How is Kevin Warren Still Employed?

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[00:00:03]Dan Bernstein unfiltered. Unfiltered on 312 Sports.

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[00:00:25]>> Why are you already looking at me?

[00:00:26]>> I'm not. What? I was supposed to look at you. No, you're weren't talking to each other. I'm looking at you.

[00:00:31]>> No, no, no, no. There's something you know that I don't. And you did something with the open.

[00:00:37]>> I did not know. Yeah, you did. I did not.

[00:00:38]>> Okay.

[00:00:39]>> Nothing was done except you fiddling with your microphone. That's all we heard before the open started.

[00:00:44]>> Cuz you're not talking anymore before the open starts. It's annoying.

[00:00:48]>> Sorry. Why is and is Can we confirm right now that Kevin Warren is still employed? He is still employed. I I have not heard any >> Why Why is he still employed as of right now?

[00:01:00]Why does he have a job ostensibly nominally embodying and running the Chicago Bears?

[00:01:08]Why? What? What is he doing? What has he been doing? How long has it been? Was it January of 23?

[00:01:17]>> So this January? Yeah. Three and a half years.

[00:01:22]three and a half years everything was building to this and I use the word building and not as a double meaning but everything was was building to the most important moment in the state legislature in the history of the Chicago Bears franchise for their own massive mega project domed mixeduse entertainment district all of it built up to Sunday night and he [ __ ] it up.

[00:01:56]>> Yep.

[00:01:56]>> And you know what he's done? What what what can you keep this guy here? And and and I'm not asking that rhetorically because I'm going to tell you there there are concrete reasons why you have to launch him.

[00:02:14]He walked you down this primrose path from the moment he came in here. And and this is the other thing too. I've got to own up to the fact and I and I and I will do it right here, right now. I got conned at the outset, too. I got conned. You know how I will give I'll give a lot of credit to Danny Parkkins sniffed it out and I remember that day when he got hired and Parkkins is like he's it's still an executive.

[00:02:46]It's not going to change that much. He still has bosses.

[00:02:50]He may do business a little differently.

[00:02:52]He'll hire some people. He'll fire some people. And he's a great talker. And I knew his reputation. I knew from everybody who the the first wave that came through and now that I understand the way a con man works is he knows how that first wave of publicity is going to work. And the moment it started to to smell rotten to me, and I explained this yesterday that they had me for the the announcement, I was surprised the Bears were able to land somebody of his fame and stature and resume. I was surprised.

[00:03:29]And he was brought here and every boy, this is this is going to be for the stadium and then he's going to parlay this into who knows what. But boy, the Bears have never had somebody like this.

[00:03:38]And I was giving credit to the Bears for knowing that they were bad at representing themselves and bad at running their business, frankly, cuz that that that backs stops a lot of this whole problem. They haven't made enough money. They're charter franchise, the NFL. They're not worth enough because they haven't they've never expanded their business. They can't just cut a check and build a stadium like Stan Cronkey, which is ideally what you do.

[00:04:00]Say there's a land. We bought the land.

[00:04:01]Now we're going to do build a stadium like Joe Manu's doing for the fire. They can't do it. They don't have enough money. They've never built their business. They're bad at it. They're bad at business. They're bad at football.

[00:04:11]They're weird. So, they said, "Okay, let's get this guy." I'm like, "Okay, that's a reasonable hire. It's a pretty good hire." Then all the stuff started happening with Kevin Warren. The the biographical stuff, the fact that he put out his various Boswell's, his WW bow champs to begin crafting this he geography and telling this whole him and him and him and his story and his his Bible. and he wakes up at 4 in the morning dreaming of cranes in the sky before he consults the heavenly father to bring what's best to the Chicago Bears. You know what was sent to me by a friend and I suggest you watch it. Go watch the sizzle reel the Bears put out about Kevin Warren's first day on the job. You want a a belly laugh? You want to just point at a screen and and and roar?

[00:05:10]You want to do the the the Rick Ross gift that Jason Goff made famous on social media?

[00:05:18]That that that hearty full laugh of understanding.

[00:05:24]The that deeply entertained laugh even sardonically. Watch that sizzle reel.

[00:05:31]That's the one when Kevin Warren looks like like Max Vonidto as Father Marin approaching the the home of of Reagan McNeel and standing bathed in that eerie street light. It's 4:30 in the morning in the dark and Kevin Warren stands and looks at the statue of George Hallace outside of Halis Hall and he he makes some sort of solemn nod to the statue while a team of producers and camera people and audio people are all behind him recording everything. It's a complete hand job and so is Kevin Warren by the way. complete hand job. And now we know it is made manifest for everybody involved. This is this has been a complete hand job his entire run his his every moment of his administration.

[00:06:32]And he looks at that George How statue as if it's some sort of sacred moment.

[00:06:42]If George House were alive to see this, if that statue could come to life as I watch it now, that statue would repeatedly kick Kevin Warren in the ball sack over and over and over again if that statue knew what was going on.

[00:07:06]>> All right. So, you you asked the question, why is Kevin Warren still here? Why why is he not launched?

[00:07:10]>> How can he not be launched? So, let me ask you this.

[00:07:12]>> I'm not I'm just I'm just setting up my case, >> okay? Because I I I I want you to explain why why are the Bears where they're at today?

[00:07:21]>> That's the forensic examination. Why they're at today is all in large part due to their own failures and and unwinding the weirdness and of the Macy family and the running of the Bears.

[00:07:39]That is not just a book. That that's a series of books. You're going to need one book on the psychology, one book on the times in which cuz you're talking a century here. You're talking a century of the the of the NFL, of where the American economy has gone and why and what what has happened around the city of Chicago with making business friends and acquaintances and putting yourself out there as a business rather rather than a than this this this cloistered cowebed mansion on a hill where the crazy weird rich people are living behind the curtains like they there's a whole story there.

[00:08:25]>> Sure.

[00:08:26]>> But they just never built their their business. They always loved the small family business. I go back to old house hall >> and what where their comfort zone and what what they liked as a family, what they wanted as a family. And they were always scared. They always they always had to be goated into doing more or embarrassed into doing more or shamed into doing more. It all came from failure. They had to fail. They they had to screw up the this stadium deal. They had to they had to screw up hiring a coach to make a change. They always have to be reminded of how behind they are.

[00:09:09]But I'm I'm getting off the the focus here.

[00:09:14]of the long con that was played on everybody and why Kevin Warren cannot remain the figurehead of the Bears, the godhead of the Bears.

[00:09:26]>> Yeah, that's what I meant. Their most recent history, not looking at the examination of the Macy family since George has died and gone. You can you can examine all that, but they hired Kevin Warren just over three years ago >> to get this done.

[00:09:38]>> He brought in to build a stadium. Why are there why are they at the position that they're in right now just about stadium stuff, Kevin Warren stuff? Why are they there today?

[00:09:46]>> Because of the numerous missteps outlined yesterday and I'll do this again, but where we are now, you say where are we now?

[00:09:56]>> Yes.

[00:09:56]>> Kevin Warren, if you look at this as literally to where has Kevin Warren led the Bears?

[00:10:05]He's the lead. He was brought in to lead. He built a stadium in Minnesota.

[00:10:10]Why isn't the stadium built here in Chicago?

[00:10:12]>> He brought in to lead them to this >> and to do this. And here is this this beautiful building in Minnesota. You can talk about the First of all, he didn't build that.

[00:10:21]>> Correct.

[00:10:22]>> That was a myth.

[00:10:23]>> Correct.

[00:10:23]>> And second of all, there's quibbling about the deal. It's a gorgeous stadium in the city, though.

[00:10:29]That's what it is. It ended up being a beautiful stadium in the city. If you don't like how it's paid for, well then nobody wants to hear from you be because when Kevin Warren's writing his resume, he led them to a toxic swamp that if in fact say what's left what as of today what where has Kevin Warren led the Bears?

[00:10:57]And if you picture him like like Moses and he's got he's he's he is leading the flock behind him.

[00:11:09]Follow me. Follow me. Follow Kevin Warren. And here he stands.

