Kap & J. Hood
10/3 9 AM: Tom Thayer
Hour 3: Former Chicago Bear, Super Bowl Champion and Bears radio analyst Tom Thayer joined J. Hood & Dionne Miller (In for Kap) to preview Bears vs Panthers and the latest updates on the Bears. NFL Reporter Mike Jones NFL Players Poll, was any Bears mentioned? Plus, ABC 7 Chicago's Tracy Butler with the weekend forecast and The Kap & J. Hood Classic Cut Of The Day.
- Broadcast on:
- 03 Oct 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
What time is it? It's Thursday. Thursday. Tom Thayer. Thayer. 1985 Super Bowl Champion and Football Analyst for the Chicago Bears. Heat to win the division. Win the division. Get into a playoffs. Former offensive lineman. Do they need to get better? Do they need to give up less sacks? Yes. Of course. Tom Thayer. Tom Thayer. It's Thayer Thursday. On Captain J. Hood, ESPN Chicago. Good morning, Chicago, and welcome into the Captain J. Hood Morning Show. On ESPN 1000, and we're streaming into the ESPN Chicago app with Dion Miller. And for Captain J. Hood, we've got Shane. We've got J. Moore, we've got you here. On this Tom Thayer Thursday, and he joins us on the Hotline, the Car X Tire, and Auto Hotline. Rattle, rattle, thunder, batter, boom, boom, boom. Don't worry, call the Car X tire. The Super Bowl Champion and Color Analyst for the Chicago Bears joins us right here as we get ready for the Bears and Carolina. Tom, how are you? J. Hood, Dion, I'm doing good. How are you guys doing? Good, good morning, good morning. Thanks for joining us. Oh, my pleasure. Look forward to it. Let me tell you, Tom, what a game for the Bears against the Rams. We've been talking about it for weeks now, just being able to run the football effectively, and it opened. So after you're looking at the film, we'll sit out most about the offensive line and the running game. You know, just the productivity of DeAndre Swift, and I think that kind of gives you an opening because he was reading the run game well, and he was converting passing opportunities in the first downs. And then you have a nice complimentary back, like Rocha Johnson. And I think you've got to keep Khalil Herbert actively involved in this offense, too. But, you know, it's still about, you know, how can this team get better? What can they do to get better? And this week will be a good task, because Carolina is missing their best defensive lineman and two or three of their better defensive players. So I got to see it go from one week to the next because of, I think, DeAndre Swift, this is production per touch, 2.6 in the first couple of games, and then it was like 6.2 this pass game. And so if you can still keep that production up by DeAndre Swift, I think it complements the rest of the offense. - What did you read into DJ Moore and Kayla Williams talking about? They're disconnect on that pass before the half and then how they worked through that. What did you see from that? And do you feel like that chemistry and like finding that chemistry is just part of the early season growing pains? - Oh, for sure. I read nothing negative into it because it's going to take a countless amount of reps for Kayla Williams with every one of those receivers to feel comfortable about the timing, the tempo, the assuredness that they're going to be in the right spot. And it's just offensive development. If I would take away something from that, it's more of my concerns about the time protection of a pocket by the offensive line because if the quarterback is thinking, okay, I got to get the ball out of my hands, maybe a half a second to three quarters a second earlier than the tempo of the play from the time we call it an huddle. And then the quarterback's trying to speed up his process and maybe that'll affect accuracy or the rhythm of an offense. So to me, I would hope that the offensive line is able to construct more of a protective pocket and give Kayla clean space because the worst thing I want a quarterback to do is to drop back with peripheral vision to both sides and seeing how the pocket is shrinking. And so listen, man, I love DJ Moore, the dude is a model citizen. I love everything that he brings into that locker room, his toughness, his performance. And I just think Kayla is just starting to scratch the surface of ultimately what he's going to be. - Tom, there is brought to you by the village of Rosemont located just outside the city. Rosemont is your one stop destination for fun. Rosemont, it's all here. If didka asked you to be fullback eligible, would you have done it? - Hell yeah, my first play ever in my college career was Notre Dame USC and I lined up at fullback. And that was my first opportunity to get on the field. And man, I felt like King Henry, no kidding. And for a guy that's locally built in Kramer and waiting for his opportunity to get into a national football league regular season game. And if he's got to line up anywhere, line up and do your job. And he was able to do it a couple of times. But that may open up an opportunity for him to be a tight end on goal line offense. It may open up other opportunities for him. And I think it's a creative way of making sure that you're getting the best use out of your short yardage and goal line talent. - Yeah, I'm so happy for Kramer. Because when we talk about the offensive line, he's never in the conversation, we never talk about, and then he does that. I enjoy him at least getting