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You need Indeed. Welcome into the Winklerverse coming at you in the middle of July. Pretty much. There are a few things that I do want to do today. Talk a little bit about the Brewers and the importance of this week compared to what it's been in the past. This week in the past has been pure hell, pure torture. Could a change of manager mix that up a little bit? Also, we are going to hashtag Tack It On, a conversation that I'm having with Rami Makloff on the Infinity Sports Network of the Bart Winkler Show.
That graphic going around that Chicago is maybe having the worst sports year that it's ever had. I decided to bring Rami on for that and he was hanging out in the studio on Monday. So I got to see him. Always good to see him. And we chopped it up. So that will be hashtag Tack It On at the end. Haven't done that in a while. Still not sure if I should be, but I'm going to.
And then Evil Mark Murphy is back. The video can be seen on YouTube. I did a little bit of editing to it. So when I'm mad, it's a different, like I changed the color of the picture. But that was about it. That was about the extent of the editing I've done on the Dan Cheney YouTube stream. So plenty of reason to say hi to you here in the middle of July as we get closer to the real middle of July, which will be RNC week.
And remember, we will be live at the RNC each and every day. I'm just kidding. But I'm very intrigued. I guess you can stop in at Major Goolsbee's and be in the zone, but not be in the zone. Major Goolsbee's is like, you know, that there's like a little spot Conan went there between North and South Korea where you can like be in it, but you're not.
So maybe I'll check out Major Goolsbee's at some point, see what's going on. I do want to announce or bring you the announcement if you didn't see that the Bucks have completed their assistant coaching staff for next season. As you know, they hired Darvin Ham. Okay, so he's back on Doc Rivers staff. Greg Buckner is there as well. Also returning will be Dave Yeager, Rex Calamain, Vin Baker, Pete Dominguez, and most importantly, Joe Prunty.
That's right. Joe Prunty is back in the fold with the Milwaukee Bucks. I don't care who it is.
I don't care what regime it is. You need to have Joe Prunty in your organization. Also, I didn't really see this until I glanced over it again for all the talk of nepotism in the NBA with Bronny James and LeBron James. Spencer Rivers has been appointed for an assistant coach player development role. Rivers is, of course, the son of Doc Rivers. He was with the Pistons last year, previously with the Sixers, of course.
When Doc was there, he played for UC Irvine when he played college ball. So a little bit of nepotism coming to Milwaukee as well. But I want to get you evil, Mark Murphy.
And to do that, I sadly must already take a quick 60-second timeout. A reminder, though, that you can check out my friends at Happy Place Hemp for everything that you need when it comes to relaxing after a long day, when it comes to wanting to maybe fall asleep after a long day and you can't fall asleep, or whether it's you just want to buy this new college football game that's coming out and kind of take yourself to a nice place of relaxation. They've got all the products that you need, all the different ingredients that you want. It's gummies that you can get here in Wisconsin. You don't have to travel to Illinois. You don't have to travel to Michigan.
Essentially, you're going there for the same reasons. They can make those sort of products here in Wisconsin. So check that out at HappyPlaceHemp.com.
If you're not in Wisconsin and you listen to Enter the Winkler Verse, you're part of the Winkler Verse, thank you. You can still get these products, too. And in most cases with that promo code, the 25% off, Bart also gets you free shipping. HappyPlaceHemp.com for all the gummies, tinctures, dog treats. You can help your dog get some of this stuff.
I will be taking the CBD CBN as I do most nights, which will help me fall asleep. You can check it all out at HappyPlaceHemp.com. The promo code is Bart. We'll come back with Evil Mark Murphy.
Thanks for stopping in to the Winkler Verse. We're driven by the search for better. But when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all. Don't search match with Indeed. Indeed is your matching and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors, according to Indeed data, and a matching engine that helps you find quality candidates fast.
Ditch the busy work. Use Indeed for scheduling, screening and messaging so you can connect with candidates faster. Leveraging over 140 million qualifications and preferences every day, Indeed's matching engine is constantly learning from your preferences, so the more you use Indeed, the better it gets. Join more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide that use Indeed to hire great talent fast. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash Blue Wire. Just go to Indeed.com slash Blue Wire right now and support our show by saying that you heard about Indeed on this podcast.
That's Indeed.com slash Blue Wire. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire?