[00:11:17]Where are we? Moses. Haha.

[00:11:21]The land of milk and honey.

[00:11:24]And he and he points out and what and that that doesn't smell like honey.

[00:11:33]That that smells like broughtwurst farts. That where where are we? You're in Hammond, Indiana.

[00:11:43]Haha. I've done it.

[00:11:47]He led them to a toxic swamp built on metal waste and iron waste and slag and covered with literal human [ __ ] He led that's where he led you and you haven't fired him yet. And he and he had every chance. They hired adviserss and vice presidents and they've got 15 communications people. HE DIDN'T SHOW UP TO SPRINGFIELD.

[00:12:19]He couldn't even have been bothered to be there.

[00:12:25]How about some of his vice presidents?

[00:12:27]All these people he's hired.

[00:12:30]Well, he didn't want to listen to lobbyists.

[00:12:33]We know that. Everybody advising him.

[00:12:36]That was also a red flag from like the first couple of months that he wasn't listening to. He was Kevin Warren. He doesn't He doesn't need your advice.

[00:12:46]He's He's the He is the Chicago Bears.

[00:12:50]He's driven by by the power of God that was invoked at his first press conference there. This this is a this is a a a not just a community effort.

[00:13:02]This was a holy effort. Right. I think two things that went wrong with Kevin Warren. I think number one, he believed his own [ __ ] And number two, Dan >> believes he believes his own [ __ ] He believed his own [ __ ] But number two, I think he thought >> he could just walk up and it's the Chicago Bears.

[00:13:19]>> Yes, >> I can just say, "Hey, the Chicago Bears want X, Y, and Z.

[00:13:22]>> I can pull this string. I can pull that string." That as as I said to start the show yesterday, >> politics is work.

[00:13:33]It's hard. It's work. It's coalition building. It's vote counting.

[00:13:42]It's And and if he wants to talk about the DJ Moore trade, football trades are easy.

[00:13:49]Easy. They're a joke. They're so easy compared to real political trading and dealing with crafting legislation.

[00:13:59]That's not sexy. It's not fun. It's hard work. And it's not just about people following you around with cameras and talking about cranes in the sky and shovels in the ground. And and I I will say too, if you heard Bill Cunningham interviewed on the score, there are some there are a lot of questions that that I would have asked that weren't part of that, I will say.

[00:14:28]But if you want to hear a state senate leader telling you what needs to be said about Kevin Warren and how difficult he made this and the number of miscalculations and what they could and couldn't trust the reason why Kevin Warren has to be fired is nobody trusts him. number one and this I I I want to say too there was an outpouring of comments from yesterday's show still coming in as we speak and I don't like to respond to individual comments but I do try to identify certain trends themes in the emails and and I love love love one of the things I love about my new job as opposed to my old one >> is that you take the time to email >> and I really appreciate it and whether you agree or disagree whether you agree agree or disagree, you take the time to put your name on it and email. I love that and I appreciate that. And it is different than lazy anonymous feedback where I can't disting I because I can't trust that. I can't distinguish that from from bots and astroturf stuff and all that. But when you when you have your name and your email address and and you take that time, it's not lazy. and I do appreciate it.

[00:15:48]But Kevin Warren this this entire time has traded on a level of trust that's gone.

[00:16:00]When a con man loses the con, it's over.

[00:16:07]It's over. The con is over.

[00:16:11]Bears fans got conned.

[00:16:14]There are people in the legislature who ARE TELLING YOU THEY GOT CONNED.

[00:16:19]That's what Bill Cunningham just told you. He said so publicly this morning.

[00:16:26]Listen to what he said about how we didn't know what they were focused on.

[00:16:30]They said they were focused on this and then they're focused on this and then he's back channeling communications while the Bears and George Macy are telling the governor one thing and telling the league one thing and Kevin Warren isn't even telling them what he's doing and going behind the scenes and then the Bears have to lie and then he he made the organization lie. That's another reason why you have to be fired. The organization, the Bears organization had to come out and deny that the back channel communication had anything to do with the stadium.

[00:17:04]The organization had to lie for you.

[00:17:07]You're fired.

[00:17:10]You let us after all this, after three and a half years, we stand at the precipice of glory for the next hundred years of Chicago Bears. Where are you going to build? on a toxic swamp of human [ __ ] where nobody lives and it's impossible to get to from the airport.

[00:17:32]That's that's what this has produced.

[00:17:35]That's what this after all everything and YOU STILL OWN THE LAND. YOU SELL THAT OFF.

[00:17:43]Now you saw how pissed off everybody was at that Arlington Heights board meeting last night. how pissed off the mayor was, how hard they were. Five years, five years they worked on this pilot bill and and Kevin Warren screwed it all up. Yeah. And it's it's more important to to note that not only did he force George Macy, the Bears, to lie, but Dan, he sabotaged actively >> actively sabotaged the work not only that they had done, but they were at the precipice of creating something.

[00:18:17]>> They had it. and he sabotaged it.

[00:18:20]>> He He [ __ ] it up. One person [ __ ] it up.

[00:18:24]>> No, it's [ __ ] [ __ ] up can can equate a mistake. An error was made. He actively sabotaged what they were doing.

[00:18:36]>> And that >> that's a lot different than [ __ ] or making a mistake or an error.

[00:18:40]>> And that was made very clear. And there's something that that uh >> that's actively sinking the work that you've done >> and other people and your bosses and and the reason why you were hired and I don't know why there's such unwillingness to call out something this obvious that's right in front of us.

[00:18:56]>> This is right in front of us. He cannot represent your team anymore. It's the the the the jig is up.

[00:19:03]>> I don't understand.

[00:19:04]>> The con is over. And at various times, I think I I think I'm I fell for it, but I I I was good after like two days. And it took me about two days to wake up and realize, hold on a second, this is this guy this guy's full of [ __ ] And I think and and we said it as quickly as we could. And I remember arguing with Dan Weider about it when there was all this access journalism stuff about showing him, look at Kevin Warren with his Bible. Oh, I get up every day. I don't even need an alarm clock. And then I think about cranes in the sky. And I wash my car and I think about the Bears.

[00:19:37]It was It's complete Montreal salesman music man get the band together Harold Hill cartoon con man snake oil. Yeah.

[00:19:48]And I I wasn't involved in in sports radio until we get back into doing this last year nine months ago together. So I've had no thoughts about Kevin Warren.

[00:19:56]Didn't follow it. Didn't really care as a Bears fan watching the games on Sunday. And doing this now for the last nine months, I saw all I needed to see with Kevin Warren in postgame stuff.

[00:20:09]You don't need to be on camera. You don't need to be in the locker for a regular season [ __ ] win.

[00:20:17]You have more important things to do.

[00:20:19]That's all I needed to learn about him.

[00:20:21]And then this draft, this past draft, seeing him on the phone again, where's the stadium being built, dude? the the well the >> what's happening with that >> and I went back >> get off the phone get out of the locker room and do your [ __ ] job.

[00:20:35]>> How about Hard Knocks when there had to be a scene of him are we going to put high boy tables up here like he WAS ALREADY THEY >> BUILD THE STADIUM.

[00:20:42]>> HE WAS decorating it at that point.

[00:20:44]keeps talking about which chairs which chairs I I I the number of details when you when you look at this through the prism of the con >> it all starts to make more sense. He must be fired or nobody is going to listen to anything the Bears say about anything. It's over.

[00:21:10]We know now this whole thing all the money that's been spent. HE DIDN'T GO TO SPRINGFIELD.

[00:21:16]YOU KNOW WHO was in Springfield? You know who the Bears representative was standing there wandering the hallways?

[00:21:20]Scott Hegel.

[00:21:22]I love Scott. Scott was a a PR intern when I started on the beat.

[00:21:27]>> Done with Scott a ton of times. Great guy.

[00:21:30]>> Scott is a good guy.

[00:21:31]>> Did a lot of good work with us and helped us >> and he's the senior comm's VP.

[00:21:34]>> Yeah.

[00:21:36]>> He's not a politician. He's not a lobbyist.

