But here's the thing though. The owl has come into play. You had to have something, Cap, because the team was going into a downward spiral. There's no personality around the team. So I took it on my own hands with my wife. She bought me a plastic owl at Bass Pro Shops. Yes. The owl is meant to sit like on a pier and keep the birds off of it. Because the birds are too stupid to know that the owl's fake. Are all birds stupid? At least the ducks that would jump up there. I was told the owl will keep them from jumping out. The ducks won't come up there because they're afraid of the owl. I saw the owl and I said, are we naming the owl? And then I took the owl and did the Cubs post game show on my recap last Thursday. They beat the Phillies. I had the owl back there and I said, Mindy, what am I naming the owl? I said, how about Otis for the late clubhouse man, Tom Helman? I said, that's a great idea. So I named the owl Otis. Otis is four and one now. He's been in the recap. I went to dinner last night after we watched the game at the restaurant. After the basketball game we had, we went to Sestaria, a Greek restaurant in Lincolnwood. Awesome. I brought the owl into dinner. Sat him right at the table. People are looking at me walking through the restaurant, like the owner Pete. He's like, what's with the owl? The owl is the Cubs good luck charm. I am going to help them get back in the race in the wild card. Cher, are you listening to this? You're hearing what he's saying about this owl, right? And I've had discussions with the owl. And the owl has told me teams with a bad bullpen have no chance. Just so, just for a point of fact, I just want to make sure it's clear. So this is the owl that sits outside, right? I haven't used him outside. I've kept him dry and clean. He's been with me the whole time. I have to get another one for the doc. I see. Woody, what this is, is a fake bird has turned to this old man insane. He's now senile speaking to a fake bird about his baseball team. It's not a fake bird. It is not a fake bird. How dare you say that? He's talking to a plastic bird about his baseball team. And he believes that the bird is talking back to him. He is a wise owl. His name is Otis. And I want him to be treated with the respect that he deserves. He's four and one. What have you done in the last few days? Oh, that'd be a drunken, slobbering mess in New Orleans. Otis has been on the case. Cubs are four and one. I can tell you one thing. I haven't been speaking to a plastic owl. They're four and a half back down the wild card. He's making progress in the race. Depending on who would go through your neighborhood, by the way, people would be very upset that you'd have John Cheney outside your home. That's just very odd. He was the coach at Temple and their nickname was the owls. He's not related to this owl. Think about the... Did you see John Cheney? Of course. He's dead. Look like an owl. This baseball team has you speaking to a plastic bird. That's how bad things have gotten. That this baseball team has you talking to a plastic owl and believing that that's going to get it right. Yes. And that's the problem, Cap. This is what happens. I mean, slowly but surely, Shay, if you listen to the show very closely, he's just aging for your very years. And so you just bring him along, you know, just help him out. He's talking to an owl to try to get the cows back to win. And actually, Cap is the most personality on the Cubs team. He's not even on the Cubs team. He had the most personality of the whole ball club. Right. It's so vanilla. I had to get something going here. So I brought Otis to the restaurant last night. Uh-huh. Sat him right there at the table. Yes. God. And then I got up. I went... Pete, I need to use the kitchen. I went in the kitchen. I propped up Otis in the kitchen. I had all these waiters looking. Who's this guy back here? Welcome into the recap of the Cubs night too. Thrashing of the ball to memorials. That's sad. Otis, the owl, is four in one. You need something. This guy brought a plastic bird into a kitchen. People are trying to do work. I watched the bear. I know how hectic it gets in these kitchens. People are trying to do their jobs. It's funny, I set them on top of their industrial coffee machine. And the one guy goes, "I've got a customer. I need coffee." I said, "Hang on. It'll be two minutes." Yeah, I made him wait. Jeremy Allen White would not have you in his kitchen. Who? From the show The Bear. I haven't seen that show. Yeah. He would not have you in his kitchen. That is for sure. Great Chicago show. Yeah, here, Kemp. You