You need Indeed. There is a change atop the Green Bay Packers leadership starting in the summer of 2025 as Ed Policy will take over for Mark Murphy as the Packers team president. Mark Murphy has been a dutiful soldier in this role, overseeing many tough transitions and being there for a Super Bowl championship in 2010. But as the Packers bylaws state, he must give up his post before the age of 70.
This was implemented a long time ago, this age limit. The Packers have done nothing to fight it. Mark Murphy is doing nothing to fight it, so he will in fact step down and Ed Policy, who's been with the organization for a decade, will then take over in the summer of 2025. Does this mean that we are no longer going to get direct access to our team president in the form of the weekly email column, Murphy Takes Five, that you can find every month I should say at Packers.com? I pray that Ed Policy will still give us an insight into this organization as Mark is so dutifully done over his tenure. But since these are waning, we don't know how many we'll have left, we will now read the latest Murphy Takes Five. Again, it's available at Packers.com. I will read the question, I will read the answer that Mark Murphy gave, and then evil Mark Murphy will give his real thoughts on the matters at hand.
Question number one comes from Steve W. in Flagstaff, Arizona. He says, has anyone ever confused you with former Packers player Mark Stephen Murphy? On another note, I as a fan appreciate your efforts you have done here with the Packers. I can't imagine the difficult decisions that have been made over the years, like to trade away a player such as Devontae Aaron and to trade up for Jordan Love, and pieces on players like Bach and Campbell that may dismay fans.
And that is just a pint size of the things the organization has dealt with. I know there are others who also appreciate your work and dedication to this franchise. So, saying I wish you well in future endeavors as your time ends with the Packers and I hope you find peace and serenity in whatever you do. Mark response. Yes, Mark Stephen Murphy, and I, Mark Hodge Murphy, Hodge is my mother's maiden name, get confused for each other all the time.
We both played safety in the NFL during the same time period, had similar careers, and both have connections to the Packers. Earlier in my tenure when I would get cards from Mark Stephen, I would just sign my name and return them. When I received a letter with a card from a young boy who said he also had alopecia, a condition where hair is lost from some or all parts of the body, and asked how I dealt with it though I decided to forward the card and letter to Mark Stephen. I knew I would not be able to answer that question I now forward all marks mail to him. Very polite Mark.
But what did you really intend to say. First of all, there's no way in God's green. That was a real question. And I'm pretty sure in doing this bit in the past, Stephen W from Flagstaff, Arizona, is my main go to the guy emails me addressing Mark Stephen Murphy as the other Mark Murphy. You might know there's another Mark Murphy who didn't have air comment which if you didn't I so willingly was ready to jump on to.
Now with my beautiful dome. This was a planted email there's no question about it I, I have I don't get a lot of emails in these I might as well just come clean. I had to answer something. The rest of the email was just, oh, you get a great job trading away players nobody wanted traded away Of course I did.
And it was hard. And I shielded, you know I shielded the 500,000 people that call themselves owners. Where are you out there, you're the ones giving me heat.
You ungrateful sons of bees. Why do I got to step away at 70 anyway. I don't want to leave and policy. This West Coast elitist going to come here and ruin everything I've built. Probably put an escalator next to the sled.
Half the joy and sledding is the reward of coming down after the hard walk up. For those of you that don't understand. God. The next question on Murphy takes five is from Dan. Hey Murph, can I give you a high five for the Packers. Donating to the cleanup in the bay read an article in du about the restoration of the lower West End very nice article. Thank you for giving some packer money to a very good cause.
Thanks again. Listen up, Dan. Here's the thing about being the Packers commander in chief, cleaning up the bay.
That's most of what I do. Nobody sees the dirty work. Nobody sees the request I have to honor. Nobody sees that. Hey, Mark, there's another tour.
You're the only one around come and surprise these fans. Nobody sees the kind of human filth that I allow to get married in my facility. That Winkler kid. We're still cleaning up from that party 10 years ago. This is the crap I have to deal with. All you guys are like, well, get McCarthy and Ted Thompson to talk. I can't. I'm busy feeding ducks on the Fox River in the name of the Packers.
You guys don't understand how hard it is to be me. Oh, got to go. Got another golf outing from some charity I've never heard of. Like the Packers help charities that aren't their own. Come on. Come on, Mark. I don't know. They donate stuff.