[00:21:39]He's not a He isn't a legislator.

[00:21:44]That's your representative on the most important day, one of the most important days in the history of the franchise.

[00:21:51]And Kevin Warren wasn't even there.

[00:21:55]Where was he? Why wasn't he there?

[00:21:59]What's happening? Who's who's representing the Bears at this critical juncture? Who's actually there buttonholding people, doing the work?

[00:22:08]Because he never did the work. There wasn't anything to close out. He never did it. Even Even though with lobbyists next to him saying, "Hey, Kevin, we got to work this block here. We we've got to go get some votes here. We got to shore this up. We got to we might want to trade off something here to get these.

[00:22:26]We've got to build a coalition to get the votes. That's how this works." And and there's a couple other things I want to get to here. Uh, Bill on Capitol Hill emailed this when I was talking about emails before I got uh I got misdirected. And Bill from Capitol Hill, I think, summed it up really well.

[00:22:49]And that is the reason why Warren has to be fired is that not enough people believed him.

[00:23:03]in three and a half years. Not enough people believed him. That's that's the first part. And not enough people are going to believe him going forward.

[00:23:12]Let's say Illinois politics happens. They resurrect some version of pilot or they resurrect the other deal, the the Jerry World deal that mirrors the Indiana offer and they get something done. Who builds it? Who do you actually trust now that they've wasted not just three and a half years, but in building costs?

[00:23:34]Billions. Billions. The Bears themselves. Whoever ends up ponying up the money for this, whatever outside investor, they go private activity they want to do. Billions have been frittered away here. Billions. You trust him to build. He didn't build the one in Minnesota, >> right?

[00:23:53]>> He didn't do that, >> right? So, you're going to have this guy oversee this project. Let's let's say that a miracle happens, Dan, and tomorrow there's a deal struck and Arlington.

[00:24:01]>> That's what I just said, >> right? So, yeah, you get that done. So, he's the guy to oversee now. Now, this is the guy that oversees it. He's still standing by the toxic swamp on THE HUMAN [ __ ] THAT'S WHERE HE IS. Your Chicago Bears. Kevin Warren has led you literally.

[00:24:19]Literally, the man led you into a swamp.

[00:24:24]Now, if you're George McCowsky, you've got a decision to make right now.

[00:24:31]Do you turn around and say, "Well, how did we get here?" And Kevin's like, >> it's like, man, that's enough of you.

[00:24:42]>> See, that's the bigger problem that we have.

[00:24:43]>> That's enough.

[00:24:44]>> Cuz if George McCassy has to ask the question, how did we get here?

[00:24:50]>> That's a bigger problem.

[00:24:51]>> Well, and here's the other thing, too.

[00:24:53]George wasn't in Springfield either.

[00:24:54]>> Correct. So, so if Hey, is the question is is Kevin in Springfield? Is he there?

[00:25:02]>> No. Why not? And and and when you when you hear that he's not, GET YOUR OWN ASS THERE, >> RIGHT, >> GEORGE?

[00:25:09]>> YEAH.

[00:25:10]>> You got to fix this. You must fix this.

[00:25:14]You can't hide behind Ben Johnson's success anymore. the the having the the the wonderkinned coach and the hot coach and the hot quarterback that only goes so far. Th this is a lesson in the separation between the football and the real [ __ ] Th this is this is the this is real. This is real. This was real.

[00:25:32]This last three and a half years was real and you got nothing out of it because you got conned. And every day that he stays on the job is another day that that the Chicago Bears lose complete credibility. And if I were Roger Goodell, I' I'd be on the phone right now with George saying, "Hey, explain, >> right?

[00:25:53]>> What happened? Why did it happen under your leadership?

[00:25:59]Ostensible leadership, but but YOU HAVE TO HIRE THIS GUY. YOU DON'T HAVE ANY LEADERSHIP.

[00:26:04]Who's running this?"

[00:26:06]You know, I have a I have a question in the whole idea of the sabotage of this project by going back the back channels and talking to the mayor and the city of Chicago and saying, "Hey, there's a possibility here. I I want to know and I and then asking for an answer. Just the question I have, what was he gaining from this?" What? No, because Dan Dan he's a he's a he's a con man.

[00:26:33]>> He was making a deal and a conversation.

[00:26:35]What was he what was he to gain by engaging Chicago again and saying there's a possibility? What was he going to get out of it? I I want to find that out. I want to I can't wait to know what that conversation was. And here's the thing because I >> because he probably knew it was slipping away at that point or thought or thought >> because like you say he believes his own stuff. Yes. that maybe maybe he thought he was going to end up pulling a rabbit out of his hat and saying wait some lastm minute 11th hour deal where he was going to play politics and emerge and he wasn't THERE BUT HAD HE GONE TO Springfield and and tap danced his way and come OUT AND SAID HAHA surprise we've got a deal to stay in Chicago that everybody's got to love not knowing you know friends of the parks would be like no you don't but >> I I I don't know what he was thinking.

[00:27:27]Has anybody asked him where is he? Has anyone talked to him? Why can't go stand in front of some microphones? Where's Kevin Warren? Where is he today?

[00:27:37]>> Go stand in front of some microphones.

[00:27:38]>> There's reporters there.

[00:27:39]>> Like he he you have to launch him. You you you cannot continue to do business with him this spectacularly showing his individual incompetence. And and when when that I not enough people believed him. Not enough people believed him. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. I don't think you're telling the truth.

[00:28:06]>> I don't believe you. That was the response he's getting.

[00:28:08]>> I know. And that it's it's great. And not enough people believed him. But here's the thing. There's one person that did and it this it it goes above Kevin Warren, Dan. And and I I don't have a good answer for it, but here's the deal.

[00:28:24]George McCowsky needs to step away.

[00:28:28]Well, he he thought he did.

[00:28:29]>> He No, he cannot be in charge anymore.

[00:28:31]>> Well, that see I that's not but he can't though.

[00:28:35]>> That that you can't fight that battle because I I know who they going to point.

[00:28:39]>> But but who the owner who's taking over from here?

[00:28:41]>> No, that's that that's a sell the team argument. And >> it's not a SELL THERE. THERE'S GOT TO BE SOMEONE IN THAT [ __ ] building that has an actual thought in their brain about how to run a football organization.

[00:28:51]>> That's that's why that's why they hired Warren because they don't have >> It's a small cute story to tell about the third day of the draft and George is out umping high school baseball games.

[00:29:01]It's cute. He doesn't care enough about the business.

[00:29:05]>> Well, he >> he can't be the guy making the decisions below him that impact everything about the Bears organization. He hired Kevin Warren. You screwed up this hire. You screwed it up.

[00:29:15]>> The fact that Kevin Warren sabotaged the Bears organization and George let him sit. He should have been fired then.

[00:29:23]>> Well, I thought there was a possibility.

[00:29:25]>> The fact that when when George found out that Kevin created backdoor channels to have conversations with people in Chicago >> and then they lied and and then the organization came out and said, "Well, and then they lied on his behalf. They lied to cover it." And then that was shattered when when Bill Cunningham goes, "Oh, no, no. There were multiple meetings." And it wasn't just >> should have fired him the second he found out he did that.

[00:29:47]>> Yep.

[00:29:50]>> There's no one in charge. That's the problem.

[00:29:55]>> I will also respond to the the theme of some of the push back that was a lot of a lot of the same thing. It's not why you blaming Warren, it's all your Democrats. It's all your blue politics.

[00:30:09]I think I think the politicians did their job and and let me >> Yes, please please please get into this.

[00:30:14]>> I think the Illinois Well, let me let me first just say uh every sports fan has an angle and should whether it's, you know, the team you trust and the favorite you might want to fade or the player you think is due. Something you feel in a game live before everyone else sees it. And that's where My Bookie comes in because My Bookie gives you a place to turn the opinions into action.

[00:30:34]And that's whether you're watching the playoffs now or you're getting ready for the World Cup this summer. It's going to be fun soon. Our promo code DBU for Dan Bernstein unfiltered. Use that when you sign up and you can claim an exclusive offer just because you're listening.

