Kap & J. Hood

8/5 7 AM: Courtney Cronin

Hour 1: The White Sox officially hit rock bottom recording their 20th straight loss. White Sox fans are in an uproar, should Manager Pedro Grifol be fired? Bears Training Camp is underway and HBO's Hard Knocks with the Chicago Bears debuts tomorrow, national Bears Reporter for ESPN Courtney Cronin Joined Kap & J. Hood with updates on the Bears and the latest NFL storylines.

Duration:: 46m
Broadcast on:: 05 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

(crunching) - Chicago. - This is your morning routine. - Listen to respect my name. - Cap and G hood. - That's right, that's right, we're bad, huh? - Watch the show on Twitch. Follow ESPN 1000 Chicago. - Stream the show on the ESPN Chicago app. - And on there. - 100.3 HD2, and on ESPN 1000 Chicago. - No. - No, no, no. - David Kaplan and Jonathan Hood. - Good morning, everyone. ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Woo ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ - Oh, God. Welcome in to the Cap and G hood morning show. On ESPN 1000, and we're streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. We're David Kaplan, Jonathan Hood with you. We've got Shane, we've got Jay Moore, we've got you. For a three hour ride here on this Monday morning, we're up in phone lines for you at 312-332-ESPM-3323776, our phone number. We'll talk bears, record your clothing coming up at 735, but cap. As someone who is a lifelong South Sider, and someone who grew up 20 minutes from Old Cominsky Park, now guaranteed rate field. And someone who has been a diehard White Sox fan his entire life. I'm watching something, we're all watching something that we've never seen before. And that is ineptitude to the nth degree, the worst that we've ever seen. Now listen, if you are a Chicago sports fan, you've seen bad teams. You've seen teams that can't win. You've seen bad front offices. You've seen bad managers. You've seen bad coaches. But let me just make sure that everyone understands that we have never seen anything like this. Right here on the proud home of the Chicago White Sox, the White Sox have lost 20 games in a row. They've lost 20 games in a row. They lost to the Minnesota Twins 13 to 7. It's a nice round number to give this franchise, 'cause no team has lost 20 in a row since the 88 Baltimore Orioles, who lost 21 times in succession. Cap, when we talk about the road to 24, that Shay's been putting out there, it could happen. But the point is though, is that even if it doesn't, it's a blight and an embarrassment on the city. You're a big market and you're performing like that. That is an embarrassment. 100%. You're correct. You ask fans, hey, buy our jerseys. Hey, you got a new city connect jersey. Southside, it's cool. Got great food, as you like to say. Brooks and his team put together great activities. They're awesome with Christina O'Reilly and the charity side of things. Amazing, she's awesome. The baseball side and the level of commitment for motor ship is pathetic in terms of trying to win. Pah, pathetic. To run that team out there and then the report comes out over the weekend, which we already knew it. You and I, but Pedro makes a million dollars a year. He's on a three-year deal. You won't buy that out. We see the owner of the Detroit Pistons give Monte Williams $60 million to walk away. 60! You won't buy him out for what's left. A million four? That shows you level of commitment. He's not a good manager. The team is done. They're 60 games under 500. 60! Oh my God. It is so pathetic that people are watching this car crash. They have three in Oakland where they usually don't play well. Can they win when Oakland's not great? And then you get a day off and then you get the Cubs. You'll be hosting your rival to the North. And if you lose, you've set the all-time record modern-day baseball history for losses. It's beyond pathetic. If you are a Cup fan today and you care about stabbing your Sox fan friend or family member in the ribs, you are the most ardent Oakland A's fan this week. You want Oakland to sweep the White Sox because you want to be able to have the hammer as a Cup fan to just put the... The Sox are already done. But I mean, just to be able to say, we're the ones that did it. And if you're a Cup fan, you have every right to do that. Today, when you have a friend of yours, Cup fans, that is our Sox fan or someone in your family, you have every right to hold your stomach and laugh and point and say, "You guys are embarrassing." It is embarrassing for the city cap. And here's the thing. There's a difference between bad and fun bad. There's a difference between it because we've seen this before. Fun bad is, ah, they were so close to being able to win that ball game. They're right on the precipice, ah, that error, ah, that one pitch, ah, that one base hit they needed. Ah, they're right, right on the cusp, right? That's fun bad. But when you're the drizzling, you know what's on a daily basis, when you're not hustling, you've been intending, when the manager is sleepy, when the ball club is just, have the same approach they had in April, that shows you where they are, Cap. It's not fun. Fun bad is like, ah, you know what they're gonna turn in a couple years, watch them now, they're gonna be plucky. Not this team. It's the worst. You're a bottom. This is the bottom, the absolute bottom. And I said to you before, how do you walk into a meeting