Another question here is from Ryan in bloomer. I would like to extend my congratulations to Ed Policy for his promotion to be your successor as Packers and CEO of the Green Bay Packers. Wow.
Geez. Edit that and post as president and CEO of the Packers. And of course, we will hear from him and learn much about him over the next year. I'm curious if he will continue a similar form of your Murphy takes five when he assumes the helm.
Inquiring minds want to know, as always. Thank you, Mark, for all you do. Godspeed with the transition to add and whatever your future holds a well-deserved cheers. Thanks, Ryan. That has done a great job for us during his 12 years here.
I've seen tremendous growth during his tenure, and I'm confident that he will make a smooth transition to president over the next year. In terms of empty five, it will really be up to add about how you would like connect with fans going forward. I've enjoyed empty five and found it's a great way to address issues that are important to our fans.
I also think it distinguishes the Packers from other teams in the league. Guys, I am 70 years old. You do not take the keys away from Grandma at this age yet. 70s are the new 50s.
We are a vibrant folk. You're going to kick me out of here because of some bylaws written 100 years ago. You could even imagine people living to this age, much less be this healthy. I don't want to leave. You know that I can't be the Packers president. But if I ran for actual president of everyone in the race, I would be just the sixth oldest person. I'm younger than five people in the presidential race. And they're kicking me out.
All ageism strikes again. And guess what? Yes, I'm going to repay you bastards. I'm going to get on the waiting list. I'm going to sit in the bleachers and I'm going to make you sit down when you try to stand up on a third and long on defense. With my raggedy ass seat from the 1950s.
I don't want to leave. The next question. John from Janesville. What are your thoughts on the verdict in the Sunday ticket trial awarding the plaintiffs over $4 billion?
This was obviously big news last week, John. I was disappointed in the verdict and know that we will appeal the decision. I would also echo the sentiments that the league expressed in its statement. We are disappointed with the jury's verdict today in the NFL Sunday ticket trial class action lawsuit. We continue to believe that our media distribution strategy, which features all games broadcast on free, over the air television in the markets of the participating teams and national distribution of our most popular games, supplemented by many additional choices, including red zone Sunday ticket and NFL Plus, is by far the most fan friendly distribution model in all sports and entertainment. We certainly contest this decision as we believe this class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit. We thank the jury for their time and service for the guidance and oversight from Judge Gutierrez throughout the trial. Witch hunt.
This is a witch hunt. NFL's been nothing but good to you. You remember a time where you couldn't watch these games? No access. We're giving you access.
Sure, it's an absorbent amount of money, but you paid for it. Now you're coming back and wanting it back. You don't like that on Sunday afternoons when the Packers play on one channel, you don't get another game on the other channel. You don't like that. You don't like that.
The other games that you do get on those channels are always like bears, lions, five times a year. You don't like that. Well, then shove it. Ain't nobody taking the NFL down. Ain't no class action lawsuit. Ain't no people that have buyer's remorse. Maybe if you didn't suck at your fantasy leagues, which you bought this to begin with, you won't be crying for your money back. Plus, this actually hurts the Packers more than other teams. We need the money that you're trying to take from us. This is bad.
Don't stop. Please, please, please don't sign up for this lawsuit. Another question on the Murphy takes five at Packers.com.
Johnny Walker from Boulder City, Nevada. I'm curious how the league's drug testing is conducted. Is every player tested at some point during the season or does the league pick players at random?
Could a team test their own players and would these tests then have to be reported to the league, positive or negative? I would imagine that the ethical, legal and privacy concerns of the players would be of paramount concern of the players union in closing. Thank you for the great leadership and direction that you have provided to this revered institution. Johnny Walker, Boulder City, Nevada, where we have the best Packer fans by a damn sight.
Hooverdale. Mark, thanks for raising this question, Johnny. It is timely as the NCAA recently announced that it would no longer test for marijuana. With regards to your question, all of the league's drug testing is controlled by the collective bargaining agreement between the players and the owners. With regard to the testing, all players are tested in the preseason physical. We used to say that this is more of an IQ test than a drug test since all players should know that they will be tested. And then players are randomly selected for a test after that. Clubs are not allowed to test on their own.
The biggest concern in the league as it relates to drugs is the use of performance enhancing drugs that give players a competitive advantage. Thank you, Johnny. Is your nickname Johnny Walker red?