[00:30:49]See? And then you back your team before the game. Or you can get in that live bet and make the moments you already care about feel bigger. And that's the real reason to check out my bookie.

[00:30:59]You're already watching. You already have a take. And now you've got a place to play it. at anything, anytime, anywhere with my book. He must be 21 plus. Please gamble responsibly. And I I do know that a lot of the discourse is is oddly polarized and poisoned, but I'm going to speak to you as as a citizen and as a a resident of Chicago, >> right? Take the blue and the red out of it. take all the [ __ ] that we've seen >> as a res as a resident of of Chicago, the city proper, a resident of Cook County, resident of Illinois. I think politicians did their job. I don't want my money used to help a billionaire. And I think the governor also understands that the way the winds are blowing for his ambitions, being the governor that loses the bears, which I still don't think he's going to be, but he had to he had to look at that possibility and say, and his advisers, who are very smart and very expensive, had to say to him, JB, you're running for president at some point. might not be this cycle, but look, every speech you're giving is is nationalized. You're be, you know, your name's getting mentioned out there.

[00:32:21]There's certainly at the moment nothing that's saying he's not going to run this year or this cycle.

[00:32:30]It is going to be much better for you to run on not giving the citizens money away to sports billionaires than it is saying the Bears moved a few miles that way. They've made that calculus already. They figured that out.

[00:32:49]Otherwise, he would not be doing this.

[00:32:51]So, that's part of it. And that tells you something about the electorate. That tells you about what they realize now in this current climate, what likely voters would see. He's going to run on it. He will run on the I held my ground against a sports billionaire.

[00:33:13]And as a citizen, I love it.

[00:33:17]Why aren't you blaming? You know why?

[00:33:19]You know why I'm not blaming anybody else? It's not their job.

[00:33:25]It's the job of elected politicians to be stewards of my money.

[00:33:34]It's not their job to dole out dollars that take away from everything else to give to a team that only needs it because they haven't run their business correctly in a hundred years. that they never made enough money as the owners of the Bears because they didn't know how.

[00:33:54]This family has had terrible business since.

[00:34:00]So why don't you blame the politicians?

[00:34:02]Because I'm I'm pleased with the politicians. And if the Bears want to go somewhere else and go to another state and take other people's money and soak somebody else with the con, go ahead. I got no problem with that. I don't care.

[00:34:14]Like personally, if you if you want to spend another billion dollars remediating a toxic swamp and delay it for another 10 years, you can stay in Soldier Field for a while. You don't have to go anywhere. I don't care. Doesn't matter to me. I watch on TV. Still a Bears game to me.

[00:34:34]Doesn't doesn't change anything. But the politicians were doing the right thing.

[00:34:40]And even the Chicago politicians who after the Kevin Warren sabotage after that the Chicago position like wait a second if we're still alive in this and you Kevin Warren you're telling us we're still alive and now we're going to support we're going to vote against that chance.

[00:34:59]No, that's what catalyzed that whole thing, right?

[00:35:03]that they would have had it had there not been that back channel outreach that they grabbed on to that the mayor in Chicago and and understanding what's happened. They they grabbed on to that.

[00:35:15]They're like, "Hey, hold on a second.

[00:35:18]We'd rather have it here." And if you're and if you are telling it, you're Kevin Warren, you're the Bears, you're telling us, "Hey, this could fall through."

[00:35:24]Okay, well, we we'll make it fall through then.

[00:35:27]>> Right. How How many members of that voting body are in the city?

[00:35:31]>> A lot. Enough. Enough. That's what Cunningham said today. That's what the deal.

[00:35:35]>> Say now to go back to your people and say, "Oh, we voted for this even though we knew there's a chance, but we voted for it to leave."

[00:35:40]>> Yep. No, they're not >> even if they answer to the people that vote for them.

[00:35:43]>> That that was the point. And they were saying, "Okay, well, maybe we'll maybe we'll keep it. We'll stick around. We we don't have anything to lose. It's not on our clock.

[00:35:53]Sure, we still got a shot at this. Okay, then we'll wait. We're not going to.

[00:35:58]But the Bears had represented to the state and to the league cuz they didn't know all that was going. They didn't know that their own president by doing all this back channeling sabotaged it.

[00:36:14]>> Should have been fired right there.

[00:36:15]>> Fired.

[00:36:17]This isn't hard. This This is not a hot take. This is not controversial.

[00:36:24]It really this this is gross mismanagement, malpractice.

[00:36:32]These efforts that apparently were completely off the books that without George McCow being who did what? I was busy umpiring. Let me come over here and take my clicker off my belt and undust my shoes. What happened? Well, Kevin Warren without knowing you've been telling all this stuff. everybody else.

[00:36:50]He's been talking with the city and telling them they're still alive and there's still a chance if this all falls through.

[00:36:55]>> Like the moment I hear that, >> Kevin, you're fired.

[00:37:00]>> Right. You call them, you have a conversation, you get face to face.

[00:37:02]>> Gone. Gone.

[00:37:04]>> What did you do?

[00:37:04]>> Take that orange tie off and bring everything in your desk with you.

[00:37:08]>> And then you fire him immediately.

[00:37:09]>> And you fire him at all all the vice presidency hired.

[00:37:11]>> Right.

[00:37:12]>> It it's this is insanity, >> right? And that shows those politicians that took their vote from Arlington Heights to say, "Hey, there's a chance in Chicago." If he is a leader and acts like a leader and fires the guy who sabotaged the entire plan, those politicians say, "Oh, now the Bears are serious.

[00:37:32]>> This is for real. Yeah, there there is no chance here to be in Chicago. So, what's the next best thing? What should we do?" And and you shouldn't have to have him. Kevin Moore, follow He's like, "Come on, Bears. Bears fans, follow me.

[00:37:45]Follow me to glory. Come with me. I shall lead you.

[00:37:52]Kevin, you're leading us to a place that smells bad.

[00:37:56]Don't worry. It's all viable. It's fine.

[00:37:59]DON'T IGNORE THAT SMELL. IT'S A CON.

[00:38:03]He led you to a toxic swamp. How do you feel? How'd this work? Now, a listener wrote up a piece on this, and I was reading this right before I went to bed last night, and it's from a longtime guy who's gone by the name of Kuck Boy. And I was reading this. I sent him a note, and I said, "Dude, you have to post this >> because it's too good to not be widely read. It's too good."

[00:38:30]and he broke this down and he said, "I'm not sure this will ever make it on Friday feedback Friday, but this is therapy for me. Um, if you don't mind, may I because I think this is pretty special and and worth the time and damn it, this show's got my name on it and I can do what I want. I don't know why I'm asking permission."

[00:38:52]The term conman, he writes, is shorthand for confidence man. Someone who gains the trust of others through charm, manufactured credibility, and carefully constructed promises and then uses that trust to advance his own agenda. The con man doesn't need to lie about everything. In fact, the best ones mix truth with misdirection so skillfully that by the time the Marx realized what happened, the con man has already moved on to his next play. The classic con has identifiable stages. Establish credibility. Make the pitch. Manufacture urgency. String along the marks when things stall. And crucially, never be accountable when your promises evaporate. By every measure that matters, Kevin Warren has run this play on virtually everyone connected to the Chicago Bears stadium saga. The Macy family hired Warren because they thought they were getting a savvy politician and a stadium builder. Big 10 commissioner involved in the Vikings project. On paper, that's the man for the job. The focus had shifted toward building a stadium next to Soldier Field after he was hired as president. Now, here starts the con.

[00:40:01]Warren was hired to deliver a stadium.

[00:40:05]What he delivered was three years of pivots, phantom deadlines, and open letters that read more like hostage notes than business plans. Con number one, abandoning Arlington Heights the moment he arrived.

[00:40:19]Bears had done the hard work, the $5 billion plan for Arlington Heights, restaurants, retail, and more.

[00:40:26]Finalizing the purchase, 326 acres. The team owns the land. The plan's in place.