of all the owners, all 30 are meeting in New York or wherever they meet? Oh, hey Jerry, how you doin'? (laughs) When he walks away, they all laugh. He's a good man, he's a good person. But in terms of commitment to winning, it does not exist. - So because of this, because the socks are in this position right now, minus 247 in the run differential, by the way, minus 247 runs in the run differential. - That's epic. - Yeah, so because you're in this position, I will ride with many that are looking forward to seeing the socks get to 24 losses. You're goin' this far, Cap. And this whole thing with Pedro Grafalle, our guy here in security, that we talk to every morning, Mark, right there. Ah, what are we gonna do? Hey, Jack. I'm tellin' Mark and all the rest of the White Sox fans, let it happen, because it's hurting now, but let it hurt even more so. Put grandma out of her misery, and her being the Chicago White Sox. Let it happen. This whole thing about Pedro Grafalle, I think is also interesting as well. If you'd known me if you'd been listening to the show, Cap, we'm next to you every morning. I said at the time, Pedro Grafalle, when he was hired, you know, I said, eh, Pedro Grafalle, who's he? He's not a difference maker. I already had a hall of famer that people want to run out of town in Tony La Russa. He got sick, okay? You're bringing Pedro Grafalle. He's not moving the needle, Cap, and you see he's not moving the needle now. Good manager, bad manager, the ball club, the organization is not in the right spot. Pedro can't win with this. The idea that we hear from time to time, if you're just bringing AJ, you really want a Sox hero to preside over this nonsense, this wreckage? If Aussie Gian was, Aussie Gian would be awful too. He would. Here's the team's horrible. The organization's not in the position to win. So the next manager's gonna be an A to B manager. Do you understand why it's gonna take seven plus years to get this turn? They're gonna fire Grafalle either this year or at the end of the season. The next person will be A to B. That'll be a young manager's gonna get ruined in this nonsense. He'll be fired too. And then when you think you're gonna get a turn now, you get someone that's been fired before, a B to C manager, all right, come on in. That person will lose too and that person will be fired. - Buddy, you might have said, why would Terry Franco not take this job? And I said, wait a minute, he doesn't need the money. He's been sick. He's now healthier. He doesn't need the money, but he wants the manage. That's what he does. He's gonna have his pick of any job out there. I'll take the one that's gonna have the worst record of all time. He's not 35. He's like, what, 65? - Yes. - He's not coming here. You crazy? - He would be the one to tighten the screws when you're ready to win. - Correct. - All right, it's bringing Tito. - Like Bochi went to Texas. - Yes. - And won the World Series. - Yes. That's who I prefer before they had La Russa 2.0. And by the way, with commitment, that would have been good for the White Sox 'cause Bochi knows what the hell he's doing. He sat at home, got both of his hips taken care of, got replacements, right? Comes out there, you know, goes to the mound, you know? And he does, and by the way, wins the World Series. How about that? Because you had financial, wherewithal, because you cared, it's a big market, it's Dallas. Here, here in Rockford, it doesn't matter to the Chicago White Sox. - Where in Chicago? - Here in Rockford. Right, that's your point. - It's truly pathetic. - It really is. - Let it happen, Cap, just let it go. Let the 24 happen. Now here's the thing, I would agree with Steve Stone, as he said at the end of the broadcast yesterday. He says that he feels like the White Sox will win a game in Oakland. I think that's actually likely. If you can't beat, I mean, you're awful, but you can't beat them. They're bad too now. They've been bad for a long time. They don't care. They're drawing flies out there and rats to watch their games. I think that Stone might be right, that Oakland can find a way to trip over a pebble and lose the ballgame to the White Sox. - Right, yeah. Oakland stinks. They're the second worst team in the American League. - Yeah, they're 46 and 67. - They're 19 and a half games better than the White Sox. - But at home, they're almost 500. They're 27 and 29. - They played well in the second half too. But the second worst team in the American League is 19 and a half games better than the White Sox. The A's are closer to a wild card berth than the White Sox are to the A's. - Damn. - Let it happen, Shay. Just let it happen. Because it's kinda hurt. Maybe for Jerry, and then here's the thing, we have to do a wellness check on Jerry. Jerry, have you been watching? I know that you watch a lot of YouTube. Are you watching that your team is being as a civic embarrassment, a national embarrassment too? Even for the casual Sox fan cap, through their feed on social media, they have to know, oh my God, the team I grew up watching, the team that I've been into all my life, is a national embarrassment. There's spots on Sports Center for the White Sox. - I don't know, White Sox lose again. (laughing) Jazz has jazz has jazz hands. - It's unbelievable that we looked up at Sports Center the other day, and they're showing like highlights and post-game commentary on Sports Center. That was when they had lost