an opportunity to get a feel of the game. - That was cool. - And for a local kid who's tried so hard to stay on his hometown team roster, I think that's pretty spectacular. Tom, you mentioned right out of the gate, you want to see the offense kind of stack up some of those performances like they did last Sunday. How important then is this next couple of stretches, or I guess a couple of weeks with the games, you got Carolina and Jacksonville. And then the bi-week, but winnable opportunities. - Huge, Dion. You know, it's as huge as for the offense is equally as huge for the defense. Because you're playing at home, the crowd has been super supportive. It's difficult to communicate on the line of scrimmage. But then you got Andy Dalton. In the first two games, Bryce Young was sacked six times. In the last two games, Andy Dalton has been sacked twice. So you got to start keeping that destructive rhythm of the defensive line to put the quarterback in the most hurried position as possible. And they are doing a nice job of playing eight defensive linemen. In each set of defensive linemen has good interior play and significant pass-rushers on the outside. Maybe I'd like to see Daniel Hardy get a rep or two on the outside if you need him the most. But you're gonna have to really respect this offense 'cause Andy Dalton has changed the passing and they drafted Xavier Leggett, who's a six, three, 227-pound receiver. They have Johnson, so they have capable receivers. And Cheba Hubbard is a good running back, man. I think, you know, they had 155 yards rushing last week. They're running the ball much more effectively because you have to respect Andy Dalton in the downfield attack. So as much as it is for an opportunity for offense to continue their process of improvement, that's, you know, number one goal, I think going forward. But you need the defense to come up and play that type of, you know, completely. I'm not looking for a shutdown game, but I'm looking to keep them at the end zone touchdowns when last week when they limited to field goals. And I felt really good about it because I don't think you really gain the advantage by settling for field goals at the end of the day. - Tom Deere with us here on the Captain J. Good Morning Show on the ESPN 1000. And streaming on the ESPN Chicago app, Tom, I asked a tough question on our five burning questions regarding the Bears yesterday. And the question was through the first four games, who is the most valuable bear? Cap said, Jaquan Brisker, I said Jalen Johnson. If I asked you, I'm sure they're all important, but this got to be one guy that says, boy, this galvanized the team, it brings it together, he's played the best. Who is that guy on this team so far? - It's a great question. Jeff and I were talking about that too, and he brought up Jalen Johnson as well. And maybe that is the case because I've been searching, I think we talked about it at the hard rocket, searching for an alpha male on this football team. And Jalen Johnson talks confidently in front of the media. He's always presented himself with confidence and he's lived up the expectation since he's been drafted and he's been able to deliver after this new contract. And then the way that he's been able to, shut down that receiver and then everybody, all the other defensive backs filter in. But Jaquan Brisker, he's not a bad choice either. So I think when you look at it, I would like to say it's Darnell Wright. I would like to say that it's DeAndre Swift at this point. But right now, I think the best part of this football team is what the defense is doing. - Do they need an alpha bear in the locker room? - Hell yes. I mean, you know, you've got to have a couple of alpha males in that locker room that are holding people accountable to get in the weight room, to get on to the practice field, to make sure they understand their assignments, to put a little bit of pressure and angst in that locker room where sometimes you make it a little uncomfortable. And that was the great thing about Nick Michael, man. Steve Nick Michael, whether you're an offensive lineman, and you know, Demarcus Walker is kind of like that. Whether you're an offensive lineman or a receiver or defensive back, Nick Michael always had that accountability where listen man, show up, shut up. And so to me, find me, develop me. You know, a knowing one, something is, you know, an alpha guy is always needed on football teams. - You mentioned Shuba Hubbard, the running back for Carolina, 104 yards, 18 carries against the Bengals last Sunday. So Tom, I'm just wondering, you know, if I watch Andy Dalton, we know that he's just a solid veteran, a backup and now as a starter now, I'm just wondering what the defense has to deal with because Dalton can fling it, there's no doubt. But can, will this be a problem for the secondary in particular with Dalton coming back to Chicago? - You know, if he's provided this amount of protection time that he needs according to the huddle call, yes, because what's Andy Dalton got to lose? What is that? Have they got to cut him? No. Is he trying to make the foundation of his career that you have to come? No. So Andy Dalton's not going to be afraid of windows of opportunity. He's not going to be afraid of trying to use a veteran guy like the other Johnson or a young guy like Leggett. So I think that those are the kind of guys that scare me the most and I was