[00:40:30]Warren's job. Execute it. Instead, at an owner's meeting, Warren declared his intentions on keeping the team stadium on the lakefront. Quote, "The plan will be to put a shovel in the ground in the lakefront." The entire organization pivoted toward a lakefront dome adjacent to Soldier Field, abandoning Arlington Heights. Ownership spent years and $200 million building toward it without any guarantee the lakefront was viable. And it wasn't, and it never was. a lakefront site protected by the public trust doctrine of the 1973 lakefront protection ordinance. Friends of the parks had already beaten George Lucas in federal court over the exact same parcel of land and Warren didn't either didn't know or didn't care.

[00:41:13]Con number two, the lakefront circus April 2024.

[00:41:18]On the eve of the 2024 NFL draft, Warren held a news conference declaring building a new dome adjacent to Soldier Field was the Bears's preferred option.

[00:41:29]Deliberate timing, maximum media attention, fan excitement. He called the South lot the most beautiful piece of property in the United States.

[00:41:40]Asked for 2.4 billion in public subsidies. Pritsker called it a non-starter. Chris Welch said the vote would fail. the legal obstacles from Friends of the Parks immediate and predictable. Warren knew the proposal was going nowhere before he stood at the podium, but made the pitch anyway, knowing it would fail.

[00:41:59]Con number three, fake urgency.

[00:42:04]Warren deployed manufactured deadlines as a pressure tactic. Said repeatedly wanted to break ground December 31st of 2025. In August of 2025, he said the Bears are ready now to build in Arlington Heights. shovels in the ground by the end of 2025. That didn't happen.

[00:42:20]So, the deadlines passed and nothing to show. What did Warren do? Reset the clock. Announced a new timeline.

[00:42:27]Textbook con artistry. Urgency is the con man's best friend. It prevents Marks from stopping to think clearly. Bears fans, city officials, state legislators perpetually told the moment of decision right now. While Warren quietly moved the goalposts.

[00:42:44]Con number four, the Indiana Gambit played on everyone at once. December 2025, Warren's open letter to fans announcing the Bears would expand their search to include Indiana saying, "This is not about leverage," which was a tell. He declared the Bears would look outside Cook County. And it rained on what was supposed to be the most thrilling week of the most exciting year the Bears have had since 2018. He dropped the Indiana bomb during Packers week and that wasn't an accident and Cam Buckner called him out for constant tonedeaf decisions to announce these stadium updates during important events.

[00:43:25]The deeper con was what followed. After the Indiana announcement, the Bears released a statement applauding Indiana for passing a bill intended to fund a new stadium district in Hammond. That caught Springfield by surprise.

[00:43:35]Remember, many viewed it as a tasteless move by Warren. Warren wasn't even present at the meeting with Illinois state officials where they mostly agreed on a bill and Governor Pritsker said Warren chose to not be in that meeting.

[00:43:49]So, he's running a play in Indiana, Illinois simultaneously and got caught doing it by his own boss. That was the first time he got caught. Con number five, selling the Macy's the bill of goods.

[00:44:03]What's the irony is that his most successful con was on the family that hired him.

[00:44:08]Reports say the Macy family is very, very angry. They felt the man sold him a bill of goods cuz 3 months later, nothing's changed. They own the land.

[00:44:16]They haven't made any progress. It's gotten so bad that they're threatening to leave Illinois for the first time in a century because Warren bungled it.

[00:44:24]Warren hired all these lobbyists, was told over and over again what to do, and didn't listen.

[00:44:30]He ignored their advice when he was surrounded by people who knew how Springfield worked. He said, "The roster of the people Warren is misled is remarkable. Bears fans sold worldclass lakefront dome legally impossible.

[00:44:42]Pristine Arlington Heights campus 2025 groundbreaking. Indiana might be the home announced during the most important game week of the year. The city invested political capital for a plan Warren knew was untenable. Illinois legislators spent all this time and political energy financing packages when he's skipping the meetings in Springfield.

[00:45:04]Indiana officials moved quickly passed legislation authorized a billion taxpayer dollars for a team that as of April 2026 couldn't say in which state they'd build the stadium 5 years in. The Macy family borrowed credibility from a century of history to back a hire who's delivered three years of chaos.

[00:45:23]And the final verdict is that when George Macy hired Warren, stadium builder, Big 10 commissioner, it was with the stadium in mind.

[00:45:33]George Macy didn't bring Warren here to build him a stadium in Indiana on a slag heap. A con man doesn't need to steal money. Sometimes the con is stealing time and trust and opportunity, leaving everyone around him holding the bag while he issues another open letter explaining why none of it's his fault.

[00:45:51]That's what Kevin Warren's good at. The Bears won't stay in Chicago. They won't get Soldier Field. It can't be sold or transferred under any legal framework.

[00:45:59]And the man who was supposed to deliver a new home has delivered three years of misdirection, missed deadlines, and burned bridges in two states. That's not bad luck.

[00:46:11]That's the con.

[00:46:18]That's really good stuff. Yeah, it's it's great stuff. And and looking at the board of directors for the Chicago Bears, George McCaskky is the chairman.

[00:46:25]Patrick McCowsky, Brian McCowsky, Edward McCowsky, Ed McCaskky Jr. Pat Ryan. Pat Ryan is the CEO and founder of AON.

[00:46:33]Yeah.

[00:46:33]>> It's a 67 billion company, Dan. Mhm.

[00:46:37]>> 67 billion.

[00:46:40]Does he have thoughts on this?

[00:46:41]>> I see his building.

[00:46:43]>> Uh Michael McCowsky was stripped of his power and forced to step down because he [ __ ] up the Dave McInness hire.

[00:46:50]>> Mhm.

[00:46:50]>> He fumbled a coach hiring.

[00:46:52]>> That's just a coach hiring.

[00:46:55]This is just a coach hiring.

[00:46:56]>> This is the direction of your franchise.

[00:46:59]This is so MUCH BIGGER THAN MESSING UP A COACH HIRING. CORRECT. THAT'S WHY I SAID YESTERDAY, IF VIRGINIA WERE ALIVE, if Virginia were alive, Warren would be on a train.

[00:47:10]>> How is Warren still the president and CEO of the Chicago Bears? He absolutely the first thing they have to do to restore any credibility if they want to get anything they want other than a swamp full of [ __ ] is get a new leader >> right and maybe it's George and maybe maybe it's just I somewhere that's when I saw that statue of George when I saw that video again today when I saw that that sizzle reel here's Kevin Warren first day on the job it's all [ __ ] I mean, Dan, if those other five members of the board right now aren't saying Kevin Warren's going and then forcing George to step down, I don't know what they're doing. I really don't. Then there's no reason to have a board.

[00:47:55]There's no reason to have >> got stripped of his power by his mom because he [ __ ] up a coach hire and George is going to stay here, not be in Springfield. Your president and CEO that you brought in three years ago sabotaged your organization and you didn't fire him. He needs to be fired today. George needs to step down today.

[00:48:20]It's just that simple.

[00:48:22]>> George isn't stepping down like that.

[00:48:25]>> Then he needs to be forced out, Dan. He needs to be There are seven members of the board.

[00:48:30]>> They don't have a five other individuals that can say this is enough. Unless all five of them, and I have a hard time with Pat Ryan thinking this is okay. I do.

[00:48:42]How can the other five members of the board, the voting members of the board, think this is okay?

[00:48:50]I think the fact that he sabotaged the entire plan and the direction it was headed and didn't get fired is all you need to know about the Bears organization right now.

[00:49:00]>> Pat Ryan is 89. I know he is, Dan, but but I mean he's still a voting member and owes owns what 20% of the team, 23% of the team.

[00:49:09]>> He founded an an insurance organization that is worth $67 billion today. I know he's 89, but he still then maybe he shouldn't be on the on the board either, but that's the the seven members of your board.

[00:49:21]>> The very first thing they have to do before doing anything else before Yeah. You you cannot allow him to be in charge of these political relationships.

[00:49:32]You need a a clean break. Yes. And it whether you do something in the interim or whether you you have to tell all of these governments he's not representing us anymore.