their 17th in a row. - And Grafel sound, they're putting the video of Grafel with that hat on, looking like a dope. What's he gonna say? It's been daily, they get to the C block, they're done with the NFL, it sucks, every day. - It's unbelievable. - Because it's compelling, it's interesting. Because to the nation, who's forgotten about the White Sox, by the way, including ESPN, who forgot about the White Sox, when they see someone this bad, they try to figure out like, how did they get this way? How did they get to a 20-game losing streak? - Like I think Colorado's horrible. They're 41 and 72, Colorado Rockies. - Do you realize they are, what, 31 under? The Sox are 68, it's under, 60. - Let me be the big black mirror for every White Sox fan too, that will come across and say, I don't really care, I don't care, you care, you care. The reason why that you care is because you have people in your social media feed, or in your family, or in your fandom, that's asking you about your team, and you have to answer for it. The idea like, well, I don't care what you care, because you care what the Cubs do, you care what the rest of the American League central does, you do care. You could say it, you could be in denial, but let me just be the mirror to tell you you care. And it's about time for you to say something about it. I'm not going to the game, that doesn't hurt the White Sox, it doesn't. What hurts the White Sox is for you to be vocal, and to be able to express how you feel. I do it every day. I know it's bad, hey, I knew it was bad at the beginning, you know why? Because I was a Padres fan for this year. That's why, I told you from the beginning like, you seen this roster cap? There's no way I can get behind it. Zip Padres for the year. - You did, I remember, I'm like, are you wearing a Padres shirt? - Yep. - That guy come up to me in Wisconsin this weekend. I don't even know the guy. He's like, hey, cap. How you doing? He's like, I listen to you in Hood. He lives in Wisconsin, he listens to us on our app. He said, is Hood really a Padres fan? I said, for this season he is. He still loves his White Sox, but he's so mad at them that he adopted the Padres for this season. - Oh. (laughing) 'Cause it's the truth. It's the truth, cap. Because it sucks, that's why. We live in Chicago, and you treat your ball club like this. There's minor league teams, right? The Windy City Thunderbolts. I've got their schedule. I'll be checking out more of their games in the White Sox this year. I've got the old pocket schedule. I've marked out some games here for me to check out and crushed wood. (laughing) Because cap, what is the, what's the point of this? It's horrible. - It's truly embarrassing. - It's horrible. - It is truly embarrassing. - The old pocket schedule, ready to go. So I can enjoy some good baseball. And then there's Ozzaru. We'll hear from Ozzie Gann. Who just needs some couch time, some therapy. - And a cocktail. - He just needs that, just something. The Sox losing streak. It has become Chicago's most compelling story. Would you agree with that? Let's put that in the poll as well, Che, at ESPN 1000. Hey, we got Bears Camp. Cap and I are gonna be there Tuesday and Wednesday. There's the Sox. There's the Cubs winning three out of four. I mean, the most compelling story in Chicago sports is what? 3-1-2-3-3-2-3-7-7. Six is our phone number, Cap and J-hood. On the mighty home of the Chicago White Sox. ESPN 1000. (upbeat music) - This is Cap and J-hood. They beat in the traffic commute, so you don't have to. (upbeat music) (screaming) (screaming) - On ESPN Chicago. They hurt, but we got to flush this one. (upbeat music) - Cap and J-hood, weekday morning seven to 10, here on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. He's hoping that you're gonna have a great Monday. I know we're on weekday mornings at seven, Cap, but I think we're back up to in the night show. (upbeat music) Week nights at seven. - I can't believe how dark the sky is. (laughing) - How? - And it was dry when I walked in, but when I left the Northern suburbs. - Yeah. - Dude, it was raining so hard, I couldn't see in front of my car. It's like, oh, yes. It was a downpour. I took the little puppy out, Maverick, did his business, and then I heard thunder as we were walking back in the house, I'm like, uh oh, whew, glad he was quick. Put him back in and got my coffee and left, and man, the sky's opened up. - Thanks, Tracy. Got everybody wet. - Got everybody wet. - Got everybody wet. - Got everybody wet. - By the way, a shout out to everyone that came out to see Cap and I in two different spots at IKEA and Bowling Brook and in Schomburg. - Yes, we even FaceTime with somebody. I, what you call, I, you call, I missed the call. I called you back and you said, I got a guy here who wants to say hi to you. You were in Bowling Brook, I was in Schomburg. Had a great time, so thank you to the people at IKEA. - Yeah, it was a really fun time. And you know how it works. When you do an appearance, and I do an appearance, it's separate. They want to know, well, where's hoodie? Where's Cap? - Yeah, right. - What do you hear? - Nope, he's in Bowling Brook. And then I had a guy, I won't throw him under the bus for his company. Let's just say he drives an armored car. - Uh-huh. - He does. He said, he was in his uniform. I'm like, oh, did you come from work? He said, I drove the armored car here. You did? You