A Great Time to Be a Chicago Sports Fan

Summary

Podcast Summary: Dan Bernstein Unfiltered

Episode: A Great Time to Be a Chicago Sports Fan

Host: Dan Bernstein
Co-Host: Matt ("Matty") Abbatacola
Date: July 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the rare convergence of optimism across all major Chicago sports teams. Dan Bernstein and Matty reflect on the current upswing—with the Cubs and White Sox both in playoff position, excitement for the Bears' upcoming training camp, the Bulls’ promising rookie, and hope for the Blackhawks’ young star. They draw parallels to past moments of collective hope, mainly the late 2000s, and discuss the lessons that come from looking back on both the highs and lows of Chicago sports. The conversation shifts fluidly from sports analysis to nostalgia, with candid, humorous, and at times philosophical musings on fandom, pop culture, and even moviegoing habits.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. The Current State of Chicago Sports: A Moment to Savor

• Cubs and White Sox:
  • "You got the White Sox at the top of their division. You have the Cubs riding the ship, continuing to play well, looking at a at this point a likely playoff spot." (00:53, Dan)
  • The White Sox's success this season is "basically unforeseeable," with a swift turnaround from a recent 120-loss season (10:08, Dan).
• Bears:
  • Widespread anticipation for Bears training camp after the previous year's spectacular debut of QB Caleb Williams.
  • Recognition that "anticipation is part of the joy" of being a fan—especially of the Bears, who remain “the bedrock of our Chicago sports existence.” (10:08-11:53, Dan)
• Bulls:
  • High energy around rookie Caleb Wilson, likened to the excitement of drafting Derrick Rose in 2008:
    • "Caleb Wilson is easily, easily the most exciting first round pick, the most exciting player on the Bulls since Derrick Rose." (05:09, Dan)
• Blackhawks:
  • The hope that their current young star will become a true franchise-changing player persists, even amid skepticism and the sport’s natural “grumbling.” (12:00, Matty & Dan)
• General Sentiment:
  • "Every once in a while, it's okay to stop and appreciate it." (06:55, Dan)
  • Reflection on how rare it is for Chicago fans to feel optimism toward all major teams at the same time.

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2. Looking Back: When Was the Last Time Chicago Felt Like This?

• Dan identifies late summer/early fall 2008 as the last similar period—Bulls draft Derrick Rose, Cubs and Sox both reach playoffs, Bears recently made the Super Bowl, and the Blackhawks’ Taves/Kane era was beginning.
  • "When's the last time we were kind of feeling like this? … 2008… Oh, holy shit. That's nearly two decades ago." (01:52, Dan)

2008 Sports Landscape Memory Lane

• Humorous recollection of a playoff watch party and unusual snacks:
  • "I brought…the bamboo caterpillars from Sticky Rice…" (04:23, Dan)
  • "They had discontinued the bamboo caterpillars, because we only found out later that they were importing them illegally." (04:29, Dan)
• Recognition of past optimism and how “the only really successful organization to come out of that era...were the Blackhawks—the only ones to actually win anything." (07:25, Matty)
• Sobering reflection on the Blackhawks’ sexual abuse scandal and how it taints the memory of their accomplishments:
  • "The sourness of that, the horror of that is still echoing for some of us." (07:53, Dan)

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3. Managing Expectations and Appreciating the Moment

• Bernstein reminds listeners of “the fleeting nature of that kind of sports glory”:
  • "The lesson from 2016, now that I think about it, is the fleeting nature of that kind of sports glory because the Bulls gave us a false understanding…Basketball works differently." (32:03, Dan)
• A discussion about how quickly players and moments slip through our fingers—citing the Cubs’ 2016 World Series and the fast fade of stars like Chris Bryant and Jake Arrieta:
  • "I continue to really feel bad for Chris Bryant…he's essentially done playing baseball." (18:17, Dan)
  • "The number of individuals on the Cubs, Jake Arrieta—poof. That was a couple of seasons of, of magic…" (32:03, Dan)
• “The anticipation is part of the joy…the fantasizing about what realistically could be is part of the joy, it's part of why we're sports fans.” (33:28, Dan)

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4. The Cubs’ 2016 World Series, Reunions & Management Musings