[00:49:46]>> He's gone. He's we are now serious in a way that we were we don't know what this was happening because what's going to happen is the same thing that happened at the Big 10 is when he left they started going through the books and they started re whoa wait a second you did what you did what deal we're on the hook for how many millions of dollars of this TV thing were you sold stuff you weren't allowed to sell that's why I asked what did he say to Chicago what was he going to gain out of it what was he going to bury the bears with by talking back with Chicago I don't I I don't I don't know what the motivation was at the end other than he realized it was crumbling or he realized that he needed a fail safe or or just the fact that he believed that he could come out of this not smelling like a swamp because he had some sort of magic that he was going to pull off. And when it didn't happen, nah, blame somebody else.

[00:50:41]All right, fine. Take Pat Ryan out of it. But you still have Patrick McCowsky, Brian McCowsky, Edward McCowsky, Ed McKowy.

[00:50:48]What are those four saying today?

[00:50:51]Nothing.

[00:50:52]>> I don't know what's in their group chat.

[00:50:53]You think everything's okay?

[00:50:54]>> I don't know. This is good business.

[00:50:56]We're fine. This is a low point for your organization after a massive failure due to incompetence or maybe worse than incompetence.

[00:51:06]>> Okay, tell me. Okay, you see this at a low point. Tell me what's been lower.

[00:51:12]What's what's been lower than this?

[00:51:13]Because losing football games or seasons doesn't come close to this.

[00:51:17]>> I mean, Planet Park in 95 that pretend that we're going to Gary, we're going to Gary. I I think I think the outcome of New Soldier Field is pretty low when everybody >> more than this.

[00:51:29]>> No, no.

[00:51:31]>> This is the lowest point of your organization considering the money, especially considering now you don't have a stadium. You don't have a plan for a stadium and whatever stadium you build has just doubled in cost.

[00:51:48]That this is a tragedy. It's it's the lowest point ever of the Chicago Bears organization. Dan, I mean, let that sink in. It's the lowest point ever to the point where he he walked you if you hired him to lead and the only opportunity he gave you for something resembling close to what you want he he walked you into a swamp that's filled with horrible chemicals.

[00:52:17]>> Right. And politicians here in Chicago laughed at the idea.

[00:52:22]Did you hear what Maria Pap She what she say like my dead grandmother's going to come back before they go to Indiana.

[00:52:27]>> Right.

[00:52:29]>> That's what I was mentioning yesterday, Dan. The people that are lifelong people know how [ __ ] works here. She laughed at the idea. She knew that they weren't going to Indiana.

[00:52:39]>> And she's not the only one.

[00:52:43]That's why That's why these these lawmakers, Dan, are saying, "Okay, get in your car, drive down to Hammond, [ __ ] make the deal, and get shovels in the ground.

[00:52:54]>> That deal's done. Not changing. It's all there. It's all right there for you. Go >> cuz we're not handing over billions of dollars. So, go for it."

[00:53:01]>> And and they did their jobs. And And as a citizen and a Bear fan, I'm happy that they did their jobs. That's fine.

[00:53:10]I'm not mad at them.

[00:53:12]>> It's not their fault.

[00:53:12]>> WHY AREN'T YOU MAD AT THE ONLY BECAUSE MY And it's also that my belief in AND THIS IS WHY AREN'T YOU M WHY ARE YOU MAD AT KEVIN WARREN?

[00:53:22]>> Because my thoughts about public policy as a citizen are very different than my thoughts as a Bears fan or a Bears observer. that I don't let my my desire for the Bears to win change how I feel about governance and public policy. Stadium deals mostly suck.

[00:53:43]>> You also don't want it to impact your wallet.

[00:53:46]It shouldn't have.

[00:53:46]>> It isn't just that. I' I'd ra I'd rather have my money I'd rather have my money go to better things. It's Kevin Warren's job to convince to do that's what politics is.

[00:53:56]>> But his job was to get the stadium done.

[00:53:57]But it with by convincing people by making the case by doing the work. He never wanted to do the work because it was a con. He didn't do the work. He did. He hired people who ostensibly are supposed to do the work. He They look like they're doing they're having meetings. They're having phone calls.

[00:54:16]They're having meetings. He's getting up at 4:30 in the morning to read his Bible and get his car washed and look for cranes in the sky. But but the work wasn't done. And and the fact is he was told this by the other people around him who understood how things work and don't work here, but he was busy being Kevin Warren for a living.

[00:54:39]>> The same guy who was out in front of the cameras in Minnesota while the stadium was being built behind the scenes without his work.

[00:54:47]>> And and again, I I just I I can't get over the fact he sabotaged the entire deal. The second that that was found out by George McCowsky, you sit down with the other five members of the board and say, "This is where we're at. This is what I want to do. Let's have a vote."

[00:55:04]How many say fire Kevin Warren? Five yays. I'm a yay. That's 6-0. He's fired.

[00:55:10]>> He has to go. The Bears cannot be taken seriously.

[00:55:15]>> He already had to go. He but but I I want but it's a really really good that that particular essay with all of the the historical stuff and that's that's annotated too. I know it's been posted I read and and for where can I read that?

[00:55:30]Where can I read that? I put that up on Blue Sky.

[00:55:33]>> Okay.

[00:55:34]>> And I think we we've got there's a Reddit page that you know more about it than I do. I think they I know they posted it there.

[00:55:42]>> They did. Okay. Looked at it.

[00:55:44]>> Yeah. So that's where I put it up cuz he didn't want I said I said please post this so I can amplify it. I want to signal boost this because it's the best thing I've read yet. Cat cataloging the anatomy of a con. Ala check Reddit cuz last time I checked Reddit they were mad that you don't talk enough white socks.

[00:56:03]So >> I watched last night I did. I watched your guy Minecraft. I saw him. I just don't know what he's doing with the mustache and the and the and the >> I love it and the look. He was one of the best players in the team and your only thought is what's up with the mustache.

[00:56:19]>> No, he's good.

[00:56:19]>> What's your Minecraft thought? Uh his hair and mustache.

[00:56:22]>> He's a tough little player. I like him.

[00:56:24]I just I I haven't it's been hard to get into cuz I just it's been away for so long and I just hate the the the if I could just have Steve Stone the only guy in there. Stone and Connor and But it's it's just hard. It's really really hard.

[00:56:40]>> That's not >> I think the best thing I could do is actually honestly it would solve my problem. Go to more socks games.

[00:56:46]>> Yeah. Or >> that would solve my problem because then I'd go there and I'd eat everything and have fun and I don't have to listen to the broadcast.

[00:56:52]>> Yeah. Do me a favor. Go to more socks games and then let's talk about some windows.

[00:56:57]>> I It was right in front of me.

[00:56:58]>> Thank you.

[00:57:00]>> I got it. I don't care what you think you got. You you got what I give you, Mr. Russ Armstrong is the owner of Chicago Window, guys, and just make your life easier. Trust me on this. That rather than diving into everything you're going to have to do with all these big window companies that are like ad agencies and marketing agencies and they pull everything together and they offer you these deals and they give you crappy windows. Don't do that. Russ from start to finish is in charge of everything involved. He owns Chicago Window Guys. He owns the factory. the factories here in Chicago. So when he says, "Okay, let me get measured now.

[00:57:37]I'm gonna go make the windows." That's what's going on here. He makes the windows. His people install them. So it's not subcontracted labor. It's not randos that he's picking up every day who are in and around your house. Russ has done two different tanches of windows in my house. I've been through the experience multiple times and I recommend them to everybody because it's awesome. Don't wait. Get good windows.

[00:58:00]They end up paying for themselves almost because of of how you're heating and cooling your own home less because that temperature you want stays inside your house. You don't want to pay to heat the outside of your house. So call him 8473029171 and check out his fivestar reviews at chicago windowowguys.com.

[00:58:26]Why are you still talking about this?