working? He said, nope, I started early so I could get here to meet you. And guess where I'm going now? I said, are you driving the armored car to Bowling Brook? Yes, I am. And he came down to see you. (laughing) - It was so cool. There's a lot of co-fans in Bowling Brook that want to just talk to Cap. It's like, oh, I'll call Cap right now. And I guess it was after the Cubs and Cardinals game. Clearly, it's about a time we were got there. And we were just, yeah, you're still jacked up about the Cubs and that game against the Cardinals. So it was great to be able to talk to our listeners and our fans. Thanks so much for joining us for IKEA. We've been talking about the White Sox. They've lost 20 games in a row, 20 games in a row. And as a White Sox fan that's fed up with, not just Pedro Cofall, just Cap. I mean, again, he's in a position that he could not win. And despite the bit side manner, whatever the rumor and innuendo is about him, ultimately, it's his own Jerry Reinsdorf and it's on the organization. You put the organization in this spot. And so you have to dig yourself out of it, no matter who the manager is. There are some that believe that Aussie game should be managing the ball club, Aussie 2.0. Oh boy, when Aussie was hired, when Aussie found out that Grafall was hired by the White Sox. Oh man. If they take out the, no, not just that. You take out the 20 game losing streak and the 14 game losing streak, they still have the worst record in baseball. Yeah. Wow. The math is so bad. I thought it was their 40 games under. No, there are 60 games under. You are working at the White Sox. No, it lost 34 straight games. You could buy in two losing streaks. That means, that means, that means, that means, paid with 100 games on the 500. Yes. Then you got the job. He's 100 games under. Oh boy. That's, that's tough. So, I gotta go to, I gotta go to college tomorrow. I gotta go to college tomorrow. No, I do, I have to, I have to, I have to, bring my, because some, three years ago, I was happy with me now and I'm bitter and queer. You're bitter watching this team play? No, it's like a, because I don't think I was a bad manager when the big players were fooling me. That's not, I gotta, I gotta see a security. So, I'm drinking a lot. You are, I have problem with a lot. I ask you to, the only people that are looking at me, it's my grandkids. Everybody out, I hate it, but I don't know why. Don't tell me that personally. Maybe that's why, that's where they got it. I'm not playing around. A lot of people, I know, I thought like, I was bitter to myself, like, my god, I'm just bad. Then I went to management in Australia, I come back and go, wow, man, I will, man. Yeah, that's one of the champions. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, that's on my city school. It's like, holy cow, I should, I should be embarrassed. Myself, more than anything. Mm. I'm doing it. Oz again. I did a psychiatrist because, three years ago, they picked him over me. (laughing) Well, listen, it wouldn't be this bad under Ozzy, but the point is, though, is that, again, it's about personnel. It's about personnel, and it's been mismanaged. And to get what you deserve, that's why, if you wanna push to 24, go ahead. To lose against the A's three times, though, that's a hell of a trick, 'cause the A's are horrible, but the socks are even worse. The worst we've ever seen. I had an old timer tell me about the 62 Mets. Yeah, they lost, they had the worst season record of all time. Socks are on pace to beat that. Metropolitan's was an expansion team at that time, right? Right, Casey Stengel. Frank Howard on that team, like an expansion draft. This, the whole point is, is that you get it, right? An expansion team, but this, it's worse than that. And Fort Hood, Texas, listing on the ESPN Chicago App, here's Jim on Captain J. Hood. Jim, good morning. Good morning, guys. Hey, I'm just happy to watch, hey, guys. Hey, what's up, Cookie? Hey, I'm just excited to be watching meaningful white socks baseball game. When was the last time I watched the white socks game with any stakes? Finally, I'm paying attention. Just knowing the white socks, then we get to 23, and then win the 24 game and have to start all over again. It's what it is. It's unfortunate that in your state, you can't just open up an app and do some gambling, Jim, because that's easy money for the last 20 games. Hey, VPNs are a real thing down here, we're working. You're the man. What do you do? What do you do there? I'm just getting out of the army. I'm transitioning out. I'm going to be at HVAC Tech here in a few months, so I'm excited. God bless you, sparkles. Thank you for your service. Hey, take it easy, boys. All right, Jim. Hoodie, here's the '62 Mets. The 1962 New York Mets finished-- Uh-oh. He finished with a record of 41, 20, and one tie. OK? Damn. Here was the record. They're lined up. At Catcher, Chris Canazero, he got for the Cubs, too. At first, Marvelous Marv Throneberry. Remember him? On the light pair ads? Second baseman, Charlie Neal. Shortstop, Elio Chacon. The third baseman is Felix Mantilla. Frank Thomas in left field, not the good one. Jim Hickman from the Cubs in center. Jimmy Hickman. Joe Christopher in right. And their pitching staff was led by Roger Craig, J Hook, and Bob Miller. Horrible. Horrible. 