should watch that show. But since Adam Abdullah wasn't the one to tell you and I was, I'm sure you won't. What does that mean? Woke up on Monday to that little nugget on the run down in my email. Adam Abdullah recommends that Cap watch Beverly Hills Cop 4, so now he's going to. How many movies have I recommended to you in two and a half years? And you metaphorically backhand slapped me. I won't watch this. I watched what you told me. They, uh... What is it? Atomic bomb movie. What? The what? The Atomic bomb movie. Oppenheimer? Yeah, that was not good. Um... Shay said, "Oh, you got to watch Oppenheimer." All right. Hey, Mindy, let's get Oppenheimer. I can't get those three hours back in my life boring. Wow. Wow. That's how it works, Shay. He's always been that way. You know, I've suggested to him P Valley for many years. I did watch some of that. Yeah, dump it there. See, what if it comes from you or me? No. No shot. Abdullah. Hey, watch Beverly Hills Cop 4. And this guy's got date night with his wife. That's unbelievable. Friday night, we're doing it. We were supposed to watch it last night. We ended up having dinner with friends after the game. So, we're going to watch it Friday night. Uh-huh. Of course. The desperation of Eddie Murphy and Axel Foley. I hear it's awesome. Oh. Yeah. And so, because you were told that, you will say, "Yes, it is awesome." I'm going to watch it. I'm going to give you my own opinion. I'm never shy of sharing my thoughts. I was your basketball team yesterday. They played well. The kids were great. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! See, check out the brevity there. You got long thoughts and everything with that. You just, you went coach mode there. Soundbite. A tribute. DJ gave me soundbite. Kids competed hard. They defended well. We jumped them early. We took care of the ball. Limited turnovers. Kids did all the work. What did the coaching staff do? We were long for the ride, man. Okay. Thank you very much. Soundbite cap. He's back to coaching, folks. It'd be a D1 program near you. A former Cubs manager voiced his issues with the modern game. Bring it on, because this just basically whizzed all over New Orleans. We've been waiting to hold on to this for Shay. And we'll hear, if you missed it, you'll hear it next. We'll hear this on cap and J-hood. This is cap and J-hood on ESPN Chicago. Chicago's home for sports. Cap and J-hood are back. Get ready. We are door and we're doing it better than anybody else alive. Chicago's home for sports. ESPN Chicago. Capp and J-hood on ESPN 1000 and streaming on ESPN Chicago app. They're not like us, Cap. We're going to be with you until 10 o'clock. And then Greenie comes in at 10. Then it's Carmen and Yerko, 12 to 12.30. Boy, that's the gold amateur radio. Wow. That's so good. Right in the White Sox baseball. Man. And then Waddle and Sylvie have the day. Well, Sylvie's out of town, but Waddle gets the day off. Mm hmm. And Bleckhamdala on YouTube. YouTube.com. Go to Bleckhamdala's channel. That's where we can catch their show. Good for them. That's a good day. That's a good day. It looks like the rain is moving out of here. Yeah. Get out of here. Barrel. Okay. Strange name on that barrel, by the way. B-E-R-Y-L. That's the storm. Correct. I got out of East Texas just in time. I could still be there, Cap. The flooding that's there, where I went on vacation. Glad I got out of there. That's not good. That flat land in Houston. Not good. That water does not move, man. Not good. We're pretty lucky. As much as we travel, we're pretty lucky. We are. Because there's some spots here. I guess as I get older, I'm more and more into the weather. And checking out the weather channel and see what's going on in places that we've been to. Hey, we've been to Myrtle Beach. What's going on in Myrtle Beach? It's going on in Texas. Boy, those storms, man. Where the water doesn't move, the flooding is just the worst. Brutal. It's the worst. I mean, there's so much, otherwise it's bad. But what the flooding, there's nothing you could do. Because it's there. There's nothing you could do. It's just crazy that a hurricane, you know, 1,000 miles away is impacting weather here. Yeah. Crazy. That's on Tracy, isn't it? That's 100% of her fault. We have something for you when it comes to analytics. If you're into analytics and sports, I think you'll like this. First, Dave and Plainfield on Captain Jay Hood. Hey, Dave. Hey, guys. How's it going? I wanted to talk to you about that owl. Yeah. So there's a lot to it. And I think you got to believe. And if you believe