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Speaker 1: I think their goal more than winning one World Series

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Speaker 1: this year, like this is the year type pressure.

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Speaker 2: It is being competitive.

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Speaker 3: It's got to suck to lose two games and then

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Speaker 3: have to wait for a really long time. Let's talk

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Speaker 3: about it right now. Patrick Mooney covers the Chicago Cubs

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Speaker 3: for the Athletic and of course for North Side Territory.

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Speaker 3: It's an awesome show. Check it out him and Sade Sharma. Patrick,

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Speaker 3: good to see you. And can you talk Cubs fans

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Speaker 3: off the zero to two ledge right now? What did

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Speaker 3: you see that you liked and disliked from Tokyo?

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Speaker 2: Maybe check back in May.

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Speaker 1: I mean, because if you look at this opening schedule,

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Speaker 1: it is absolutely brutal. I think it's, by one count

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Speaker 1: the toughest month in all of baseball followed by the

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Speaker 1: easiest month in all of baseball all year.

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Speaker 2: So a lot of.

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Speaker 1: Dodgers, a lot of Diamondbacks, a lot of Padres Phillies.

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Speaker 1: They get to open up that Triple A ballpark in Sacramento,

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Speaker 1: So I think the angst will be felt on the

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Speaker 1: North Side for a couple of weeks.

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Speaker 4: Here are the flags flying the whole time. This seems

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Speaker 4: like it's more like a Brewer's question, because they do

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Speaker 4: the flags at Wrigley Field on the based on the

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Speaker 4: rankings standings. So are the Cubs flying their flags right

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Speaker 4: now even though other teams haven't played because they're way

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Speaker 4: at the bottom and that's kind of hurtful to Wrigleyville.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good question. I should have walked over

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Speaker 1: to Wrigley and checked that. Yeah, the worst team in baseball.

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Speaker 1: I don't think the flags are up just yet. It

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Speaker 1: has been cold, windy here, but yeah, they've had to

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Speaker 1: where this for a while, and you know, it'll be

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Speaker 1: really interesting to see because Craig Council before they left

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Speaker 1: for Tokyo said, the hardest part is going to be

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Speaker 1: when we get back to Arizona, particularly on the pitching

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Speaker 1: side of like ramping out, shutting it back down. And

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Speaker 1: you guys as catchers know like how hard and delicate

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Speaker 1: this is for pictures at this time of the year

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Speaker 1: in March. So I think it's gonna be really interesting

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Speaker 1: to watch to see, like what kind of news comes

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Speaker 1: out here once they get back into it against the

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Speaker 1: Diamondbacks in Arizona.

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Speaker 5: By the way, congratulations Patrick, you guys have the worse

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Speaker 5: record than the White sox So Cup fans enjoy that,

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Speaker 5: and I'm gonna wear that out for as long as

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Speaker 5: it is possible. So listen, nothing broke my heart more

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Speaker 5: than watching the Cubs go oh into in Tokyo. And

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Speaker 5: they have the worst record in baseball. Okay, so let's

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Speaker 5: make that And then, by the way, you can't Crassy.

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Speaker 5: I'll answer your question. They can't fly the flags because

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Speaker 5: the Wrigley fans get so upset and hurts all their

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Speaker 5: feelings and the players feeling. Like Dio said about the

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Speaker 5: EMUs Catuli sign, you know, they have to take it

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Speaker 5: down because we can't have the fans and the players

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Speaker 5: seeing all this negative stuff out there.

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Speaker 2: So let's take everything that isn't What do you do?

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Speaker 5: Cubs are the best down in the whole world, sucking

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Speaker 5: Cup fans, but I gotta ask this, you have to

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Speaker 5: be encouraged about one thing. You have to be encouraged

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Speaker 5: about one thing. Emmaaga pitch great, Steele made a couple

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Speaker 5: of mistakes, but I thought those two guys at the

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Speaker 5: top of rotation is going to be great for them.

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Speaker 5: I think, especially if Steel stays healthy. What Immannaga showed,

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Speaker 5: you're backing with tie on I think the Cub's top

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Speaker 5: of the rotation is going to be really good this year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're right on that account.