40, 120, and one tie. And so there you have it. There you have it. And so there you go. Cap again with his broken mic. See that, Shay? You know-- So just jam it on there. Real good. Get a little firm with it. Don't have to be nice. Just jam it on. There you go. Just jam it right on. There you go. Good job. First sound bite for a Monday morning. Nice and fresh. Just jam it right on there. No, no. No Vaseline. Just put the mic on the stand. I mean, it's truly. Wow. Don't blame the equipment. That's your fault. That was on you. Why is that on me? Because you can not just host the show. You're holding the mic like a rock star. And that's not how this works. Hold on a second. I simply went like that. At J-Bore, J-Bore, when we the first two in here, I set my stuff down. It just failed, man. I brought water bottle down, and it fell right off. But it's like he's on American Idol. He's talking with his eyes closed, his lips are on the mic. He's got two hands on it. Really passionate. But leave it or not. I'm flying on air. No, seriously, it just fell off. No, so many people are down there. And I set the water bottle up, bam. I'm like, you OK? I'm like, you OK? Like, look at this. I said, what? When I came in on Saturday with Tyler, as soon as I sat down, I just moved it a little bit and popped right off. I don't know what's going on with that mic. So that would be-- It's excited easily. Waddle. Or yerk. I mean, who's the last one in there? I think that's-- that's Waddle. Yeah, that's on Waddle. By the way, we better get an arc down here. It's raining that hard. Look at this poor bastard walking down the street. With that little umbrella that he got as a giveaway, and he soaked. How do you know he got as a giveaway? You don't know anything about that, man. Because nobody buys that umbrella. That umbrella sucks. Just a normal black umbrella. No, it was tiny. It was flimsy. Yeah. Why is he going off on this man's umbrella? It looked free. That's what the umbrella looked like. It looked free. Yeah, exactly. He didn't buy it. He got it at a socks game. Oh, my god. Oh, wow. And because it was a-- Brother. Oh, the umbrella was black, so there's that. Two African-American umbrellas. My god. I truly want the answer to this. Do people find bears trading camp and the Hall of Fame stuff that went on this weekend? Cubs take a three of four and a PCA doesn't call off. Nico, the Cubs sweep that series because they didn't implode in the night. They would sweep it and take three of four from those dirty cardinals or the white socks having lost 20 in a row, four short of setting the all-time record in the modern day. Which is the most compelling? I would say, Cap, that just watching that dumpster fire on the side of the road, people are attracted to it. Some want to be able to film it and put it on their social media. Right. So this particular kind of ineptitude, people would want to be able to say, oh, my god, did you see this and hit record? Would you want to hit record on a three out of four against the cardinals? Like, we get up early. 4 a.m. I am going to be up tonight when that game gets going to watch the A's and the white socks. Maybe I'm crazy, but I think it's far and away the white socks. I have been this locked in on socks baseball all season. I think it's fascinating. I'm going to the game on Friday. If they continue to lose out, if it's swept by Oakland, I'll be there Friday. This is unbelievable. And it's something, forget we haven't seen it before. Nobody has ever seen this. The last time a team was 60 games under this early was 1889, 1899, whatever, Cleveland spiders. No one alive has ever seen this before. Say it with me. Say it proud for all the haters. It's outside. Stand up. Nothing to stand up for. No, nothing. No, matter of fact, the socks have been sitting down for 20 games in a row. It hurts, but you've got to flush this one. And if I could give John any advice. To stop talking about people in the radio business, you cannot win. They have a mic every day. Stop. Got it. I saw it and I'm like, OK. Somebody's got to do an intervention. Brooks, you got it. You got to have an intervention. I mean, what are we doing here? Actually, in this case, I don't blame him. He's wearing out of things to talk about. That he had. They've lost 20 in a row. What are you going to say? It's about job security one for him. And two, he's running out of notes. That'll be all. Even though he's got a bastion of knowledge right next to him in Steve Stone, right? He's asked Stone all the questions he is. He's got nothing else. He's got an empty yellow pad cap. He's done. So that's why he turned to that. We'll get it. You'll hear that sound a little bit later on in our show. But coming up, we'll talk about the barriers with Courtney Cronin on the cap and J. Good morning show. Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention? I've just been handed an urgent news story. Cap and J. Hood are back. Cannonball! On ESPN Chicago. You're a beak out of this. Click on me, Cronin. National Chicago Bears reporter for ESPN. You have to temper expectations. If you are a Bears fan, just given everything that this team had to kind of undo. Breaking down the Bears and the latest NFL storyline. Polls was given the flexibility and the freedom to take this thing down to the ground floor, down to the studs, to be able to build it back up. Courtney Cronin with Cap and J. Hood. On ESPN 1,000. Chicago's home first sports. And Courtney Cronin is with us on the hotline. That'd be the Car X. Hiring on a hot rock. Rattle, rattle, thunder, batter. Boom, boom, boom. Talk about the clock. Don't worry, call the Car X now. Good morning, Courtney. How are you? I'm great. How are you guys doing? We're doing great. Courtney, thank you. You're going to be on first take today. Yes, about an hour and a half from now. I'm in hair and makeup right now. So if you hear any sizzling, it's my hair because it's all fried from the sun. It halved the last couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to having that. I'm going to say both of you know that problem. Both of you know that problem well. So I appreciate the empathy. Yeah, the hair has been a big issue for me for a long time. Let me ask you this question. The offensive line is down three guys. Darnell Wright, Kevin Jenkins, and Braxton Jones. So if three guys are down and they can't play Saturday, let's assume. We don't know that. Let's assume they can't go Saturday. Do you play Caleb Williams either way because he needs to work or some guy named James Carvin is playing on the offensive line? No, political punted. That's Carville. What's Jerome? Jerome Carvin is his name. Jerome, sorry. Jerome. I met under the impression that Nate Davis is going to, if this thing is going to continue to linger. But he was in a ramp up period yesterday. And I know it's frustrating seeing via a number of injuries that they do have right now. But I think if you're Matt Eberfluze, you have to look at your own logic about taking this thing on a week-to-week basis based on health of your roster. Do you really want to put Caleb Williams out there behind an offensive line that's missing three starters? The answer's probably no. But then again, if you really are trying to get him these 45 to 55 reps in the pre-season, then you've got to find a time to do that. And unless you're going to cram it in based on the joint practice against with Cincinnati and then the Cincinnati game, and then maybe playing him against the Chiefs at the end of the pre-season, that could be one way to go about it. But I think it's way too early to tell just in terms of the health of that line, because they have a day off today. They'll be back in action tomorrow to know whether this is going to be the group that they have for the week, and they're going to either have to roll with it, or if they're going to get the guys back, come closer to Saturday. Courtney, how fluid is the right defensive tackle position with Javon Dexter, Coward is in there as well? Billings on the left side, Zach Pickens. Is it solidified or is there still a competition there? There's some of those positions other than Montes Sweat and Demarcus Walker. Yeah, I mean, the Dexter one, I think that's solidified. And I think there was, you know, you want to see it in action. You want to see what he looks like in his second season, and he's looked the part. I mean, he blows up the backfield pretty easily, just because he's bigger than everybody else. But they've got to be really confident and feeling pretty good about that draft pick, just knowing the gaps that they were trying to close, once Justin Jones left in pre-agency, and knowing that their second round draft pick from a year goes coming along. So I think that one's solidified. When Billings is healthy, he will be in there at nose, and he's been out the last couple of days. Two, the position opposite Montes Sweat, whether it's going to be a combination of Demarcus Walker, maybe some Daniel Hardy in there. He's been getting a ton of reps with the ones, but also often Booker for the days that we've seen, the defensive line without Sweat, without really just without Montes Sweat, the last couple of days. He's gotten some good work in there, so I could see a rotation at that other spot. I mean, Demarcus Walker will probably be your quote, unquote, starting defensive end right there. If you have to just name four starters, but I do think they will use a multitude of personnel in that spot because so far, from what we've seen rep-wise and practice, that's been the route that they've gone. And it gives them different looks and different defenses, and different fronts, and different sub-packages too, and they should try to stay as multiple as they can because of injuries and just because they want to get pressure with their front four. You want to have a number of different ways to do that. So right now, they are talking on get-up. Which NFC North quarterback would you want to start right now? And then they asked the four panelists. Two of them took Caleb, two took Jordan Love. Does that surprise you that somebody would already have picked Caleb Williams? Well, it surprised me that Jared Goff's not on that list. I'll have to make sure I asked him about that on first take this morning because I would have taken Jared Goff. I would have taken the guy who has the numbers in the fourth quarter and overtime in the playoffs who has been in that situation, who has the experience and who is on the best offense in the NFC North. I think the intrigue around Caleb and what you expect him to be this year, knowing the situation he's in, talent lies around him, leads a lot of people to want to go that route. But I don't know, I feel like it's those of us closer to the situation who see what the potential hold up could be in Chicago for a first-year quarterback, knowing that that offensive line is still in a state of flux. But that would give me pause in taking