I bet he's never heard that one before. What's all the questioning, Johnny? Are you trying to distribute drugs to my players and they want to make sure they don't get caught? Are you trying to take business away from Happy Place Hemp?
Where you can get your gummies with THC, CBD, CBN, Delta A, Delta 9, all for 25% off with the promo code BART at HappyPlaceHemp.com? You trying to take business away from that young man? Listen up. We're not golf. You don't get to report what you see on TV. Leave our players alone.
It's the only reason I could assume you want to know so badly. What are you, a narc? If our players are dumb enough to get caught. I don't need you sniffing around, Johnny Walker red. And those are the responses from Evil Mark Murphy, a very impassioned man who clearly wants to retain the leadership. Men in power don't like to give up power. You are stripping the power away from Mark. For what? Because he's done too good of a job? Because the sled hill is too fun? Because he brought you a draft that there's in no way shape or form is going to be a success?
It might though. We need to cherish these questions. We need to cherish this man for answering these questions, even though some of them are so insanely fabricated and not true. We need to cherish the column while we have it. Mark Murphy, as an owner, you will always have my undying loyalty and my respect, good sir.
I think that still holds up. You'll have to tell me at Bart Winkler Show or at The Winklerverse. Other thing that I wanted to talk about before I hashtag tack it on with Rami was the Milwaukee Brewers and the situation that they are in, which is a good one. Off on Monday, they are hosting the Pirates on Thursday. If you want to check out Paul Skeens against Aaron Savale, I might have to go to this one and see Skeens. We talk about this sometime, a pitcher or a player in baseball that you would go see. Paul Skeens being in town, that seems like something worth getting my ass out of bed for and maybe going to check out a game.
I still probably will not end up doing that, but I am at least thinking about thinking about doing it. And then Toby's Nationals come into town over the weekend, and then you have got the All-Star break. So the Milwaukee Brewers, as it stands, doing very well. This is a season that I think we thought coming in they could compete for mid-80s. We always kind of picture the Brewers there as a mid-80s team. Right now they are 53-38 and they have a 4.5 game lead over the Cardinals, who are playing well again.
So that kind of sucks. Maybe some voodoo magic is back there. Cardinals playing well. Pirates are 9.5 back as I talked to you. The Reds 10.5 back and the Cubs at 11 back. I think we are getting very focused on the misery of the Cubs. That we are forgetting to look at how the other teams are doing, specifically the Cardinals. Could be a very interesting race there, but the Cubs could come into the All-Star break double digit behind the Brewers, which is shocking. As far as the National League itself, that was an important series against the Dodgers. Brewers lost 2-3, able to pick up the win on Sunday. So it's tough. I don't like the bye in baseball. I do not like it.
I think that it actually harms you. I think the best way to get into the NLCS or the ALCS is you have to take the route where you are in that initial series, but you win it. You have an advantage, I feel, if you are in that initial series and you win it. And then you can keep the momentum going and play one of the one or two seeds. Now the problem is, as you saw with the Brewers last year, they were in that initial series, but they lost it to the Diamondbacks.
So you don't want to be in it because you don't want to lose. But also I think if you win that series, you've got a better chance of winning the next one. Three of the four teams did last year, with the Braves getting bounced, the Orioles getting bounced, and the Dodgers getting bounced. So we can want the bye or not want the bye. I think if there's a chance to get the bye, we talk about the bye.
I think that's fun. But right now the Brewers are on the heels of potentially making it interesting with the Dodgers. Phillies are about five games up on the crew, and they've been playing very good baseball, even despite some of the injuries they've had to Harper and Schwarber. But all in all, this is a very interesting time, and you've got to start looking at the trade deadline now.
We can talk more about that as things get closer. I'm still at the point where if you can improve your team and not do much damage to the farm system, that's the sweet spot, as any team would tell you. I think some of the trades the Brewers have made and how they're tinkering around with some of these pitchers twice now. I mean, for Savale and for Keichel, how are these guys on the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024? It doesn't make any sense. They are going to get Devin Williams back soon, which is kind of like, guys, if you think about it, it's kind of like getting an addition at the deadline.