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Speaker 1: AJ Like the Cub Like no team is gonna look

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Speaker 1: great on paper when you stack up against the Dodgers. Now,

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Speaker 1: they didn't have two Hall of Famers in the lineup,

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Speaker 1: and they probably caught Sazaki at a.

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Speaker 2: Good time, like his debut in his home country.

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Speaker 1: But the Cubs are good at like the boarding stuff, Like,

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Speaker 1: they have a lot of pitching depth, they have flexibility.

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Speaker 1: They have a manager you know who's proofd and loves

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Speaker 1: you know, optional relievers. Like their game planning system is

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Speaker 1: pretty good. They have top prospects waiting in Iowa. So like,

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Speaker 1: this is a team that I think will show up

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Speaker 1: better over the course of one sixty two than one

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Speaker 1: that will like wow you in any given series.

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Speaker 4: The lineup really doesn't wow you. But the one part

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Speaker 4: of the lineup that was kind of confusing to me.

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Speaker 4: Should fans really be mad that one hundred and forty

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Speaker 4: four million dollar man was hitting behind Matt Shaw making

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Speaker 4: his rookie debut in another country in the big leagues?

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Speaker 1: Well, you know, counsel he any of those sorts of questions.

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Speaker 1: He just immediately shrugs off or dismisses that. He says

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Speaker 1: as the lineup construction does.

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Speaker 2: Not really matter.

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Speaker 1: But there's gonna be a lot of pressure on Matt

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Speaker 1: Shaw this year. I don't know if you saw a

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Speaker 1: Chandler Rome story in the Athletic Uh. You know Chandler

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Speaker 1: our colleague here at the fel Territory Network on cam Smith.

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Speaker 1: You know, a third baseman who may play right field

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Speaker 1: for the Astro is the guy who was traded in

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Speaker 1: the Kyle Tucker deal. Like this is a guy who

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Speaker 1: has to produce for them, and you know he does

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Speaker 1: not have I think it's thirty five games of experience

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Speaker 1: at the Triple A level. He doesn't have a ton

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Speaker 1: of experience just simply playing third base. So wherever he

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Speaker 1: hits in that lineup, he's the name you have to

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Speaker 1: circle of a guy who, like fair Orkno has to

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Speaker 1: perform this year because they didn't get out spreagmant.

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Speaker 2: Hey Patrick.

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Speaker 5: By the way, Danzy's only making one to seventy seven

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Speaker 5: Crawts Understole undersold them, so it's seven years, seventy seven,

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Speaker 5: one forty four, so he undersold them. But Michaelson is

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Speaker 5: on Matt Shaw. I watched him. I called the games

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Speaker 5: for Fox, the two games in Tokyo. I know that

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Speaker 5: he hits the way he hits. It's very unorthodox, and

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Speaker 5: the some of the swings he got a hit. Granted

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Speaker 5: it shouldn't have been a hit, I mean the pitcher clank.

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Speaker 5: But there are no errors in Major League Baseball anymore.

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Speaker 5: They want everyone to get hits, which is fine. Great

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Speaker 5: for said for him, congratulations and never taken away from you.

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Speaker 5: He'll tell his kids it was a line drive up

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Speaker 5: the midde right, But for sure, is this the way

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Speaker 5: he hits, because I mean, I can't do it because

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Speaker 5: the screens too small. But with his footway turned in

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Speaker 5: the way he's so turned right, he kind of has

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Speaker 5: kind of a funky swing. It's kind of Hunter Pensis,

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Speaker 5: just different than what you normally see. I know he's

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Speaker 5: had success in the minor leagues, but from what I saw,

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Speaker 5: the Cubs expect him to stay like this and still

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Speaker 5: hit the way he does.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean I think over the years the

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Speaker 1: Cubs have cycled through like so many hitting coaches and

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Speaker 1: like hitting philosophies that I think they're in a pretty

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Speaker 1: good place with this right now.

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Speaker 2: And look, he's a guy who.