really happy the way that they played last week against Stafford because I thought he was the best quarterback that they were going to play up into that point because they played a bunch of second year guys up into that point and I'll do respect to CJ Stroud. But I think guys that have seen every defense, they've seen every blitz that can come if they're trying to hide it or not. And yeah, I got a lot of respect for Andy Dalton. He's paid his dues to third in this position to try to secure that whole coaching staff's jobs because he's going, OK, this system does work. It's not the fault of the head coach that this quarterback didn't work out. And so that's what I think about Andy Dalton. You agree? He's a good guy. He is, but can he beat the barriers? I don't know, but he's got the experience. And I think that makes a big difference. I mean, they have such a young head coach who can now trust a quarterback to execute in a way that Bryce Young could not. I mean, that does make a difference. Yeah, send me on. You're exactly right. Lou Canellis, the head coach for Carolina, right? Is that him? It's cousin, a distant cousin, Dave. I believe. [LAUGHTER] There's no throwback question to ask you there because there was no Carolina when you were in the league. Yeah, good. Thank you. Sometimes you make me-- sometimes you make me rack my brain. But did you know that the bears are third in the league in separation by the receivers? Yes. I know. I heard you guys talk about that. Shane, I'm going to give you that. Yes. I didn't know that that's not a real step. Yeah, it is a real step. See, Shane brings it-- I don't believe you. And guess what Tom's going to use in the broadcast is going to blow Jeff's mind. Who is? So I'm not going to use it. I'm going to save him for Dion to use at the end of her TV. I'm tossing back. That's what I'm going to do, Tom, soon in. It's time to be on the edge of your seat for when I talk about separation created by Roman Dunezay. Tom, I have a great call looking forward to this game. Let's get a victory here. Let's get a victory in the UK. And then go in the bi-week. Just get off to a really good start-off, that's the other thing, too. You heard those boo-birds like all of us did in the first quarter. Because the bear fans are like, oh, here we go again with the slow start-off, offensively. And the penalties. Before we should talk about that, it's one thing to have some pre-snapped penalties and the offensive lines a little bit out of sync. But it's not just them. It's everybody. You cannot have that many penalties, especially when you're playing good teams. You've got to get this ironed out now. Well, you know, Jay Hood, so the first game of the year, they open at home, Caleb, is in control of the cadence at the line of scrimmage. But it's his first game. Then they go to two away games that you're completely dysfunctional with the volume cadence because of the environments they are playing in. Now, this is a readdress back to the volume cadence with Caleb at home. So I do expect way more efficiency at the line of scrimmage according to the cadence with Caleb, because it's going to be two games in a row now. And so that means rather than going to those practices against Houston and Indianapolis, where you don't use it, now you're in two weeks of practices where you're using it. So, you know, I think that Caleb is continuously going to get better at how deceptively he can use the snap count. - Tom is always, we appreciate it, man. Thanks for coming on the show. - Anytime, thank you guys. We'll talk to you. - All right. - It's here, you too. - It is Tom. - Tom, the CarX Tire and Auto Hotline. - Rattle, rattle, thunder, clatter, boom, boom, boom. - Don't worry about the CarX name. - Jeff and Tom will have the call. Of course, our coverage is all day Sunday with the Bears and the Carolina Panthers right here on ESPN 1000. You know, the Bears are two and two, as you well know, Dion, but you know what? They don't even scratch the surface on some of the things that's popular about the NFL. We'll get to that coming up next on Captain J. Hood. (upbeat music) - Follow Chicago's Home for Sports on Twitter at ESPN 1000. Cap and J. Hood are back on ESPN Chicago, Chicago's Home for Sports. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - It's a Cap and J. Hood morning show on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago Apple with you until 10 o'clock and then my Greenberg comes in at 10 followed by Carmi Yurko at 12. - Wadland Sylvia at 230B, Wadland Peggy today and then Bears weekly at 6.30, blackin' up doll at 7.30. All part of the mix right here on ESPN 1000. I hope that you're gonna have a great Thursday. By the way, we're gonna check you on Tracy Butler today to talk about the weekend weather. Tracy will be in at 9.50. - Hooray, I don't see her enough. - She's the best. - She is, she actually is the best. - She is the best. - She is as lovely as she is on television. Like she's the same person all the time. - Yes, yes. - She is all sugar sweet. She's wonderful. - Until you talk Steelers with her and then she becomes. - Well, I don't, I don't brush that subject if I don't like the Steelers, so it's easy for me to not talk about that. - She starts to bristle when you talk about Steelers football, but otherwise she's, she's the sweetest person that you'll ever find. - Yes. - But then when you talk Steelers where you're