I mean, I don't know if people look at it that way, but it's kind of like making a trade without having to give anything up here at the deadline. This week is very important. I mentioned the Pirates, who are nine and a half back. I mentioned the Nationals, who have about the same record as the Pirates, have been playing better. They've got a lot of their young guys coming up. All I know is that I see Toby very excited about a new guy every week.
Toby Altheiser. But this is a week where you'd like to win four out of six. You'd like to win both these series if you're a good team. And we're going to start talking about the Brewers like they're a good team because they are playing like a good team and they are finding ways to win. But this week, just anecdotally, I'm going to dig this up here, but I feel like the week heading into All-Star break has been bad. Now, is that a Milwaukee Brewers thing?
Is that a Craig Council thing? Let's go back to 2021. So we're going to look at post-COVID here. The Brewers had a series against the Mets and a series against the Reds. They ended up losing five of their last seven. Also a loss to the Pirates in there on that final Sunday before the other series. And then they got swept, or at least lost three of four. They won on Thursday and lost the last three to the Reds.
You may remember that. It was the Mets and the Reds in 2021 in one game with the Pirates to wrap up that series, but they had lost five of seven going into the All-Star break. Remember, this has kind of felt like a problem here for the Brewers.
In 2022, they had the Pirates, the Cubs, the Twins, the Giants. They lost their last three going into the break. And it looks like they had a 3-8 record in their last 11.
So going into the break, again, has always been a problem. In 2023, Council's last year as a Brewer, obviously, thank God, they did a little better where they split a series with the Cubs and they did win two or three from the Reds. So there was some improvement just before they busted out the door. But it's always seemed like that last week of the season heading into the All-Star break, we should say, is when things do fall apart. Even going back to 2019, they had a three-game series against the Pirates, lost two of those, a four-game series against the Reds, lost two of those. When was the five-game Pirates meltdown?
Was that back in 2018? Back in 2018, they had the Pirates, yeah. They lost five in a row, a five-game series of the Pirates.
Thursday, Friday, two on Saturday and a Sunday. So there's been one year that they've been like 500 and the rest, it's going to be a losing year or a losing week heading into the All-Star break. And that's something that I'm really, really looking at here because it's been a problem. And if Pat Murphy is kind of the anti-Craig Council in all these different ways, this would be a great example of proving that right, is that they are not going to be a disaster when it comes to the final week of the first half of the season.
So we'll be very interested to see how things turn up there. Another thing that's been kind of interesting, the All-Star game. Okay, the All-Star game. You've got two Brewers that are starting, Contreras and Yelich, and then no other Brewers. Other teams in first place have six, seven, you know, maybe even more players on their team. I think the Phillies have seven. And the Brewers, we can start talking snubs.
Bryce Terang, I think all the stats support that. Maybe some of the guys in the bullpen, maybe McGill, or you look around the team and you can find another guy or two. The problem with the snubs conversation is we can have it in Milwaukee because we know our guys. But like in the NBA, there's so few spots and there's obviously guys that are right on the fringe that can be snubs and we know all these guys. Some of these snubs, we don't even know these names. Some of these All-Stars, we have to like try to remember who their names are. There was a guy who the Brewers traded to the Guardians a few years ago. And he's an All-Star now?
David Fry? What? He was in a trade for the catcher like two years ago.
So, I don't know. You never know. Like I said, with the trades, you don't want to be trading future All-Stars away. But also, you never really know who it is that you are trading to get or trading for. Remember, all four guys in that Yalich deal, none of them are in the major leagues. In fact, one's playing college football, Monty Harrison coming up. So, interesting time to be a Brewer fan.
This series against the Pirates, even with the new kind of schedule, always seem to be playing the Pirates this week. Maybe I will have to get out and see Skeans in action. I'm not doing anything, so it would behoove me to do that. Should I make a return to the press box? I'm still very skittish about that. I don't know.
I'm just talking out of my ass now. And then the Nationals to wrap up the weekend and the first half. And then some of Major League Baseball. This is into the Winkler-verse. You can like and subscribe wherever you find your audio podcasts. Remember, there is the YouTube channel to check out the YouTube channel.
Thanks to Dan Schaney Insurance. We will now tack on a conversation with Rami Makhloff and then bid you adieu. Should have another one later this week. Again, we'll be back towards the end of the month or back in August, just taking a little summer break. Hey, the Kelsey brothers are taking a break too.