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Speaker 1: Was the Cape Cod League MVP, turned himself into first

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Speaker 1: round pick at the University of Maryland, has hit every

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Speaker 1: level of the miners. And Counsel made the point like,

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Speaker 1: if you look at kind of identifying hitting talent right now,

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Speaker 1: the Cup might have regularly have seven first round picks

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Speaker 1: on the field basically their entire infield and their entire outfield.

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Speaker 1: I think they feel pretty good about their ability to

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Speaker 1: identify first round college tye pitters. And you know, I

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Speaker 1: think and Krasts knows this, Like Council's big thing with

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Speaker 1: young players is you have to catch the ball and

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Speaker 1: make the plays on defense. That he is extremely willing

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Speaker 1: to be patient with young talent so long as they

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Speaker 1: get it done on defense. That was Bryce Strang was

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Speaker 1: a great example in Milwaukee. Peeko Armstrong was a great

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Speaker 1: example in Chicago. And so that's why I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: some of those throws or some of those plays at

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Speaker 1: third base will be highlighted if he doesn't make them,

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Speaker 1: because they do think he'll hit in the long run.

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Speaker 1: They're optimistic that eventually his athleticism will get him there.

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Speaker 1: On defense, but he simply just does not have the

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Speaker 1: reps or the background to eliminate those questions.

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Speaker 3: On opening day, looking for premium clothes at an affordable price,

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Speaker 2: Look.

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Speaker 5: You can wear it under a suit, you can wear

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Speaker 2: Ftfam get after it.

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Speaker 3: Patrick, Why do you think the Cubs are so heavily

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Speaker 3: favored to win the division? I mean, if you want

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Speaker 3: to kind of touch on the rest of the division too,

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Speaker 3: and how you compare them, I mean, I think they're

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Speaker 3: going to be good, but I think the Reds are

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Speaker 3: going to be good. I think the Brewers are going

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Speaker 3: to be good. We're good enough to make this damn

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Speaker 3: close and definitely not a runaway for Chicago by any means.

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Speaker 3: I would be shocked if they do what the Brewers

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Speaker 3: did last year and win by double digits in the division,

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Speaker 3: wouldn't you?

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Speaker 2: Absolutely?

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Speaker 1: And I think that is part of the frustration around

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Speaker 1: the Cubs of like, why didn't they just put their

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Speaker 1: foot on the gas and really try and win this

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Speaker 1: thing and you know, build a true World Series content

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Speaker 1: or not just a team that is set up to

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Speaker 1: sort of like hang on and you know, maybe win

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Speaker 1: eighty five to eighty eight games or sort of wait

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Speaker 1: until the trade deadline and then make a big move

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Speaker 1: or a big splash. I think really they've built a

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Speaker 1: team sort of against their level of competition, the way

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Speaker 1: that the Dodgers have forced the Diamondbacks to get better

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Speaker 1: and think outside the box. The Cubs have sort of

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Speaker 1: been in this on this n NOW Central track for

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Speaker 1: a while now, and like, yeah, their pitching depth is good.

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Speaker 1: The top of the rotation, as Aj mentioned, should be

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Speaker 1: pretty good. Kyle Tucker has a lot to play for

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Speaker 1: and has been in kind of an underrated superstar for

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Speaker 1: a while now, So there are certainly the elements of

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Speaker 1: a division winner. But yeah, you can't write off the

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Speaker 1: Reds talent and Terry Francona, you know, his ability to

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Speaker 1: bring a group together feels like we always overlook the

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Speaker 1: Brewers and they're usually there almost every September, And like

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Speaker 1: the Pirates have a ton of pitching talent that you know,

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Speaker 1: they haven't really supplemented it the way you know, Pirates

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Speaker 1: fans would have hoped, But there's something to work with there.

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Speaker 1: Particularly when the Cup did not build a team that's

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Speaker 1: gonna win one hundred games, it was more like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: this is a reasonable chance of being good and then

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Speaker 1: can supplement at the trade deadline. It's going it's gonna

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Speaker 1: be interesting. I don't think anyone's gonna run away with it.