like, - This damn team isn't any good, what is going on? - Like that too, it's crazy. (laughing) - Oh, this feels, he sucks. - Whoa, what, what, what, what's that? - I want Tomlin fired. - Tracy, what happened there? Anyway. - Like she's smoking a pack a day. (laughing) - That's pretty good. So theathleg.com has a piece written by Mike Jones, who, Mike Jones, the anonymous NFL player poll for 2024, that's Josh Allen for MVP, Tyree Kil, Justin Jefferson has building blocks. This piece is interesting. Only for one big reason, I'll tell you in a second. That's the, you know how these anonymous polls happen, right? You just, you know, quietly ask a question, you usually don't put a name to it. So who will be the next active NFL player to win its first MVP award? This is, again, players entering the question. They have Josh Allen at 17%, Joe Burrow, 15%, Christian McCaffrey, 10%. Uh oh, that third one's not going to work with Christian McCaffrey. - No, it's not. - Okay, so, which, if you, I had to start an NFL team from scratch, who is the first non-quarterback that you draft? Tyree Kil got 14% of the vote because of his speed. - Right. - Justin Jefferson was second on that list. - Okay. - Miles Garrett, third. Now, in this particular category, no bears were mentioned in this, okay? - Okay. - Shay, if I said your favorite NFL road trip, if you were from someplace else, would Chicago be in your top five? Not necessarily for the football, but the football and the experience and the restaurants and all the bread and circus is around it. Your favorite NFL road trip? - I think the problem hoodie is Soldier Field. Everything that you can do on a weekend in Chicago is great. - Yeah. - But you can do that any weekend. The football end of it, Chicago, Chicago, we love it. - Yeah. - I think the problem is if you're coming for a football weekend, there are very few stadiums across the country that are more inconvenient to get to from wherever you're staying. There are very few stadiums that feel not outdated, but outdated in the way that Soldier Field does. I think that's the issue. When you think about best football trips, - Your favorite? - I want to go someplace like Vegas where they've got a state of the art stadium and all of the things to do around it. - Or SoFi in LA, right? - Yeah, and it's convenient to get to. - So favorite NFL road trip according to players, Los Angeles' first SoFi, Vegas' second, Seattle's third, Miami's fourth. - Wow. - The Bears are not even on the list. - Of course not. - London's on the list. - Of course. - Kansas City's on the list. And again, the thing about places to kick it, all those places are great. Dallas, it says New York has got 6.5% of the vote. San Francisco, Houston, and Kansas. Chicago's not even on the list. All favorite NFL road trip for players. - Well, I think that Shay's right. - That's something. - I think you're right, Shay. I think it does have to do with Soldier Field. It's the smallest stadium. - Yeah. - We know like players probably have an issue with the playing surface over the years, especially because players like most teams aren't going to play here every year. Only four will play here every year. So if you're asking teams around the country, they may not have played on the new surface that Iber Flushead put at Soldier Field. They might be remembering a horrible playing surface from three, four years ago. - Yeah. - That factors into it. - Just statistically pleasing for play. Now, here's what's funny. Bears are not on the list for their best NFL road trip. No, neither are they are on the list for the least favorite NFL road trip either. They're like in the middle. Like on this list, Green Bay is the worst. - Really? - Yeah. Well, if you're a player. - Yeah, I would imagine, yeah. - Where are you going to kick it, Shay? I, even Milwaukee, you're going to play Green Bay. Go on and Milwaukee? - No, it's two and a half hours away. - Oh. - Can't do it. - You're just there. 16% of the players that were polled said, the least favorite NFL road trip is Green Bay. I would agree with that. - It's always cold. Like one of the quotes in the article I read was it feels like a tundra. There's nothing to do. It's just the football. And like the restaurants aren't great. There's not a lot around and it's cold. And you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. It is the tundra. - Yeah. I was told that on campus or like around the stadium, that's where you go. The tundra trio is great and all that, just the amenities and the stuff around the stadium. That's what I was told. - Even the players are like a Lambo's awesome butt. - It is awesome. Buffalo's second. New York, I guess that means bet life, right? New York is the third least favorite NFL road trip for Jets and Giants. 