I think I can give Paul and Grant a little bit of time to rest as well. And Grant is filling in on the Bill Michaels show. He's a busy man. Busy man this week.
So check him out on the YouTube platforms as well from the Bill Michaels tiki bar or wherever the hell he's doing it. All right. This is into the Winkler-verse.
We'll be back. Hashtag with a tack it on segment. One-0 pitch. Fly ball to deep right.
Are you kidding me? Another grand slam. 7-1 Brewers on the fifth grand slam in the last eight days.
You can't make it up. And the second one of the season for Bryce Terang. The 1-1 pitch. Brewers and Marlins radio.
This is the part you're on. Oh, Jake Berger. I just gave my son a Jake Berger card was going through old cards and finding names that he thought were funny. Marion Butts was a big one that he liked. I'm Bart Winkler.
Rami Makhloff is with us in studio, which is a big deal. Also doesn't make a lot of sense, but it will for tonight broadcast out of Milwaukee. And he is with 670 the score in Chicago.
Again, I'm Bart Winkler. You heard from Brewers radio and then Marlins radio there as the calls came against the Chicago Cubs and then against the Chicago White Sox. Both teams who are struggling right now. The Cubs at 42 and 49. The White Sox at 26 and 66. You also have the Bulls that were 39 and 43 and then had an offseason that wasn't.
I don't know what they're doing. They sold a lot for a little. The Blackhawks last year. While there's some optimism after having the number one pick. And then the Bears, of course, at 7 and 10.
So there was a graphic going around. Could this be the worst year ever for Chicago sports? I thought I know a Chicago sports guy pretty well and Rami Makhloff. And so I thought I would ask you, Rami, is this the worst year ever for Chicago sports? It's got to be up there.
I was talking about this on 670 the score a couple hours ago. And I can't remember not just a single year, but a three or four year span where things have been this bad for Chicago sports. The last time Chicago had anything to root for was that White Sox team.
I think it was 2021, if I'm not mistaken. And they had all that young talent. Louis Robert and Tim Anderson and all these guys. There was that. What is it? The game that they had. Yeah, the game. The Field of Dreams game. The Field of Dreams game.
Wow, lucky guess. I was trying to say, I was going to say Hall of Dreams. I knew that was wrong. But ever since that movie, ever since that, it's been downhill now for two or three years. And Bart, I'm 44. So I had the Bears in the 80s. I had the Bulls in the 90s. I'm not a White Sox fan, but for talking about Chicago sports as a whole, they won a World Series in 05. You had the Cubs and the Blackhawks in the tens, the 20s. Other than that small run for the White Sox that really ended up not going anywhere.
Chicago has been a wasteland for Chicago sport for for sports. Yeah, you know, it's interesting because there has been at least some levels of success for some of these teams a lot longer than, you know, others with the Cubs and 16. You mentioned the Blackhawks as well. I think with with the Blackhawks, there was at least some optimism.
And you got Connor Bedard. And now, you know, we'll see how that team does over the next few years. The White Sox are a really bad case where that was, I thought, going to be one of the best teams in Major League Baseball by now. And then they completely derailed it by hiring Tony La Russa for some reason. The Cubs very promising after 2016. I thought for sure they were going to win at least another one. And then that kind of got broken up in pieces. And these guys sold off for parts. The Bulls, I think, are the epitome of what it means to be mediocre.
Yes. Right now, they are almost fighting to lose. I've talked to you about this in the past, but for the last 10 years, I thought the Green Bay Packers were built to lose in the NFC Championship game. The Bulls are built to lose in the playing tournament. Like every year, they will get there. Yep. And then they will lose.
They have made some trades that, okay, fine, but they could have got more for these pieces earlier, specifically now with DeRozan leaving town. And then the Bears, where of the five, I mean, the most optimism might be within the Bears, I was just, though, at a party because my wife's family's... Look at you. A lot of Illinois. At a party. Yeah, I was at a party. It was a grad party for a nephew. But there was a lot of Chicago old friends there because they're from Illinois.
Yeah. And I don't know, everybody there just assumed I also was from Chicago, even though the party was in Wisconsin, like the dead center of the state. It's like, oh, I'm from Chicago. This guy must be too. And he's like, what do you think of our Bears?
I'm like, I don't know. Did you correct him? Did you say I'm a Packers fan or did you just went with it?