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Speaker 2: In the central.

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Speaker 4: Is the bullpen deep enough to be able to take

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Speaker 4: them to where they want to go. I mean Ryan

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Speaker 4: Presley at the end. Obviously he's been an elite closer

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Speaker 4: for his entire career, but Counsel's other bullpens in his

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Speaker 4: career with the Brewers, he had Devin Williams, he had

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Speaker 4: Josh Hayder during that time. So they added they added

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Speaker 4: that Presley to the bullpen, which is his Like, you know,

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Speaker 4: it's that's his guy. But is it deep enough Julian

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Speaker 4: Meriwether's coming off injuries, like is there like we didn't

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Speaker 4: really see much of it in because Ben Brown ate

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Speaker 4: a lot of the innings and he's going to be

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Speaker 4: their first starter.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean it's a great, great question. I think.

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Speaker 1: I think looking at this group last year, there was

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Speaker 1: a hope that there'd be some sort of like council

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Speaker 1: magic and that he would push the right buttons, and

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Speaker 1: they wound up with eighty three wins, the same amount

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Speaker 1: they had under David Ross. I mean, you look at

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Speaker 1: that list, there's a lot of talent, there's a lot

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Speaker 1: of potential, there are question marks. I mean, Julian Meriweather

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Speaker 1: is a classic, like if he's healthy, he's been lights out,

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Speaker 1: but he hasn't been healthy enough throughout his career. You know,

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Speaker 1: there's only one lefty on that list. You do see

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Speaker 1: some flexibility of guys who could go multiple innings. They're

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Speaker 1: really encouraged by Brad Keller, a guy who's kind of

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Speaker 1: come out of nowhere here to really open eyes in

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Speaker 1: the Cactus League. And this is where this again like

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Speaker 1: a competence thing. It's not glamorous, but the Cubs over

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Speaker 1: the years have been pretty good at finding under the

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Speaker 1: radar guys, coaching him up, put him in the right situation.

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Speaker 1: So you know, if Presley is the guy he was

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Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, I think that just brings

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Speaker 1: an enormous sense of like confidence and stability that they

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Speaker 1: did not have at the beginning of the last two years.

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Speaker 5: Why I want to go back to what you said,

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Speaker 5: why why didn't the Cubs put the pedal to the metal.

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Speaker 4: Why.

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Speaker 5: I know we've beat it to kind of beat it

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Speaker 5: to death, but I want to hear from you why why?

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Speaker 5: Because I mean everyone you know, oh, the Dodgers and others,

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Speaker 5: Wrigley Field and Wrigleyville and all the stuff that the

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Speaker 5: Ricketts family and the Cubs own around there. You can't

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Speaker 5: tell me that they're not making money. Come on, Patrick,

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Speaker 5: I mean I've been there. I've walked around there.

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Speaker 2: When there's games. You can't tell me.

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Speaker 5: They have concerts and they have this going on. They

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Speaker 5: have the little whiffle ball field where people play, and

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Speaker 5: then they go across the street. They have the hotel

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Speaker 5: with the McDonald's and all the restaurants and every bar

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Speaker 5: you look, and they own all the rooftops now and

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Speaker 5: they have all this advertising. Now, why can't the Cubs

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Speaker 5: put the pedal to the metal, Or maybe the better

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Speaker 5: question is why don't they want to?

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Speaker 1: I think, as they know they'll get to three million

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Speaker 1: fans no matter what. I think that is part of it.

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Speaker 1: I think there were scenarios in which that payroll number

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Speaker 1: would be a lot closer to where it historically has been.

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Speaker 1: I think Bregman is an example of where they made

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Speaker 1: an offer that was not like super competitive, but would

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Speaker 1: have you taken their payroll into another range. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: like the revenues, the history, the market size, the generational

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Speaker 1: passion for this baseball team like simply does not match

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Speaker 1: up to where the payroll is at this moment.

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Speaker 2: I know they will say that things could change around

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Speaker 2: the trade deadline.