'Cause you play in New Jersey. - Yeah. Right. - What's around there, right? Washington DC is fourth when the commander's like Cleveland's fifth. - Cleveland and Jacksonville. - Cleveland and Jacksonville are fifth. Cincinnati, Detroit, Pittsburgh, San Francisco. Bears are not even on the least favorite NFL road trip. So what does that mean to you? - They didn't get any votes for that either, so. - So what does that mean to you? - They actually put anywhere cold was one of the options to vote on. - Yes. (laughing) - So New Orleans was on this list as well as at least NFL road trip. So I've got some nightmares from their time in New Orleans. You know that is, Jay Moore. That's. - Man. - That's. - But I went down there and you have to drive on that path over the water. - Yeah. - And it's like five miles? - Yeah. - Dude. - Not me. (laughing) - I didn't go back. - Ooh. - I know exactly what you're talking about. Yes. Yes. - Oh my. - So Dionne, the least favorite NFL road trip, Green Bay. Does that make, would you have them? Did that make sense? Green Bay or Buffalo? - Yeah. I mean, Buffalo. - You've been? - Yes. - What's that like? - Buffalo, I went to school around Buffalo. When they're shoveling like your roof, I mean, it's miserable. It can be a miserable experience. How old is that stadium? Buffalo. - It's ancient. They've been trying to get a new stadium for a while. - They've stayed for a long time. - Yeah. - Threatened to go to Toronto at one point. - I wouldn't have said Green Bay, but then I understand. Like the logistics of Green Bay are very frustrating. You don't even stay in Green Bay, do you? We never did. - I don't think so. - We always stayed in Apple Creek, right? - In Appleton? - Appleton? - Mm-hmm. - Apple Creek. (laughing) - She's, yeah. - She ain't pecking in Apple Creek. - I know, right? - With the kids. - Little House of the Prayer. No, in Appleton. Yeah, that's where we would always stay, not right there. So I understand that's frustrating. - Shay, as I went through this, Dion, as I went through this on theathletic.com, when I went through, like, asking players these questions, the Bears are not in any of this. - They're not in any of them, so I'm just making my way through. - Yeah, I mean, the players, the stadium, it just shows you, when you've been behind for a decade plus, and you're trying to reimagine your franchise by having a rookie quarterback in Caleb Williams, when you're trying to do it the right way with Ryan Poll's tanking, first time in our lifetime, the Bears tanked to be able to get to this point right now. Three wins and seven wins to where they are right now, you know? And then we go back to the MVB conversation. You know what we've discovered, Shay, at this point, faceless franchise until they start winning. - Yes. - Faceless. - Yes. - You know what I was happy about was they might not be in the list of favorite road trips. I was very glad they weren't in the list of least favorite road trips. - Either one, they're not on any of these lists. And no players, nothing. - I'd rather be on neither list than on the least favorite road trip list. - Not even annoying players. The most annoying player in the NFL is CJ Gardner Johnson, 20%. - Yeah. - We need better trash talkers. That's what we need. We need jaffers on this team. - That usually would come to the defense first or a wide receiver. - It does. - You don't get any of that. You know what? And I think that Hard Knocks tells you the great story, doesn't it? Nobody's, according to Hard Knocks, no one says anything. No one. - No one says anything negative, nobody's. Oh, again, Kumbaya, we don't really care about that. Win games, win games. This on the pole, one of the questions was, has Taylor Swift's presence at Chiefs games been at positive, negative, or neither for the NFL? Most of them said it was positive. - Sure. Yeah, that puts more emphasis and more eyeballs on the product, right? Because the ratings are higher because now you get an outside viewers. Whoever is in the Taylor Swift and not in the sports, they're looking for Taylor in those Kansas City games. - That's great. Didn't bother me. That's fine. Who are the top three players you'd like to have on your flag football team? No bears on here. Tyrek Hill, Justin Jefferson, Lamar Jackson. - Taylor Williams did get one vote. - Oh, did he get one? Okay. All right. So I just think that-- - So did DeAndre Swift. - It's fascinating to me. To me, reading this Mike Jones piece here, right here on-- - Mike Jones, who? - Mike Jones. - Who? - Who? - I don't know. Who's he talking about? - Who? - Who? - But Mike Jones writes this list here for theathleg.com and I just said, I think that just shows you where the bears are. - Yeah. - And that's what they got. Just on the field, off the field, personality-wise, it's just got a lot to go. - You nailed it. - Yeah. - It's a faceless franchise until they start winning and until somebody becomes the reason that they win. - Only reason why I brought it up. 'Cause when you see these polls, say, where's the bears? Where's the bears? Where's the bears? And it's like, nothing. - Is that good? Is it neither? Is it indifferent? - It's not bad. - I don't think it's bad either. - I just think that it shows you that nobody on the Chicago Bears stands out amongst other players in the NFL that were pulled. - Yeah. - What does that say? Like, he wouldn't, like the next active NFL player to win his first MVP award would not be Caleb Williams and nobody on this team at this point in time. - Right, right, right. - I just think that kind of just tells you where the bears are right now and how they've got to get to the favorite NFL road trip. I'd love to look into the Chicago if I'm from the outside. But then you got to get to the game. - Right. - The other thing I did notice about like the worst play, like Green Bay and Buffalo. No, not always the case, but like if you're going to those places, then you're not winning. - Oh. - You know what I'm saying? That also makes it a miserable place to be. That is not