No, I told him I was a Packers fan and he just kind of looked at me like I was messing with him. But then I said, oh, I don't know. And I actually, I think Caleb Williams, because if it's not him, it's never going to work. Oh, my God. But I was like, I think they could win nine games?
Maybe. That's a pretty loaded offense. And at least the last quarterback, you're getting this quarterback a lot more help, a lot more weapons.
And he goes, oh, six at the most. So even there's pessimism there and I'm trying to think that this could be a better team. But I would think right now the Bears have to have the most optimism. But then you think it's like, OK, well, as a Bears fan, you have kind of been fooled by that before. So, yeah, I don't even know how fleeting that optimism is. My ceiling for optimism and excitement when it comes to the Chicago Bears is probably I'm surprised that you ran into that, because I find I'm more pessimistic than a lot of Bears fans after what they did this offseason. And I'm sort of the wet blanket when I'm having conversations with with Bears fans, friends and family members of mine. But I'm just everything looks well, not everything, but a lot of what they did and the roster that they put together on paper looks real good.
Bart looks real. Yeah. When when you talk about the DeAndre Swift and Keenan Allen adding that to Cole Kamet and D.J. Moore and you get Caleb Williams. But I've seen it look good for the Bears before and they find a way to screw it up. They find a way to break quarterbacks.
They have my entire life. So while the one side of me looks at it and goes, yeah, this looks like it could be pretty damn good, man. There's another part of me that says, slow down, pump the brakes. We've seen it look good before. Can they actually put it together and get the most out of this bunch of guys that looks good on paper? And I'll tell you three three main areas of concern for me when it comes to the Bears and what will what will stop them from from getting the most out of this roster that looks good on paper. One is the offensive line. They got some good players up there, but it's not a complete picture yet.
We don't even know what the starting five is or where guys are going to land on that line when all is said and done. They got Montez sweat last year, but even with that, their pass rush is not good. And lastly, I don't know about Matt Eberflus as a head coach right now, Bart. I don't think you can say anything other than the Bears have the worst head coach in the NFC North.
Um, yeah, I would probably agree with that. I think there's more reason to be optimistic for them than maybe Minnesota. But Minnesota's offense is pretty decent as well. It's just, oh, I'm just talking about head coaches.
So when you have the worst coach in the division and you have a rookie quarterback, it's hard to make a lot of noise. Like, but and the thing that sucks is they just that's what they just did with fields. Right.
And Nagy. Yes. So why did they do it again?
Exactly. And that that was that was my overriding fear in this whole thing is that you are pairing another quarterback with another. What looks like could be lame duck head coach. And in a year, there could be another coach here who didn't pick Caleb Williams.
It wasn't his guy in two or three years. There might be a GM here who neither the coach or the quarterback were his guy. And you continue this vicious cycle that the Bears have been in since they fired Mike Ditka and have gone through. I don't know how many quarterbacks and coaches since. But I would still think as we're talking with Rami Makhloff 670 the score on Bart Winkler Infinity Sports Network here as Chicago.
Not a good year. And this is a great sports city. I love being in Chicago. Every time I'm in Chicago, I feel like, you know, the opening of any movie in the 80s where it's like that weird Chicago 80s jazz. Like I hear that in my head. I mean, it's just it really is a great sports town. They have to I think one of the issues that I would see looking in is they don't act like it always. Like this is the second city, man.
This is this is one of the bigger markets in the country. And yet I think there's the Reinsdorf influence on it. But also with the Cubs, you know, you go out and spend eight million dollars on a manager. Where's the rest of the moves to improve that baseball team with the White Sox? How could you have been a team that was so good a couple of years ago where you're looking at 26 wins the week before the All-Star break? And then the Bulls, which have, you know, OK, the Bears maybe, but really the most proud, at least recent history.
This was as dynasty as dynasty comes. And you are just playing for, like I said, the nine seed, which doesn't even exist. So it just seems like it's a team, it's a town that is always willing to rally, always willing to be in and support their teams. But it's the people at the top that run the teams that seem to be getting that in the way of everything else.
Yeah. And when it comes to the the Cubs, I don't know, they do spend I think their fifth inactive payroll this year. They lost out on bidding wars.