[00:58:29]It's a huge, huge, huge deal. This isn't just a football game. Everything built to this. Everything. They said in in Arlington Heights, they're working on this for 5 years. Kevin Warren came in three and a half year years and years and years and years. And it all came down to this. And now they're looking at the ashes of what burned down and seeing what they can resurrect in spite in of your team president who led you to this moment. It wasn't everybody else. It wasn't some and there's a lot about this nebulous idea about corrupt politics. This is what happened. Why don't you blame corrupt polo? Blame Illinois lawmakers. Blame Illinois politicians.

[00:59:11]>> Tell me who and why. Right.

[00:59:13]>> Tell me who and why. Tell tell me right now who who who >> this is >> who who who didn't do their job who prevented the Bears from getting the stadium deal done.

[00:59:22]>> Well, but I think I might have voted against the Bears getting the stadium deal done, too. Like, they did their jobs. They did their job.

[00:59:30]>> A a no vote can be a a legislator representing their constituency who also doesn't want to see this kind of incompetence and idiocy rewarded with our tax dollars. make the effort. Do better to convince me. They never tried.

[00:59:47]They never cared because it was always soon as I put this orange tie on. I'm Kevin Warren. I'm the Bears. I get what I want. Well, guess what?

[00:59:57]Maybe George McCowsky believed that, but not enough other people did. He got exactly what he deserved.

[01:00:05]Not yet. He still got the cushy job doing nothing. 106 years of your Chicago Bears and this is the lowest point of the franchise history and he still has a job.

[01:00:21]I I would love to hear George McCowsky or anybody else on that board of directors sit down in that chair and make the case to me why Kevin Warren is running your team. From here on where? Okay, George. Why? What happens now? What happens now? Why is he in charge of anything now?

[01:00:49]You got conned, bro.

[01:00:51]Do you know you did?

[01:00:54]Well, you did.

[01:00:56]What do you have to show for any of this? What do you have? What concrete do you have to show for for any of this?

[01:01:02]And don't mention, don't tell me anything about football. I'm not talking football right now. I'm talking about bears business.

[01:01:10]And even in this difficult political climate, you had it. People did the work. And I know I have been privy to conversations that have been had by state legislators, by state reps, by state senators of both parties.

[01:01:32]I know how much work was done in good faith. really good work in in good faith by hardworking people who wanted to do right by their constituents and also understood that there's a lot of people that that want wanted the Bears to have something could help everybody and and that's why I was cool with infrastructure and so was everybody else. Yeah, you own the land in Arlington Heights, build on it.

[01:01:59]It's easy. You own it. Start building.

[01:02:03]we'll build just some roads. Like everything was fine. They had it.

[01:02:08]And now somehow they've gone backwards.

[01:02:11]And now they've doubled the price.

[01:02:15]They If you want to build there, you doubled the price cuz you waited and waited and waited and waited and waited for no reason. And now the only place where you got something resembling a deal where it's one thing to say, "I'm going to hold my nose and do it." You literally have to hold your nose. You're going to build a stadium where it would cost you almost a billion dollars alone just to go through there and get all the things out of there that make the whole area smell like farts.

[01:02:42]>> I mean, can we can we please can we please stop calling the Hammond thing a deal?

[01:02:47]>> I mean, >> because because Dan, if if if it was the second this fell apart here, >> gone there. Done.

[01:02:53]>> Then you then you sign you signed that deal if it's a deal.

[01:02:57]>> But they haven't done it yet. And the official statement they put out in the middle of the night said, "We're going to continue to evaluate Arlington Heights and Hammond because we don't know what to do and we're scrambling for more time because we're lost and confused at the lowest point ever of our franchise history."

[01:03:15]So, we're going to continue to evaluate a swamp and the property that we already own.

[01:03:20]>> We have an update from Hammond. Uh, it's still a swamp.

[01:03:23]>> It is. All right. Hang on. Call online too, George. Yes. Yes, we still own the land in Arlington Heights.

[01:03:30]>> Correct. Thank you. Let me check back in with Hammond. Uh yeah. Uh still a swamp.

[01:03:34]Uh still an EPA problem and it's kind of it's just really watery. It's very It's very wet. It's extremely It should be this wet. It smells bad. It's wet and there there's all kinds of chemicals down here and it's going to cost a lot of money to go through and remediate all this stuff. But yeah, uh I'd say smelly and wet. Uh George call line too. Hello.

[01:03:56]Yeah, you still own Arlington Heights property. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

[01:03:59]Yeah, waiting. We're evaluating. We're going to sit and evaluate.

[01:04:02]>> Yeah. See, we own one area. The other area is a swamp. Hm. What should we do?

[01:04:06]I don't know. I don't know. Let's wait till the late spring, early summer. Late I get late late summer. Anyone? Special session? No. November. Oh, no. November.

[01:04:17]That's when they're going to reconvene.

[01:04:19]>> Yeah, they don't want November. Telling you they don't want It's harder in November. More votes.

[01:04:23]>> You know what? Go. Yeah. Then go. If you have a deal and they're willing to give you billions of dollars, then go.

[01:04:30]>> And and and the legacy of of of George House, a legacy of your mother, all that mattered in the world to your mother was the future of this franchise.

[01:04:46]>> 1975, George started and wanted to move to Arlington Heights >> identified that area. That's That's >> So if listen if Hammond is saying here's the money here's the land go do it now George what are you waiting for Kevin what are you waiting for sign the deal and go build your multi-use entertainment park and and then and then you know what and then after the scene's over get Taylor Swift to come there and perform a concert >> and fill it fill it with people for the concert >> and as a as a taxpayer here as a citizen awesome >> great go or or just stay in Soldier Field Yeah. I mean, not going anywhere.

[01:05:23]>> Yeah. Your lease is up in 2033. You got no issues.

[01:05:26]>> You have to go anywhere. You're seven years here, >> right? Go ahead. Just keep playing.

[01:05:30]>> Just play there. Then, you know, resign the lease. Stay.

[01:05:33]>> You have your rinky dink little business and you want to keep running your rinky dink little business that you never expanded.

[01:05:39]>> Yeah. Then just stay. Stay in Soldier Field and everything's fine.

[01:05:42]>> Simple.

[01:05:43]>> There is no issue.

[01:05:46]But every time he opens his mouth, every time we see Kevin Warren, that's the question. Why are you still here? What do you do? What do you do? Why are you still being allowed to do it? Why hasn't someone told you that we now know you're a con man? This con busted. It blew up.

[01:06:05]It's over.

[01:06:08]The whole thing is over. You can pretend it's not. But every day that he is standing there in his with his orange tie or after games conh. Yeah. He's there in the locker room every day. Every every day >> talking to draft picks, >> right?

[01:06:29]>> For what?

[01:06:30]>> Ryan Ples makes the call. Let me have you talk to >> Let me have you talk to Kevin Warren.

[01:06:34]I'm going to put Kevin Warren on the line. Here's the team president, right?

[01:06:39]You know, everyone has a World Cup opinion, and my bookie gives you a place to put it. You've got a country that you're rooting for.

[01:06:45]>> I'm rooting for America.

[01:06:48]>> The favorite you think is overrated. The one friend that swears they know ball cuz they watched Three Highlights and bought a jersey. I like that guy. I'll hang it with that guy. I'll watch World Cup with that guy blowing his vuvu out his butt. That's what makes this tournament so fun. New players have a special promo code. We have an exclusive My Bookie offer for you. You got to sign in. You got to register your account with the code DBU for Dan Bernstein unfiltered and then you get it. You know, the World Cup turns every match into a conversation and my bookie lets you turn that opinion into action. Back your side before kickoff. Follow the match live. Stay locked in from the opening whistle to the final kick. The World Cup only comes around once every four years, so don't just watch it from the sidelines. Get in on the action at mybookie, promo code DBU, must be 21 plus. Please gamble responsibly.

[01:07:40]Mentioned yesterday, we have reloaded the rewards page on the 312 Sports app and 312ports.com, but get the app. Make sure you grab it at the Apple App Store and Google Play cuz you'll be able to listen to the show and have full command over everything. We've got a $100 gift certificate to ABBA located in Chicago's Fulton Market. It's a Mediterranean restaurant with a California influence.