the case at Soldier Field. I mean, they're on a nice little home win streak right now. That's glorious, good for them. But typically, that's not obviously, it's not, you're not coming to Chicago and then also getting your butt kicked. - It is up to the Bears to be able to change that narrative. - Absolutely. - And give Ryan Paul's credit now. Give him credit, not again. He hasn't won anything yet. He's just trying to rebuild this thing into a perennial playoff team. But I will give him credit by saying that, you know, we have to change the narrative. We have to change how things have been around here. And I tell CAPTUS all the time 'cause I try to bring perspective to this, Dion, is that guys in the past, whether it's Jerry Angelo or Ryan Pace, or they were just trying to just fill the holes free agency, not really trying to tear it down or bring it back up. No general manager had the Testicular 42 to do that until I'm in Kasky. Hey, your team stinks and we're gonna tear this down from the beginning. Who, the Bears? Absolutely not. Because usually as you well know, people in that position at general managers trying to get a job will lie and say, oh, we got plenty of talent here. Oh, we got plenty to work with. Oh, we're gonna be fine. Just a little spackle here, a little paint there. We're gonna, no. - No. - No. Because the players that were getting paid like as much as I loved Rokwan Smith. - Yeah, same. - Love Rokwan Smith. But I understood it was time to move on. Alan Robinson, all these guys were making money. You were losing with those guys. - Yeah. - And so Paul said, okay, we're just gonna just do this again. - I'll never forget when he sat there at his introductory press conference and he looked at the roster and he said, we are going to evaluate the roster with no emotion. And he did that. And I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. - Now they have to win. - And now he's emotionally attached to it. (laughing) - Especially if you're not fit to line with it. - All right. He's definitely emotionally attached to that. And I know that drives some Bears fans crazy. - Yeah, very much so. - That whole conversation about Adunze, we got that this week and we got that last week. Someone called in and said, - Yeah. - And I understand the point. - I do too, I do too. - Why did you not get an offensive lineman instead of Romadunze? And my answer always is, well, Ken and Alan may not be here after this season. - Right. - Romadunze could be the guy. - Yeah. - And the offensive line was kind of left to the side of the road. - Well, I think we've heard from Ryan Pauls that he feels good about where his offensive line is right now. At least he did when the season started. - I get it, but then the whistle blew. - I know. - Then what happened? - Four and a one, the preseason turns out it doesn't mean a lot. (laughing) - Now there's perspective. - There is, now there's breaking news. - That's perspective though, right? Everything is hard? - Everything looks so good. - Everything is harmonious early. And then what happened? Caleb Williams learning on the fly, running around, doing loopy loops, 20 yards behind a line of scrimmage. - Right. - Yeah, that's tough. All right, 3-1-2-3-3-2-E-S-P-N-3-3-2-3-7-7-6 is our telephone number. They're playing us off. - I know. - They're playing us off. We gotta go. - Wrap it up, you two. (laughing) - Time to blow the whistle on The Captain J. Hood Morning Show. (upbeat music) (cheering) - Follow Chicago's home for sports on Twitch at ESPN 1000 Chicago. - The Captain J. Hood are back on Chicago's home for sports. ESPN Chicago. - Deon Miller is in for a cap. I'm J. Hood on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. - Hey, do you wanna like this? - Sidebars are brought to you by aching law for the great Howard Anken, 3-1-2-6 million, it's not my ball. Deon Miller, Jay, Jay Moore, can ask a question about baseball. - Yes. - It's very briefly. No, we are football centric, but the baseball playoffs are taking place. I think that Shay and I are on the same page that we like a good, you know, day baseball game, a getaway game on a Thursday, 1105, 1130, day game. Baseball, is there any way for them to bottle the excitement that we see now? - Oh, nice. - And parts of the regular season. I am so excited about watching. I like baseball in general, but the playoff baseball is just fantastic. I love baseball, genuinely love baseball. And Monday's wildcard, that extra game that the Mets were playing, and I was so engaged in that, and I had, no, I didn't care. I love that sort of excitement, that we must win right now kind of thing. The Brewers coming back last night, like stuff like that is awesome for the game. I wish there was a way to make that during the regular season. I think people would tune in so much more regularly for that. - So Shay, if you were to fix it, if you were the commissioner, you'd be a way better commissioner than we have right now, you wouldn't call your championship, you know, 10 as a man for dead. Man, you, I know, as you watch it and I watch it, man, that baseball is so good. We love baseball, but we don't love it like we do in the regular season. That playoffs, man, with stuff on the line, with stakes is something, it's a playoffs. - You know, I feel hoodie, if you want to make it me more during the regular season, you got to play fewer games. Raise the stakes of the games that