it'll give you what you need. A quick story for me during the playoffs for the Blackhawks. I got a house. I had a house up in Twin Lakes. And there's a little bar out there called the sandbar. Went there during the playoffs for the Hawks. Of course, those went kind of late. Was that the bar outside the bar? There's this big grouper. And the bathrooms are outside, went outside. They're in double overtime or whatever it was. And every time I go to the bathroom, I look at this grouper and say a little prayer. Like, oh, man, come on, grouper. Help me out here. So I took a picture of it, put it on Facebook that night. Said, oh, mighty grouper. You know, give the Blackhawks the vision and the goal to win this playoff game. They won. Every time after that, I'd post this picture on Facebook of this grouper. And they were winning. And to the point where my friends from Minnesota were, you know, would give me gas going, hey, where's your fish? And then they win. One night I fell asleep during a playoff game and I got to call it like 1 30 in the morning. My friends are going, hey, where's the grouper? So I think if you believe in that stuff and you just got to believe about that about that. So Otis, the all has jumped on board with me and we're going to help shepherd the Cubs back in the race. Dave, if you have a picture of that grouper, please send it along. We'd like to see that ourselves. Tweet it out. Dave, we appreciate the telephone call. Joe Madden, former Cubs manager, World Series championship manager, you know, the stuff that he used to say off the record when the recorders are off, he's saying on the record now on shows. Correct. He used to say all the stuff to Jesse and others. If you're just hanging around about how the baseballs are played the right way, listen to this closely from former Cubs manager Joe Madden about analytics in the modern game. Out of the coaches these days are coming from places, a driveline that thinks of that nature. These are today's gurus. I'm here to tell you, man, if I'm starting a group tomorrow, I got definitely got Larry Bow in that group. Absolutely. I don't care how old Larry Bow is. We need people to pass the game down to have it played properly. Guys have to be told when they're screwing up doing things wrong. I think you could watch a lot of games today and I keep getting queried about did you see how sloppy the play was? Listen, you're going to have sloppy play with the best instructors in the world. I'm not arguing that, but the game has evolved into the point where everybody's after their own brand and to show me kind of a thing as opposed to playing this team concept that's individualized by the dodgers or the cardinals or the pirates of the past, which I loved. And I thought the angels in the 90s and early 2000s, we had an identity. I thought the race, when we got to the race, we established an identity. Those are the kind of things that's never talked about anymore. It's all based on analytical data and a sameness. Everybody wants a sameness when it comes on a draft. And furthermore, there are no minor leagues anymore that's been so watered down here to tell you, man, if I, under these circumstances, I never get an opportunity. Do you eventually do what I did? I thought they're from Joe Madden. He was right. Yeah. It's all about the sameness. And well, what's his WRC plus and that means he's awesome or he's terrible. You can't, there is no analytic to tell you what beats in a man's chest. There isn't. You can give me all the freakin analytics you want. And some of them have value. Or I'm not telling you that there's no value, but you don't have an analytic test shade that tells me that guy chokes under pressure. That guy doesn't handle pressure well. That guy, he eats pressure for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You don't have an analytic for it. And that's why the overreliance in it is BS. I feel like the overreliance thing is made up. It's not made up. Are you crazy? It's not made up. I think that one thing, Shay, and we've talked about this on the show in the past, when Tampa was in the World Series, we call this, right? And we come to find out and we always knew it was commonplace. But when it's out there in the public for everyone to know, hey, Kevin Cash, yeah, he gets his lineup from upstairs. Correct. And he was told Blake Snell's dealing, sorry, he's out. Because of upstairs. Here's what the analytics say, take them out. And I just think that some of this has to come from reaction and gut feeling and game situation. I think analytics deserves a place in the