• 10-year celebration upcoming at Wrigley: "The whole full celebration of the World Series team is going to be this weekend…you see people get older." (17:54, Dan)
• Odd arc of Joe Maddon: once assumed to be eternally beloved, but quickly fell out of favor post-2016:
  • "Nothing is stranger than the curious case of Joe Maddon. Nothing." (18:16, Dan)
  • "We were wrong about what would ultimately happen…Joe Madden quickly became almost a relic of that team and nobody's hired him to do anything." (22:33, Dan)
  • Parallels drawn to Mike Ditka’s long Chicago afterglow versus Maddon’s rapid irrelevancy.
• Player churn as normal, and even a mark of a healthy organization:
  • "I do think it's really important to be aware that Javier Baez became Pete Crowe Armstrong. Like that—that's how it's supposed to work." (27:47, Dan)
• Legendary status and identity fade quickly unless tied to lasting wins or transcendent personality.

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5. Legendary Plays and Deep Cuts

• Revisiting the iconic Javy Báez play against the Pirates and first baseman Will Craig’s career tailspin:
  • "That's still the greatest thing I've ever seen. And the reaction of particularly Anthony Rizzo in the dugout is just unbelievable." (39:27, Matty)
  • "Craig joined the Duke University staff as the recruiting coordinator ahead of the 26 season." (38:11, Matty)
• Joking about the hidden meaning of sports bloopers and “invisible” players (“the Jordy Nelson cloaking device”).

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6. Sports Fandom Philosophy: Anticipation vs. Reality

• Dan likens the joy of sports anticipation to gift-giving: "Sometimes the best part of the gift or best part of an experience is the anticipation and is the planning..." (33:28, Dan)
• Recognizes the unpredictability of every upcoming season—whether for the Cubs, Sox, or Bears.
• Matty sums up: "The anticipation is part of the whole thing. Sometimes you realize after the fact that the anticipation is even better than the vacation or that it was all part of the same thing, and that's okay." (33:32, Matty paraphrased/paralleled to Dan’s sentiment)

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7. Pop Culture Tangent: Christopher Nolan’s "The Odyssey" & Moviegoing Habits

• Dan struggles with the cultural pressure to see Nolan’s latest IMAX event:
  • "I can't have a movie feel like homework…I don't want to feel like I have to go." (48:45, Dan)
• Humorous reflection on Matt Damon's many “trying to get home” roles—and jokes about why he’s never home if he has four teenage daughters:
  • "Hollywood spent a billion dollars trying to get Matt Damon home." (51:04, Matty)
• Matty advises: "I think you should try really hard to not be you for once…stop thinking about this and just go see it." (50:06, Matty)
• The two banter through classic misheard song lyrics (“wrapped up like a deuce,” “I bless the rain(s) down in Africa”) and memories of TV shows they never watched (e.g., Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

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Greatest Hits & Quotables

• On sports joy being rare and to be cherished:
  • “Every once in a while it's okay to stop and appreciate it.” (06:55, Dan)
  • "The anticipation is part of the joy." (33:28, Dan)
• On 2008 as the last great collective sports moment:
  • "When's the last time we were kind of feeling like this? … 2008… Oh, holy shit." (01:52, Dan)
• On Joe Maddon's forgotten legacy:
  • "Joe Madden quickly became almost a...relic of that team and nobody's hired him to do anything." (22:33, Dan)
• On fleeting glory and roster churn:
  • “Rather than lamenting his [Javy Baez’s] departure...Oh, we ended up getting somebody who people are comparing, possibly, to the next Mickey Mantle.” (29:32, Dan)
• On movie culture and personal resistance:
  • “I can't have a movie feel like homework. The worst way to get me to go to a movie is to make me feel like I have to.” (48:45, Dan)
  • “I think you should try really hard to not be you for once…stop thinking about this and just go see it.” (50:06, Matty)
• On Cubs memories:
  • “My memories of this team and covering this team and being around the 2016 team are a lot of little things and a lot of little stories about...the catharsis of the celebration.” (31:37, Dan)
• On anticipation vs. memory:
  • “That joy is just as real as whatever joy you get on the actual vacation.” (33:32, Dan)

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Noteworthy Tangents

• Extended, comedic sidebar about the fate of Will Craig after his infamous error—a "deep dive" into post-major league life (37:20–39:00).
• Running inside joke about “the Jordy Nelson cloaking device.”
• Classic “Burnsteining” self-awareness—when Dan overthinks simple pleasures (50:25–50:33).