are available to you. Playing 162 games, it's hard for anybody in mid-May to really live and die on every pitch. You know you've got 110 games left. What you do today, you can correct tomorrow. - Yeah, well, the Cubs thought that too, and then suddenly we're at the end of the season and they're 10 games back. Like you can't, that's what's so frustrating. I do love that about baseball that it is every day and you can't ride that emotional rollercoaster of it, but at the same time, like, those things matter. Those games still matter. Losing, having a great April doesn't mean anything if you have a lousy May, you know? Like, I think that's important too. - I think that that is the case. And there's just not enough stakes, and it's such a long season. It's part of the rhythm of the summer, knowing that there's a baseball game on. At some point between noon and midnight, you could turn on a baseball game, more times than not. And that's great for the summer, but there's something about the baseball when it's on the line, especially the short series now. And Tigers are up one nothing. They're on the road against the Houston Astros. Astros have had a really good season. I was in Houston. Actually, I think I saw a Bray U's last home run, possibly of his career as an Astro. He's hitting eighth in the lineup for something like that. - Oh my gosh. - He's down at the end of his career. Michelle and I got there like two hours early, just walking around, a minute made. And we saw between first and second, a Bray U just running and stretching, running and stretching. And the game was about to start. And the umpires like, "You can't get off the field." He was still doing it, just trying to get loosened up. 'Cause when you're old, you gotta be able to loosen up and stretch. He's out there for two hours, just trying to get limber. And then, and I told her, I said, "Yes, that's all for a Bray." And he hit a home run. I think it was the last one I saw. - Wow. - But the point is though, is that, you know, the Tigers are trying to win this short series. And they do it on the road against the Astros. The Astros seems it's been a juggernaut, perennial playoff team, and it's a great story. Along with the games, Dion, it's a great story. - It is. - This Mets Milwaukee thing that's gonna happen. I think Jesse's still up there. - Yeah. - Covering the series. This is gonna be great. - It's gonna be awesome. - It's on the line. - Here's what I will tell you. Like yesterday at Bears, we're all, you know, they're covering the Bears. The TVs were all on baseball that they're never usually even on. And that's, it just catches your attention. I wish they could do that more throughout the regular season. - I agree. - So what happens now, that you got house money now, Shay, with your Tigers. - Yeah. - House money. Now, here's the thing. My team for this year, the San Diego Padres, 'cause I've banned the Sox as you well know. And so I like good baseball. That's gonna be an exciting series in SoCal, L.A. and San Diego. But I think that the Tigers, it's house money. This is something that's just out of nowhere that they play. So on the second half, they're in the playoffs. So what's the expectations now, Shay? What do you think? - Hooti, I can't even explain it. There's no explaining what is happening. Like, just think about yesterday, the Tigers started a pitcher who had eight saves in the regular season. They went full bullpen in game two of the wild card. They have one starting pitcher. And in the eighth inning, tied to two after Ryan Presley, who hadn't blown a save, wait for it ever in his postseason career, throws a wild pitch to let the runner score from third. The Astros bring in Josh Hader, who makes more money this season than the Tigers entire 26-man roster. The Tigers pinch hit a guy, Andy Abagnas, who's hitting below 200 for the last two months. Andy Abagnas gets into an 0-2 count and laces a double down the left field line off of Josh Hader that scores three runs. Like, there's no explaining what this team is doing. So at this point, whatever, go be Cleveland, why not? - Yeah, I think it's possible. - I have no expectation. What they're doing is winning baseball games. I don't know how, I can't explain it to anybody. I don't know why it's happening, but why not? Just keep going. - Isn't that the best, though? It's one thing to be the favorite. It's another thing to say, "Hey, man, I know we're gonna be here. "I know we're gonna be here." And then you're winning. I think it's possible they could be Cleveland. And the other thing too, by the way, for a American League Central fan like me, the idea that the Royals are able to get past a good Orioles team. But they're doing it in the net yost of ways. One, nothing and two, one, boring. Effective, but boring. - Get it done. It doesn't matter if it's boring. - Yes, it does. Yes, it does. You're gonna button sacrifice your way to a World Series Championship like you did with net yost. I wanna see that. That's all right, the Yankees are coming. - Yeah, no kidding. - That'll be all for the Cinderella Royal team. My God. - Three teams. - But still, I mean, three teams in that division. That is outrageous. - I think that, I just think that's great. All right, coming up, we will find out what's going on with the weekend weather with Tracy Butler from ABC7. I witnessed news that's still to come right here on Captain J. Hood, new. Follow