game because that means that the game is advanced. But I don't think it should be an overreliance on it either. I think overreliance is a straw man, but I would also say the analytics has to be the end all be all to everything, to every situation. I don't disagree with that, which is where I feel like I think caps painting this overreliance on analytics on me. We'll never know how Blake Snell would have pitched in that sixth inning because he got pulled. He could have gone out in the sixth inning. I think it was third time through and gotten shelled. We don't know. The analytics suggests that's what would have happened, but we have no idea. He was in a groove. I thought he should have been left in. He wasn't. They lost. We'll never know. Maybe they keep him in and he blows up, but he just. I agree with both sides of it. I think there's the side that says it should all be gut feeling and the analytics have ruined the game. That's not true. Players disagree with that. If you read the latest player poll, it was like 80% of them said analytics have helped more than anything. Analytics have some role, but there is absolutely an overreliance and what Joe Madden just said was spot on. I would say this that if we don't use the word analytics and use the word odds, would that be better because when we gamble, when we bet it's based on the odds. And I think that the numbers speak to the odds of who can succeed, who can't. So let's remove the word analytics and say odds that feel better because it's the odds. The odds that this person will be hit a home run or hit to the right side or strike out or same thing. Yeah, but the odds do not measure the heartbeat that beats you know in a champion. Angel Reese is a lion. She is an absolute monster. You can't. There's no analytic that tells me what beats in her chest. Caitlyn Clark, if you want to use her, there's no analytic. There isn't. And that's what drives me nuts. You have the George Brett cut about how they teach hitting now and why we see all the time with hitting coaches and players today. Not jangled to me is if I'm swinging a bat as coming here and the ball hits up part of the bat. That's the launch angle. If it hits on the bottom part of the bat, it's a grounder. If it hits in the middle of bat, it's a line drive. But my bat still coming through the zone on the same plate as the ball. And that's why I didn't strike out a lot. And nowadays players strike out all the time because I think their bat is in and out of the zone the same plane as the ball for just a short period of time. I will go to my grave vowing that my theory is better than they're teaching now. Even it's all the time with hitting coaches and players today. Launch angle to me is if I'm swinging a bat that's coming here and the ball hits up part of the bat. That's the launch angle. If it hits on the bottom part of the bat, it's a grounder. If it hits in the middle of bat, it's a line drive. But my bat still coming through the zone on the same plate as the ball. And that's why I didn't strike out a lot. And nowadays players strike out all the time because I think their bat is in and out of the zone the same plane as the ball for just a short period of time. I will go to my grave vowing that my theory is better than they're teaching now. There you go. He can't understand. Everyone has this carbon copy way they want to hit now. No, not everyone handles the bat the same way. Not everyone is as strong as the next guy. It's all different. But everybody wants to get the Ivy Leaguers in the front office and they tell you that this guy's got a preponder and say, you don't know what that guy's makeup is. You don't. You don't. There are some that will hide behind the numbers and say the numbers. Is that knowing the person? They look at the numbers. I ask Theo to be able to have a one on one to be able to know that you talk about that heart and that that will to win all that kind of thing. Yeah. I asked Theo. He said the biggest fallacy is that I'm all about analytics. Sure. They play a role. He goes, but we're 50% scouting. Look at that someone and going, that guy has a special quality that we can't quantify. We don't have analytics, but we do have a bad list that we'll tell you about. We'll come here from one of our host on Unsportsman like that's coming up. Captain Jay Hood week, eight morning, seven to 10. Okay. Spout that time. You're tuned in to the cabin. Jay Hood show. Everything ain't hardcore. You know. On Chicago's home for sports, ESPN, Chicago. It's a cap and J. Good morning show on ESPN 1000 and we are streaming on the