They lost out in bidding wars for Soto and Shohei to the Yankees and the Dodgers. Like there aren't many teams that I'm going to throw my hands up and just go, yeah, I mean, you got you got outbid. You got outspent when it comes to the Chicago Cubs being in the third largest market in baseball and having the fan base that they do and the media contracts that they do. But the Dodgers and the Yankees are maybe the two teams where you do kind of shrug your shoulders. You just go, hey, you got outbid.
You got outspent. Those are two teams that that can do that. Even if you are the Chicago Cubs, the best thing that's happened to the Cubs this year in a disappointing season is the White Sox, because they are having a historically bad year and it takes eyes off the Cubs and how disappointing they've been. And football season can't come soon enough in this town to see if the Bears actually live up to that promise. And ultimately, Bart, I do think it it does come down to the people at the top and ownership, especially when you talk about the Bears and the the Reinsdorf's who own both the Bulls and the White Sox.
Other than Michael Jordan and Derrick Rose falling in the Reinsdorf's lap, they haven't shown any propensity or capacity to run a top notch organization. And the Bears, the McCaskey's are kind of a joke at this point around the NFL. They they are they are right down there with the the Browns, the Jaguars, some of these teams that folks around the league like to laugh at. And I think people don't necessarily think of the Bears in that way because they have like that mystique of of Chicago and everything that you just talked about that comes with it.
But when you look at results like all these teams that we laugh at the Lions prior to their run that they're on right now, the Browns, the Jaguars, those teams that are punch lines around the NFL, the Bears deserve every bit to be included in those punch lines as as anybody else. And real quick, just to jump back to the Bulls, you talked about like the what they've done to that organization after such a glorious run. The mystique of that organization has completely worn off. Oh, there's there's no mystique.
None at all. Like the Lakers went through some bad years. They still had mystique. The Knicks went through bad years. They still had mystique and appeal. The Bulls have washed away all of that, which is crazy when you think about it's the the best and longest running longest running dynasty in sports in the last 40 years.
And they had the best player in the history of their sport, arguably play for them. Quite arguably. That's fine.
Argue. I put arguably in there. All right.
I think that covers all the bases. The fact that in and I know 25 years doesn't seem like a short time, but in the big picture, it's a short time for them to wash away the mystique that they had after that era as completely as they have is almost impressive in the worst way possible. All right. Let me do a sports radio question here for you and I will incorporate a betting line now because that's allowed. Next 10 years, over under point five championships for the city of Chicago in the next 10 years. And we are not counting, with all due respect, the Chicago Fire or maybe their best team right now, the Chicago Sky. OK, so we're talking about just these five teams. Yeah. Northwestern, because that's Chicago's Big Ten team. We can count them, too. I'm going to take the over.
Yeah. One one of them will win a championship in the next 10 years. I got to believe one of them will pull it off in the next 10 years. But it's not guaranteed by it's it's not it's not a very who it's not a very strong. I'm staring at their logos and I'm thinking, no, that that's the answer I would give to. But but then I can't. You're right.
Then you look at it. You go, who ain't going to be the Bears? No, I'm going to be the Bulls. The Blackhawks might have the best chance. I don't know a lot of hockey, but I think I think we'll just answer the Blackhawks by default, because we know the least about hockey.
So I think that we're in on the Blackhawks, not knowing as little about hockey as I do. Connor Bedard in a year or two, from what I understand, could be the best player in this league. Is that a crazy statement from a non a no nothing hockey fan, not fan, whatever you would call me? I've I've heard he could be that good. If that's true, I think I think that could carry you to a championship, couldn't it? Isn't that how championships happen?
Great players in hockey. Maybe. I don't know. I think so. I don't know.
And that seems to change when they put on skates. I don't I don't I don't know. And I'm and I'm I'm getting hot. Rami Makhloff, 670 the score. It is always a thrill to see you, to talk to you as well. Back at you, buddy.
Anytime. He's online at Rami Makhloff. We'll take. Rami is tweeting.
Oh, yeah. You're not Rami Makhloff anywhere? Rami is tweeting. Rami is gramming. Rami is snapping. Rami is ticking.
Rami is ticking. I'm sure that gets a lot of use. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Your tiktok account is a 44 year old man in radio. There's some stand up clips up there.
Go check it out. Rami to stand up to check out my YouTube channel. And if you can tell Rami comedy. Rami is comedy or Rami comedy?
Rami comedy. Yes, sir. All right. Thank you.