Chicago's Home for Sports on Twitter at ESPN1000. Cap and J. Hood are back on ESPN Chicago, Chicago's Home for Sports. - Now time for the Cap and J. Hood Cut of the Day, brought to you by Chicago Cut Steak House. Ah, whether it's friends or family, whether it's clients, it's really the spot. Chicago Cut Steak House. Make sure you ask for David Flom. All right, J. Moore. - Yo. - Yes, it's boring, but it's a sport. - Oh! - Whatever. - Cut it. - It's not boring. - Okay, then you're boring. - All right, cut! - You will be dating most identical twins at the same time, and they are into it. This is something they want. Are you in or are you out? - Twins have a weird bond, but no, I don't know. I wouldn't do that. - Why not? - Yeah. - I wouldn't do that. Gosh, this segment never ends. (laughing) Just, isn't it time to go to marketing? - No, it's not. We want you to answer the question. - I did, I said it's a deal breaker. I'm not doing that. - Because? - Because I don't need that. - You are breaking down the weird twin energy. - Yeah, twins have, well, twins? - Twinergy. - Twinergy. It freaks me out a little bit. Like they're all-- - A little davito and squash and egg. - What about that? They were twins. (laughing) I would be out on them. - What about Minnesota? - I know, I'm not on the Minnesota twins. - They have a weird energy as well. - They do, they do. - You're gonna hold a team with Minnesota twins. - How about that? - It's kinda funny if you did, if you did, the other guy. (laughing) - What about, oh! (laughing) - I don't like, I don't like, just two. I like a whole-- - That's 26 minutes faster. (laughing) - You think you're supposed to have two in that 40? - I don't like the two I'd allow take the 40 to enter us. - Oh, look at you, okay, wow. - Now, you start dating the identical twins. You nickname them Minneapolis and St. Paul. - The eyes all four to 40 man roster. - Oh my god. - How about that? - No, I'm not, I was just making a joke. - Oh. - And that's all, folks. - Hold the mic. - Oh my god. - Oh my god. - When I need them. - I need them. - Oh my god. - Oh my god. - I mean it's huge. - Now time for Tracy Butler. Define at the weekend weather right here on Captain J. Hood. Don't forget ChicagoCutsStickhouse.com as you go for reservations. Good morning, Tracy. - I'm gonna have a permanent note on my calendar that says, "Do not commit to Thursdays on radio." - Hold the mic. They do this to me every time I come here. - Hi, Tracy. - I was, this is a Deon. I was not familiar with what I was-- - Yeah, I know. - Why, that's a line I'm up, Deon. It's unbelievable. - Oh, I might, I'm, I'm done. We're done. - Tracy, what's in your little jar? - Oh. - It's Witcher's look. Look, it's a wooly bear caterpillar. Are you familiar with the folklore of the wooly bear? - No, please tell us. - I would love to, boys and girls. (laughing) So when you find a wooly bear caterpillar, you wanna look at the stripes. And if it has a wide brown stripe, which this one does, as the saying goes, it often indicates a mild winter is coming. - Oh. - If the black stripe is very wide, then that means you will have a more severe winter. Boys and girls. Now, last year, I thought we had a mild winter, so I thought we were gonna have a real intense one this year. - According to the wooly-- - I think we should, should we name them cap? - I think that's a wooly bear caterpillar. - A bug in a jar that's perfect. (laughing) Yeah, that's perfect. (laughing) What does it say? What is it declaring? - He's declaring it's gonna be a mild winter. He has a very wide brown stripe. - Now, does that go along with what you've read for predictions as well? - Is this the first time you're reading-- (laughing) - It's too little early. - But no, quite frankly, I mean, when I look at the trends for October, even through December, I am seeing above average temperatures overall. - Wow. - Not to say we won't get, you know, a spoutier of, you know, below average temperatures. But at least for, I know for the next couple of weeks in October, it's looking above average and still dry, still fairly dry. - Wow. - Yes. So-- - You know what? I'm all for it. I know they're gonna give us the best forecast possible. - That is what we are going to do. That's what cap is gonna do. Cheers! How long are you gonna keep capping that little jar? - Well, he does have-- - What's going on from his career? - He does. (laughing) He does have air holes to breathe. - Of course, you know, I put something-- - You know how to capture an insect. Any put a flower in there? - Yes! - Or the, like we said, sugar sweet. You feel like you taught preschool when you explained all of that. That was wonderful. - Tracy for Saturday, for Sunday, what's the game about? - Yes! Oh yeah, we forgot to do that. - Yes. - But kick off at about 72 degrees, although it's going to be fairly windy out of the Northwest. So-- - Okay, perfect. - Well, if I could impact the game, maybe a little bit with that breeze. - See, it's perfect. You see that? - Thank you. - Thank you. - Shiny, forecast, and we get a bug and a jar. - I mean-- - You do! - This full service weather report right here. - Tracy's brought to you by ComEdSolar. Go to ComEd.com/solar. All right, we'll see you tomorrow for a football Friday. Thank you, Dion. - Thanks, guys. That was fun. I thought I was getting off. - So far, everybody. (laughing) From Chicago, get done. (laughing)