ESPN Chicago app and we go to the hotline cap. That'd be the car acts tired and auto hot rattle, rattle, thunder, batter, boom, boom, boom. Don't worry. Call the car. Unsportsman like here is five to seven. Before we come on here on ESPN 1000, Evan Cohen is one of the co-host of Unsportsman like he joins us here on cap and Jay Hood. Good morning. How are you? Hello. How are you? Jay Hood. Cass. How are you guys? We are awesome. Awesome. Always enjoy my commute in having my coffee and listening to your fine show. Until you soil that show with an awful list of the top pass catchers. You know, you know, Evan, you have, you have the penchant to sometimes stop the meeting right in the middle of the meeting on something that you will say we're going through the show and all of a sudden, wait, wait, wait, turn that up. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What did he say? And we get a top five list of pass catchers for you. If you've missed it, folks, again, five to seven, you can catch it on the ESPN Chicago app as well. Number five, CD lamb, number four, Justin Jefferson, number three, Christian McCaffrey. Number two, Jamara Chase and number one, Travis Kelsey, give me a few minutes on that. Go ahead. All right. All right. So let me just, there's a lot of kind of preface that I need to give with all of this. So I was asked to put together a wide receiver list and my response was I don't believe in wide receivers in terms of value and the response from the producers, but what are you talking about? And this is what it comes down to. I don't think wide receivers are as valuable as tight ends. So what I wanted to do was put together a list. I changed the terminology. Instead of wide receiver, I wanted pass catcher. I wanted it to literally only be tight ends. I did not want any wide receivers in the list. And so my compromise was I'll do a little bit of everything and McCaffrey obviously does that. But let me do it this way with you guys. Right now at the Jaywood name, your top five, no order wide receivers in the NFL. Well, first of all, any list has to start with Tyree kill. Okay. He's insane. Justin Jefferson, absolutely insane. Jamar Chase insane. All right. Who else would we want to put in there? You go put Adams in there? No, Devontae Adams would be on my list. Okay. I mean, I like AJ Brown like the next guy. Yep. AJ Brown from Philadelphia. Go there. CD. CD lamb. Yep. All right. So let's even have those six. Those six wide receivers combined have won a total of one Super Bowl. That was Tyree kill, whose team got rid of him and then they won two after that. Now let's continue. Give me Captain Jaywood's list no order of the top five tight ends in the NFL current in the NFL. Yes. Uh, well, first Travis Kelsey obviously has to die there, um, who else would we want to put on that list? Sam Laporta. Sam Laporta from Detroit, yeah, George Kittle, Kittle for sure. Hockinson TJ Hockinson, although he's injured right now. Mm hmm. A train McBride, maybe Mark Andrews. Mark Andrews for sure is on that list. Okay. All right. Yeah. So let's talk about that. Travis Kelsey's one three Super Bowls, yeah, George Kittle has been to two. Mark Andrews has been the coach, you guy for an MVP season times two. And those guys are all paid half of what the wide receivers are paid. So I understand that, and this is what Dan Orlowski who called in to fight me on this set is that I'm conflating the list and the rankings, et cetera. I get all of that. I'm not arguing that point. My point is having great tight ends leads to winning, having great wide receivers leads to nothing. Literally nothing. No, if you're going to be, it's a goal commit will mean more to the Chicago Bears this year than either of the two wide receivers. That's absolutely untrue and also Cooper, a couple like to have a word. Yeah. He's the exception to the rule. He's the one exception to the rule, but if you look at the NFL over the last 20 or 30 years, it's been dominated by Gronk and Travis Kelsey on the on the championship. Then they're playing with the two best quarterbacks in the last 35 years. And yes, and yeah, how come Brady is okay with saying goodbye to literally every wide receiver, but not okay, saying goodbye to Gronk? How come Mahomes is okay saying goodbye to every wide receiver, but not Kelsey explain that to me? You know, so it won't be behind your back. I said at the time when this came up, the reason why that you feel this way is because you saw this first 10 as a Patriot fan, where the wide receiver influence, no question. There's no reason. There's no other