him. And it's nothing truly to do with just like the pure talent of a young quarterback and a rookie and an unproven NFL player at that. It's the situation that it's still, you know, that has the last couple of years been their, you know, Achilles heel upfront in protecting the quarterback, where I'm going to go to a place that has the best offensive line 10 times out of 10 and that's Detroit. Is that the NFC North? Is that on the on the docket for a first take? I don't think we have like a specific NFC North segment there, but there will be some rookie quarterback talk at the end of the show. There we go. You got to stay tuned for like two hours of this. And then then you will get a little bit of your Caleb Williams fill there. We just want to know what we can clip and bring it back to the show tomorrow. That's why we were just wanting, you know, if you, I know you have the format in front of you, I was hoping that you can give us a time destination. Do you want some Cowboys talk? Because we have plenty of that. Yeah, exactly. That's the problem. And then a LeBron segment, what else? We'll just in fields take the starting job. Yeah, well, no, that's not today. That's probably tomorrow's day. But hey, those are all topical things that you guys can replay on air and people resonate with. All right, so I want to get back to the bears and their online issues. Is there any chance that there's someone out there, Connor Williams or somebody that they would go out and get and say, all right, we got, we got to get some additions here. It sounds like they're still keeping an eye on the center market. I know Dan Grazziano was at training camp the other day and wrote his, his running files that they're keeping an eye on some of the centers that are out there, just given that they do have the financial resources if they have to go that route. And it just feels that they're putting the guys in a tough situation for Ryan Bates and Coleman Shelton to be in where you've got the rotation between the two of them. And then all of a sudden that stops because of the injury at right guard. And then yesterday it was kind of picking back up. We saw in the two-minute drill Shelton go in at center, Bates kick over to right guard after Bates is playing center all day. That's not an ideal situation. So if they don't feel that this is a solid, a solid enough competition to where they're going to have a winner, I think that by the third week, second or third week of August, they'll be exploring the center market. Lastly, Courtney, we appreciate your time with Hard Knocks taking place tomorrow. Just want to get your thoughts. Have you noticed the cameras or you noticed the added attention? And are you on one of the episodes? So the only time I noticed the cameras was we were on field one. This was like a week or two ago. And I saw that they were following DJ Moore around. And they had this big boom mic that was hanging over a conversation. I believe it was with him and Keenan Allen. And DJ saunters over to us and I'm just like, "Do you notice that?" And he's like, "Notice what?" And I was so locked in on my conversation with him, I didn't realize they moved the boom mic over to pick up our conversation. So clearly, they're very good at their job just in terms of being there but not making you think that you're there because they fooled me that time. And that makes the show then I guess I can get my IMDB page going and maybe get some royalties for it. But I doubt it. I feel like they're going to focus on the team instead of the rest of us. Do you feel that there are members of the media who don't dress the best that are dressing a little nicer because I might be out of hard knocks? She, Waddle and Sylvie got me in trouble when they asked me something similar to this a couple of weeks ago. So I am not going to give you an answer for that because I think everybody dresses nicely and everybody looks great at training care. Oh, wow. Good job, Courtney. Great job. That's actually an anti-first take answer. They'd want me to come in like off the top rope and say like this person looks like a swab. Look at how they've changed their entire wardrobe now that the cameras are here for hard knocks. But you know what? I am not going to do that. I'm going to straddle the fence. You know what? That's a great job. It reminds me when JD and I had our concept for our show we're going to do called Miletakes. This isn't getting more midwest than that. It could have been a Minnesota show. Smart move, Courtney, because you get blocked by bigs like I did. Well, that's deserved. As always, we appreciate the time. Thank you guys. Take care. Have a good show. Courtney Cronin with us on the Car X Tire and Auto Hotline. Ah, hard knocks for the Bears. It starts tomorrow. I can see the operation, the execution. Keep it simple and be consistent. We're going to give you the keys, your own drive. This is your team. You better come to play. Rough and tough monsters of the Midway. There's not a good hit. And that's what I heard. I like this guy body. With the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears select Caleb Williams. Unequivocally, we have the right set of individuals. That's what we do. They're going to take us to the next level. Colibe. I can't freakin' wait, man. Like I told Danny a while ago, he loved hard knocks and I'm like, I'm so over it. All right, enough. I loved it when Rex Ryan was there with