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[01:08:24]Tickets for the 2026 season are on sale now.org. your promo code Kodi. C O D Y Kod. Enter that on any reward for a chance to win. Also, congratulations to our winners from May.

[01:08:40]Our winners were for the Anticoposto dinner, Michael Nicotera from Planefield, the Capitol Grill winner, Ted Duvas from West Chicago, Giardano's winner, I'll try to pronounce it, Fares Kyala from Crown Point, and the winner of the Weezer tickets, the big prize from Lraange, Phillip Montana.

[01:09:04]>> Oh, I would like to have seen Montana.

[01:09:07]>> Cold name.

[01:09:08]>> Yeah.

[01:09:10]That's a That's a second hunt for Red October reference in two days.

[01:09:13]>> Yes, it is.

[01:09:14]>> Yeah, I got called out on that one, too.

[01:09:16]For for Tupalev being called an ar you arrogant ass, you've killed us. So, of course, the emailer said, "Well, you can't fault Tupelv for taking the safeties off his torpedoes because they were told that Ramas was going to start World War II." They were told that Ramyas had gone rogue and and lost his mind and he was going to launch all his ballistic missiles when he got to the eastern seabboard.

[01:09:40]>> Yeah.

[01:09:40]>> And they loved Ramy. They were trained by Ramius and they adored him. So if told that Ramy was defecting and handing the Red October to the Americans, they might not have tried to sink him.

[01:09:54]>> Good point. Yeah, >> but I I didn't call him an arrogant ass.

[01:09:57]His assistant did.

[01:09:57]>> His assistant did. Right.

[01:09:59]>> Yeah. His lieutenant or whoever that was.

[01:10:01]>> Right. I also want to say a quick hello to uh uh one of our listeners uh regular podcast guy Tom. Tom stopped me on the train yesterday. He was walking past me on the train on the way home and he stopped and he he he said hello and he said he listens to all the podcasts and he and he loves them all. So hello Tom.

[01:10:19]>> Every day on the lake every day I'm out fishing. Yesterday our guy Patrick he he has a regular run. He's they took a picture of me catching that the white bass.

[01:10:26]>> Did you see that fish?

[01:10:27]>> Yeah, I did. Yeah.

[01:10:28]>> They're pretty rare. Like that's my second white bass of the season. I almost had the the gr the bass grand slam yesterday cuz I had two big small mouth rock bass and a white bass.

[01:10:41]>> Okay.

[01:10:42]>> All I needed was a large mouth.

[01:10:43]>> Yeah.

[01:10:44]>> And I would have had the Lake Michigan bass grand slam in a single day.

[01:10:48]>> Didn't get it.

[01:10:48]>> Then you went home and you made love to Stan Van Gundy.

[01:10:52]>> He was in the bed.

[01:10:52]>> I'm sure. I sent you the picture.

[01:10:55]>> I know. I saw it.

[01:10:57]>> You can show it.

[01:10:57]>> Is is is Maggie there tonight? Yeah. So, Maggie and Stan and you tonight it throppple. Okay.

[01:11:03]>> I've got my throppple. I've got I've got Maggie the mut. I've got lifesize body pillow Stan Van Gundy. Yeah. Beth is out of town, but he's bigger than Beth.

[01:11:14]Stan is >> interesting. He's big and you can't really spoon it. So, it's kind of like I I >> Yeah, I Yeah, probably don't spoon it.

[01:11:22]Maybe just leave it next to you.

[01:11:24]>> I did.

[01:11:24]>> Yeah. Yeah. Don't have to spoon it.

[01:11:25]>> But he made his debut last night.

[01:11:27]Everything's Everything's >> We'll see what Maggie thinks about it though. She'll probably she'll probably react negatively towards another man.

[01:11:33]>> It should not affect her because she likes she likes to wander around and then stop at the very end.

[01:11:40]>> She'll have a face though and that she might freak her out. She might be concerned about the man in your bed.

[01:11:45]>> Uh I wanted to tell you too real quick.

[01:11:47]>> What if she Oh, I hope she doesn't rip it up.

[01:11:48]>> She might. You just be careful. Yeah, you don't need her to shred it.

[01:11:51]>> She can't shred rip his face off. No, >> I forgot to tell you over the weekend, my 11 or my my 10-year-old stepson, Lucas, was in his travel baseball game.

[01:12:00]And I won't I won't mention who they were playing, but the game stopped in the middle of it because the catcher on the opposing team wasn't wearing a cup.

[01:12:08]>> And then as the coach gathered his team together, eventually found out that not one kid on the team had a cup on. So the coach walks over to to my son Grant and stepson's uh dugout and he was like, "Hey, I I guess my team's not prepared to play today, so we're we're going to just have to call this a day.

[01:12:24]>> They they had to they had to forfeit >> a cup forfeit.

[01:12:27]>> Yeah. Not one kid had a cup on." It was cup forfeit.

[01:12:29]>> Is that Are cups mandatory?

[01:12:32]>> Um >> or did he do that just out of the goodness of caring for other people's kids?

[01:12:37]>> I would think each community probably calls it on their own.

[01:12:40]>> That's interesting. Um I can't recall a 10U cuz all the kids wore them on our when I coached 8 9 10 11 U >> cuz hockey like a mouthguard thing.

[01:12:50]>> Yeah, like football you have to have your mouth guard in.

[01:12:52]>> With hockey like you got to go to the rink. You can buy it but you got to leave the rink or your parents have to go buy you the mouth guard and give you the mouth guard or or you can't play.

[01:13:00]>> Yeah. In tackle football the the refs will warn you once if it's a second time you're out of the you're out. You have to you can come back in the game but they take you off for at least a play.

[01:13:08]Yeah. I would I would think it would be mandatory. Maybe it's by community. We always made sure the kids had them on.

[01:13:12]>> Catcher didn't have one.

[01:13:13]>> It was a cup forfeit.

[01:13:14]>> The catcher.

[01:13:15]>> Have you ever heard of a cup forfeit?

[01:13:17]>> I've never heard of a cup forfeit.

[01:13:18]>> Felt bad for the kids, too.

[01:13:20]>> Come on. But you can't.

[01:13:22]>> But then, come on, parents. What are you doing? When are you letting your 10-year-old get dressed without a cup for to play a baseball game?

[01:13:26]>> And that was also like what eventually happened when you get to like like pee-wee, like older squirts and pee-wee.

[01:13:34]Yeah. when where the goalies that had been using regular cups have to make the change to an actual goalie cup.

[01:13:41]>> Yeah.

[01:13:42]>> Which looks like tactical armor >> that like you so >> because you don't when that one kid shows up and is firing the the like you if your kid's a goalie >> Yeah.

[01:13:56]>> splurge on the goalie cup earlier >> if you want to have grandchildren.

[01:14:00]>> Just do it. Yeah. Just do it. I thought you'd like that.

[01:14:02]>> Yeah. Cup forfeit.

[01:14:05]>> Cup forfeit. That's a new one.

[01:14:07]>> That's a new one. That's going to do it for uh DBU today. Dan Bernstein unfiltered >> and we've been brought to you by our friend Russ Armstrong. He is Chicago Window Guys and he's everything about Chicago Window Guys and will make sure that you have the best windows for your home at the absolute best price. So give him a call when you can. And where's the damn number?

[01:14:35]>> How many?

[01:14:36]>> I What are you looking for?

[01:14:38]>> How many sheets you got over there, too?

[01:14:40]>> Too many. Cuz cuz Carowski prints out.

[01:14:42]>> Oh, don't blame Carwowski. Don't try to throw Carowski under the bus.

[01:14:46]>> I know. He's too big.

[01:14:48]>> Oh, you break the bus.

[01:14:50]>> Like to see that.

[01:14:51]>> He'd break the bus. Like, hey, dude. The knock it over. Uh, yeah. Three uh 847302 9171. How do you not know that number yet?

[01:15:01]>> I'm I've got a lot on my mind. And we've been brought to you in partnership with my bookie.

[01:15:09]Say bye now.

[01:15:10]>> Buy now.

[01:15:12]>> Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered. Unfiltered on 312 Sports.