reason why you'd say that because if you're a fan of a different team, you admire the Patriots, but you wouldn't be a Patriots fan. The way it worked, where you had any, there's like any sanitation worker, any guy at Walgreens that could be the wide receiver for Tom Brady and have a key tight end. That's the reason why you could say tight ends are expendable, where you believe more in the tight end like a Gronk than you would a excellent wide receiver because that's how Brady won his championships. And if you drop Travis Kelsey here at the start of his career with Mitch Trubisky and Mike Glennon adjusted field, he wouldn't be dating Taylor Swift today. I understand both points are fair, right? But I will also counter that by saying what is happening in San Francisco right now at some point, they are potentially going to say goodbye to not one but two wide receivers and there has not been a singular conversation about them saying goodbye to George Kittle. Lamar Jackson has said hello and goodbye to many receivers. Mark Andrews is still there. If you said to me right now, I have an A-level quarterback, not an A-plus quarterback, whoever you deem to be an A-level quarterback and I have a choice between Travis Kelsey or Justin Jefferson for this season, I will say Travis Kelsey. It's not even debatable. And by the way, Travis Kelsey, not a great blocker obviously. Imagine if you have a guy that can be a blocker as an extra run, Gronk is one of the greatest blockers at the tight end position that would probably be greatest blocker we've ever seen. And I think there is something to that. Now, I also want to tell you that part of the follow up to this list this morning was I wanted to come up with the most important passcatchers this year because I do believe Keenan Allen is on that list. I do believe what he's going to do in helping Caleb Williams adjust this league is going to be phenomenal. What he did in showing up to USC Pro Day, I thought was one of the sneakiest, biggest moves of the offseason. In that level of veteran support, before Caleb Williams was even technically a bear, I thought was awesome. Yeah. So I'm not a lemonade in the wide receiver. I just don't think they're as valuable as the great side of that. Of the top 19 passcatchers this year, 15 of them are wide receivers. And how many of them have won a Super Bowl? Let me look. There's one with the team there on with the team there on. Tyree kill did it with the Chiefs. We already discussed that. He's not on that team. He's not on that team. Not anymore. He's a dolphin. Well, obviously they won a Super Bowl with a team there on at the time. I mean, it's a team there on now. Well, here's what he's got when he won one with Brady. Yes. Tampa. And that's it, right? That'll be all. I think that'll be all. All right. Top 15 receivers based on receptions for the 2023 NFL season. Only one singular player won a Super Bowl with the team that they are currently on. And that doesn't tell you anything. Okay. And of the tight ends, only Travis Kelsey won. So what does that go through it? Travis Kelsey is the only one in the top 19 that won a Super Bowl. With their current team, with their current team, Evan, I would also say this because of the first blast that is Chris Canty. We did not get this, you know, rectified. Are you saying that you'd want that today or as far as their whole history, like Justin Jefferson and Travis Kelsey? Because I don't know if it was confirmed that it would be this year or for their career. Kelsey. Don't. Okay. Right. So let's give me. Let's play this out as a group. Give me someone that we would deem not Mahomes, right? Not the person that could make the three of us look good, right? I'm saying the person that is really good, but not iconic in the league at the quarter acquisition. Who is that person for you guys? The quarterback, that's not iconic, but just solid cap. Goss? Cousins, probably. Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff, Matthew Stafford, middle of the middle of the pack. Yeah. They're really good, but they're not Mahomes, they're not, you know, legendary. Let's use Cousins because he's an interesting one. All right. So Cousins put up enormous numbers with Jefferson and they want nothing. Yep. If I traded out Jefferson from his liking, Steve's, and I kept at the time KJ Osborne and Jordan Addison, and I put Travis Kelsey as their tight ends. Now it is prime where they have one more. My answer is yes, but no rings though in that spot. You still need different. Well, you need difference makers like everyone does. Everyone does not have that Patriots formula in which you could say we have a great quarterback in tight ends. I'm just saying that that's the same formula, Evan, like you still need to have difference makers. The only way that you win in this league is to have difference makers at the key positions wide receivers. Well, it's not. It's not. It's just not. Like that's where I would argue. So if we're going to simplify it to my Patriots bias or the Chiefs, right? And that's the Patriots formula is chief formula. No, the formula is if you don't have an all time great quarterback, you're not doing anything. And if you have an all time great quarterback, there is literally no point in spending money to that level on wide receivers. That's really what it comes down to. So in your case, if Caleb Williams becomes an all time great quarterback, which I'm hoping he does, because how can you not want Caleb Williams to the Bears to dominate and kick ass, especially on the S been 1000? Okay. So if he becomes, if he becomes that, there is no point in giving Roma doing say or keen in Allen, 30 to $40 million a year. There is only a point in keeping Cole commit at that lower number, doing multiple things and turning wide receivers. That's what we're talking about. So really it may be a residual effect of having if you have an elite quarterback, don't pay the wide receiver. But yes, pay the tight end. We will agree to disagree in the great Tom Waddle said tell Evan wide receivers more important. Yes. And just and I want to go out and play tight end. Maybe it's all a favor. Oh, that out there. Wow. Just throw that out there. In fact, by the way, Rishi Rice had the most receptions on that Kansas City team. Kelsey did not. Most yards to most yards. As always, and we appreciate the time most around to don't forget that. Wow. Wow. Oh, with this logic, by the way, there should be a lot more pressure on Lamar Jackson and and Shanahan since the tight end is so important. Wait a minute, wait a minute, I know you guys got to run. I haven't heard that. You're more about the Tennessee offensive line on your shelves. I wouldn't know. This is cap and Jay Hood, they beat in the traffic commute, so you don't have to. Now time for the cap and Jay Hood cut of the day. It's brought to you by my friend David Flom and Matt Moore, Chicago cut steakhouse LaSalle north side of the Chicago River. It's simply the best. Yeah. Yo. Yes, it's boring, but it's a sport. Whatever. It's not boring. Okay, then you're boring. All right. That makes me feel better. But what is the owl, baby? Here we go. I told you I had a talk with Otis. Walk through a restaurant last night with Otis under my arm. Brought Otis to the restaurant. Yeah. Otis is resting right now back in the office at home. Otis four and one Otis is doing a good job. Will you take Otis to the World Series? Oh, wait. You have to go to the world. I didn't know that we were eliminated already. I didn't know that they put a rule in and said the cops are eliminated. All I know is Otis is four and one. We go back to work tonight with him and Aga. Steel tomorrow. Well, I can tell you, Shay, but you stick to your analytics kid. You understand you're an old cook, right? And that's all, folks. The Kappa Jalen cut of the day brought to you by Chicago cut steakhouse, David for arm and met more. That's who he asked for. You get the best meal, the best experience and sit down on their patty on a gorgeous day or night. And it is incredible. Best of you in the city. Also a little breaking news. Kawhi Leonard has opted out of the Olympics. He's going home and water's wet. Yeah. He's not going to play for the NBA team. He's got a plan before the Olympics. The organization and the Clippers determine it is in Leonard's best interest to spend the rest of summer preparing for the upcoming season. The leading contender to now be added. Boston Celtics shooter, Derek White. I like that as a healthy choice. Kawhi Leonard. Could you imagine? Yeah, I'm not going to play for the for the team I get paid for, but I'm going to play on the Olympics. Such an odd situation with him. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. That's so funny now, Kawhi. Right? We thank you for listening and calling in to being part of the program here on cap and jhood our thanks to Shay and Jack on the other side of the glass. How about tomorrow we do a deal breakers Thursday? That sounds like a plan if Norling will bring us to a game. Let's get something going here. We'll talk to you tomorrow. So long everybody. Mike, sit up. Take that from Chicago Dean. [MUSIC PLAYING]