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Speaker 1: I mean, coming out of Cubs convention, it was we'll

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Speaker 1: see how the free agent market shakes out. Bregman was

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Speaker 1: that kind of outlier god that they pursued but could

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Speaker 1: not real in. But I mean, ultimately that is you know,

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Speaker 1: a major frustration in Wrigleyville, because your eyes tell you

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Speaker 1: one thing. You know, the like you said, AJ, the hotels,

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Speaker 1: the crowds, the really what has been an awesome renovation?

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Speaker 1: I would say, I think you know just about Cubspans

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Speaker 1: don't agree on much, but I think everyone agrees that

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Speaker 1: they did a good job with this kind of billion

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Speaker 1: dollar renovation at Wrigley Field to maintain the atmosphere and

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Speaker 1: a lot of the charms while modernizing it. But I mean,

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Speaker 1: you look back this as a team that in twenty

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Speaker 1: nineteen had the highest payroll in the National League, and

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Speaker 1: it's really since then has either stayed flat or dipped,

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Speaker 1: in part because of COVID, in part because of uncertainty around.

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Speaker 2: Their TV situation. And I think a small part.

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Speaker 1: Of it that no one with the Cubs would really

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Speaker 1: say is just like nineteen oh eight isn't hanging over

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Speaker 1: them anymore like in their World Series. And I think

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Speaker 1: their goal more than winning one series, one World Series

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Speaker 1: this year, like this is the year type pressure. It

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Speaker 1: is being competitive on an annual base basis, playing meaningful

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Speaker 1: baseball in September every year and regularly getting into the playoffs.

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Speaker 2: It's kind of a different mindset.

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Speaker 3: Much more on this topic.

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Speaker 5: They shouldn't They shouldn't have put the scoreboards up. That's

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Speaker 5: the only problem I have with the renovations. The giant scoreboards.

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Speaker 5: That was like the coolest thing you'd be catching. I'd

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Speaker 5: be back there catching and they got the blue angels

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Speaker 5: flying over and you could see the drunk people up

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Speaker 5: in the up in the houses out there. Now you

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Speaker 5: see his two giant scoreboards, Like, no, I don't want those.

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Speaker 5: I want to see the drunk people out on the

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Speaker 5: group top having fun. Make me drunk.

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Speaker 1: See you see drunk people on the scoreboard now like

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Speaker 1: in high definition, right, grew, But I don't want.

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Speaker 5: To see him that up close, right, I want to

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Speaker 5: see it far away so I can I can dream

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Speaker 5: what they're doing. I don't need to see some sloppy

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Speaker 5: cups fans tucking down a spulk beer.

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Speaker 3: Right, they stacked the cups a jas are awesome.

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Speaker 4: The cup snakes are awesome.

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Speaker 5: I will admit, they need to see if they could

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Speaker 5: do one over the bleachers up to the rooftops. Like

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Speaker 5: you want cup fans, you want me to be a fan.

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Speaker 5: Make a cup snake that starts in the bleachers and

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Speaker 5: goes all the way up over the over the fence,

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Speaker 5: across the street to the and have somebody above the

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Speaker 5: and the bleat and the rooftops holding it up.

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Speaker 4: That would be awesome.

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Speaker 3: Good luck. I mean, if they start zher to ten,

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Speaker 3: you might you might get a few of those.

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Speaker 2: Patrick.

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Speaker 3: Good to see you. Catch Patrick and Taday Sharma on

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Speaker 3: North Side Territory. Catchpatrick's stories in the Athletic, uh including

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Speaker 3: a little look at the starting lineup rotation, the whole

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Speaker 3: deal that's up there right now, and the Athletic. Here's

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Speaker 3: the North Side Territory plug for you as well. Good

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Speaker 3: to see you, Patrick, and you know, good luck, I

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Speaker 3: would say going through this stretch obviously it doesn't matter

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Speaker 3: if they win or lose for you, but just weathering

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Speaker 3: the storm of what if. It is a tough schedule

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Speaker 3: and things get ugly early, So good.

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Speaker 2: To see it. We'll talk sooner. Take care, guys. Thank you,