my tan about. It was great. What? I'm done. Oh, the Bears are in. I'm like, I'm fully ready. Like I'm going to have sex. It's the best. Oh, I can't wait. We've got Shadow notion coming way to the clock. On the Captain Jhood morning show. Welcome back to Captain Jhood. You're officially locked in. On Chicago's home for sports. ESPN Chicago. Captain Jhood. On ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. Cap your Cubs were on the national spotlight yesterday. That was the Sunday night game of the week. As they beat the Cardinals 6 to 2. It's a little too late now at 55 and 59. But the kind of offense that we're looking at for the Cubs throughout the summer, now it's coming to play. Just like last year at the end. Not good enough. Not good enough. They're six back in the second of the final wild card. Six back. Took three of four. Should have taken them all four. Head back. You're boring ass little town down here in St. Louis. Beat your ass. Loved it. If Pete Kromstrung doesn't call off Niko Horner, who's there to catch the pop up. Cubs likely walk away with all four games. That was unfortunate. But it was a lot of fun to watch. And watching this all weekend. Justin Steele was excellent again yesterday. What are you doing though on Saturday? Why is Itok Paredes trying to make that throw? Had no chance to get the guy and throws it away. And then Pete Kromstrung messes up the next play ball game over. I was going to text you, but I didn't want you to think I was trolling you. Because the text was in the drafts. And I said, I won't do that to my friend. The text I had ready was. Morrell would have made that play. Oh wow. I'm not sure he would have. Cap, Cap. We saw Morrell turn the corner defensively toward the end of his tenure with the Cubs. Did we not? He did. Okay. That's all I'm saying. He turned the corner a little bit. I saw it yesterday. It's a routine ground ball. Paredes just bobbled in last night's game. And he's a solid defense of third baseman. I got no issues with his defense. Cap, you better. You got to be better than that though. Yeah. You're better than that. Yeah. But I have no issues with Paredes defensively. Got to get him rolling here offensively. Pete Kromstrung coming around now. Pete Kromstrung had a well-hit double and a line single. Pete Kromstrung can run. He can defend. Got to keep playing him and get him ready for next year. Because you expect 400 in a batch from him, right? Pete Kromstrung? Yeah. Every day. Oh, he should be in the lineup every day. See, again, you got this log jam problem where it's like, you may like Pete Crow because he's doing well for an eighth place hitter cap. At the bottom of the lineup. But then there's Talkman. He just seems like in this series, it's the Talkman series. Yeah. Ian Hap rained into the wall the other day in the ninth inning on Saturday, trying to catch the triple from Tommy Pham. And he was banged up and he was in the lineup last night and 15 minutes before they scratched and put Talkman in. Talkman hit a home run. Big time. Yeah. So it was a good and you know who's really coming around? He got rid of the leg kick when they gave him a few days to sit on the bench. His numbers are phenomenal compared to what it was pre like when he was doing the leg kick. Miguel Amaya. Mm hmm. And then here's the other one. Shea, how about this? August 1 of 2023 through August 4, 2024. Top 10 OPS players in baseball include Raphael Devers, Aaron Judge, Show Hail, Tony. Say is the Zuki. Sure. Sure. Top 10 in a couple of walks yesterday. Yeah. So keep it rolling. Let's go. Let's get back in this thing. Let's get hot. Get the twins tonight. It'll be all for the Cubs. But again, it's kind of like last year you're rallying late when you're up the track. Well, you needed that in July. Yeah, you needed that in July. They've blown 21 saves, I think. You know, but I mean, let's go. I would like for also something that we're going to discuss here in the winter during the hot stove for the Cubs to get rid of the sum of their redundancy on the roster. Like I like talkmen and I like hap. Okay. So who's going to play like if Suzuki's your, your right fielder. If Pete Crow is your center fielder future, something's got to give. But talkmen's a fourth off the other. He's not a starter. He is now on this team. Is that his, is that the Latin life? We don't know that. Yeah, no, but he won't be a starter. As soon as hap can get back in a lot of maybe as quickly as tonight, talkmen doesn't start. Yeah. As I mentioned, it's something we would talk about in the winter of as far as roster construction right in mean August. I'll talk about next year. Right. But what I'm saying is I would bring him back if he understood his role as a fourth outfielder. But I don't think he's back here next year because you've got, they just promoted over the weekend. Matt Shaw, James Triantos and Kevin Alcantra. That's three of their top four prospects. I'd also say it's smart for the Cubs to try to diversify this lineup in this roster anyway. Because I don't know if you're taking a sideways step or step backwards next year. I'm not sure what it is. I have no idea what they have planned. You better be a playoff team next year. Jed won't have a job. That's fair. Got to get it fixed. That's fair. We'll have more baseball conversation with Jesse Rogers at 835. But first, shot or no shot. That's in two minutes on the cap and jay good morning show.