Chapter 1: What are the implications of the Bears potentially leaving Illinois?
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Governor, can you stomach being the governor who sees the bears leave Illinois on your watch?
Look, the bears are a private business that's worth $9 billion owned by a billionaire family. They're trying to make decisions about their future. We ought to keep them. They ought to stay in the state of Illinois. And I have actually put forward a deal that they're willing to accept that is now passed the House of Representatives and is going to go to the Senate.
So I think that we have a real chance of them staying in Illinois. I think that's where they want to be. And I think that their fans, including me, will be very upset if they try to get up and move across the border and become, I don't know, the Hammond hams, I guess we'll call them.
Chapter 2: How is Moises Ballesteros developing as a catcher for the Cubs?
The Hammond Hams. And we have one man to thank for getting J.B. Pritzker to say that name. He is on the phone with us now. And he's even on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash TheScoreChicago. It is Manu Raju, the anchor and chief congressional correspondent for CNN. He hosts Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju on CNN Sundays at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. And that clip got us all talking on our group thread, Manu.
Chapter 3: What insights does Ian Happ share about the Cubs' recent winning streak?
Then the next thing we know, we found out you follow Mark Grody on Twitter. We are thrilled to have you on. Thanks for coming on the show.
Of course I follow Mark Cody on Twitter. I love you guys, and I'm thrilled to be here.
Oh, by the way.
I've been listening to the score for many, many, many years.
Oh, that's fantastic. We appreciate that, man. So now I have to just jump in here really quick, Layla.
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Chapter 4: What does Ian Happ think about the atmosphere at Petco Park during games?
I don't know if you know this or not. The fact of the matter is, Manu, I have a scale of bears that I give out. I give a scale of 1 to 10 to evaluate players. And the genesis of this is people that are from Chicago or from the area, as you are, you automatically get five bears. And because you're on the show and because you're a Chicago sports fan, you, sir, I am awarding you right now.
You could tell all your friends at CNN about this. You get seven bears from me, Mark Grody, sir. Congratulations.
That is a high, high honor. I'm going to definitely put that on my resume.
Chapter 5: What strategies are the Cubs using to maximize Ballesteros' potential?
So I really appreciate that.
OK, so tell me. So this is what happens, Monty. We see the clip. We all start laughing. And then you point out again with the governor on air on CNN that you were a big Bears fan, like you doubled down on it. And then that's when Mark mentioned that you guys were Twitter buddies of sorts. To have the composure in that space to then just point out the bears.
What was your thought process throughout the interview yesterday?
Well, look, I was told on Monday.
Chapter 6: How does Ian Happ feel about the Cubs' performance and team dynamics?
So typically, I cover Capitol Hill for CNN. As you mentioned, I have my show on Sunday. I fill in on the noon show, Inside Politics, to anchor when my colleague Dana Bash, that's her show, when she's not available. So she was not available on Monday. And I heard, as I was told on Sunday, that we had J.B. Pritzker on. And I started thinking, I got to ask him about the Bears. Like this.
Yeah, he was going to come on. was talking about ICE and they had this big investigation into Operation Midway Blitz that happened in Chicago last year.
Chapter 7: What is the significance of the Cubs' recent games against the Padres?
He wanted to talk about that. Oh, sure, I'll ask him about those questions. Definitely need to ask him about what happens in the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night, the aftermath of that, and some Democratic politics as well.
Those had to be part of the question, but I absolutely needed to get him on the record about the Bears because I've been personally thinking about this too, is that is he really willing to see the Bears go
and leave chicago build a stadium in indiana when he is governor and he's probably gonna run for president is this something that he wants to be remembered for by bears fans by legions of bears fans around the country illinois voters does he want to be remembered that way and i had to ask him that question so i made sure that i left some time to ask that question so get him on the record manu i
clearly you're a bears fan so you have thoughts on this stadium and i want to know your impressions of what you think the likelihood is that they would leave the state of illinois one and also just what you're hoping for as a bears fan yeah look i mean i really am praying that they don't leave the state of illinois i don't uh you know i
It's sad to me that they even go to Arlington Heights if they do do that because, I mean, I love Soldier Field. Yes, it needs improvements, but it's a landmark. It's an institution. And what city has a better stadium right in the heart of the city, amazing skyline on the lake?
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Chapter 8: What new developments are happening with Connect Roasters?
Like, you can't beat that location. and it's very disappointing that the bears franchise wants to leave and wants to you know get more money they already make a ton of money uh you know it's disappointing all that so look but in the worst case scenario if they go to arlington heights at least they're still in the state of illinois So I am very, very hopeful that they that the governor is right.
He seems to think that, you know, this deal that's moving through the Illinois legislature will be enough for the Bears franchise. But, you know, who knows? Maybe they'll come back and say, we want this pot to be a little sweeter. We think that Indiana has got a better deal and the Illinois franchise. Legislature and the governor may say no way.
So, you know, I think it's still a very open question about whether the Bears franchise decides to do. I mean, they may be using the Indiana thing as a whole leverage play to get a better deal out of Illinois. But, you know, he seems pretty optimistic that the governor does that they're going to stay. We'll see, though.
Yeah, I think from what I understand, all along Pritzker has been advising or desirous of the Bears staying in Illinois for exactly what you're saying. He doesn't want that on his watch. But Manu, the Bears were 11-6 last year, and they won a playoff game against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field.
What did you think of the season, and do you annoy your coworkers at CNN spreading the good word of the Chicago Bears?
The answer is yes, of course I do. Because the show was on Sunday morning when we beat the Packers on Saturday night. So I wore my Bears tie on Sunday morning. Nice. And I think the first thing I said, in fact, I tweeted the clip. The clip is somewhere where I said, I'm in a great mood. The Bears just won. I got my Bears tie on. I started the show that way. So, you know, of course I do.
And I also, you know, I actually grew up in the western suburbs. I grew up in Darien. Yeah. No, I went to school in South and I went to college at the University of Wisconsin. So I am a Badger collegiate collegiate sports fan. I'm a professional Chicago sports fan. But because I went to Wisconsin, I have way too many friends who are Packer fans. Yeah, that's tough. It's tough. It's tough.
So like I, you know, they hate me right now. I every moment I can remind them of our two remarkable comeback victories against them I absolutely absolutely do and things got pretty tense for a while a couple of my friends I don't think have responded to me in the months since so I hope we can mend those relations so I mean it was a great season I mean to have all those comeback victories I mean
Oh, my God. I got to think going next year, we can't have a season in which we're coming back with two minutes left in the game. It's not sustainable for us to have a winning season. It's not sustainable for fans like me who are of advanced age. Our host hearts can't handle it.
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