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Timestamps by Segment

00:53 – 07:25: Discussion of current Chicago sports optimism; comparison to 2008
07:25 – 12:49: 2008 nostalgia, Blackhawks’ legacy and scandal
12:49 – 17:53: Cubs/Sox current season turnaround, White Sox’s unexpected rise
17:53 – 29:32: Cubs’ World Series reunion, Joe Maddon’s arc, player trades and organizational change
29:32 – 33:32: Reflection on the fleeting nature of sports glory and importance of anticipation
33:32 – 40:18: Fun with legendary plays (Javy Báez), Will Craig’s post-MLB story, movie misheard lyrics
40:18 – 47:16: More pop culture tangents: IMAX, Christopher Nolan, and Matt Damon
47:16 – 50:55: Nolan’s "Odyssey" debate, the pressure (and resistance) to see hyped movies
50:55 – 65:34: Comedic riffing on classic TV shows, self-parody, and goofy song lyrics
65:34 – End: Closing thoughts on World Cup, movie theater technicalities, and reward plugs (skip for content purposes)

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Tone and Style

Bernstein and Matty maintain a conversational, witty, and occasionally self-deprecating tone. Their banter weaves nostalgia, wry observation, and sharp sports analysis, with a comfortable mix of reverence for Chicago fandom and irreverence toward sports and pop culture clichés.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is a celebration—equal parts sharp sports talk and personal reminiscence—of a rare moment in which all major Chicago teams ignite real hope in their fans. The hosts urge listeners to savor it, knowing from experience how transitory these windows of excitement can be. Along the way, the conversation veers delightfully into the culture around sports, the peculiarity of sports memory, and the timeless joy (and existential frustration) embedded in being a Chicago sports fan.

Transcript

[Dan Bernstein]

Join me Genevieve on Saturday, July 18th from 11am to 1pm at the AT&T Skokie Store at 9410 Skokie Boulevard for fun giveaways and more. Plus, enter for your chance to win Ariana Grande concert tickets every half hour courtesy of WTMX FM. Don't miss it. Saturday, July 18 at the AT&T store, 9410 Skokie Boulevard, while supplies last. For details, visit wtmx.com events there's nothing like the American Express Platinum Card. Find out your welcome offer after you apply, which could be as high as 175,000 points. Learn more and find out your [e-mail] Explore Platinum terms apply with the American Express Platinum card, you can access over $3,500 in annual value with benefits and eligible purchases across travel, entertainment and more. There's nothing like Platinum. Learn [e-mail] Explore Platinum Enrollment Requirements monthly and other limits in terms of Apply Dan Bernstein unfiltered unfiltered on 312 sports it is DBU on 312 brought to you in partnership with my bookie and brought to you by Harley Davidson of Woodstock. You can visit them [e-mail] I was looking across the board at where the two baseball teams are. You got the White Sox at the top of their division. You have the Cubs riding the ship, continuing to play well, looking at a at this point a likely playoff spot. We're also just actively, aggressively anticipating the start of Bears training camp after last year sort of arrived so spectacularly and Caleb Williams arrived so spectacularly and then over the last couple days watching these Bulls summer league games, I guess we don't have to watch today. I think it's a 5 o' clock start, but apparently Caleb Wilson's summer league time is is good that they're they've seen enough and they're they're going to shut that down, which is, I guess begrudgingly. Okay, selfishly, I want to see him play more. And I'm thinking I know this is not hard to do because this city has not had a lot of times of sports quality confluence with the material professional sports. But this is pretty good for Chicago. So we go back since, since when? When's the last time we were kind of feeling like this And I think the answer is late summer, early fall of 2008 would be my best guess that this is the first time in and then I think 2008 that doesn't feel like that's all that long ago? Oh, holy shit. That's nearly two decades ago. Mm. I just. I. When I hear 2008, it doesn't. And then I actually do the math in my head, like, where did all the time go? Okay. Yeah, that's right. Because in 2008, the Cubs and Sox both made the playoffs. That was the year that the White Sox, that was like the what? The Carlos Quentin team that lost to the Tampa Bay Rays. BJ Upton was home ring against them. And that was one of the Lou Pinella, Alfonso Soriano Cubs teams in there that made the playoffs and lost to the Diamond Dodger. Diamondbacks. I think Diamondbacks the previous year.

[Matty]

Okay. Diamondbacks are.07, Dodgers 08. Yeah. Oh, yeah, right.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I think, Maddie, you and I were together. We were on Western Avenue at an. At an Irish pub at the corner of Western and Berto watching that game. We had. We had a watch party.

[Matty]

Yes, that's exactly right.

[Dan Bernstein]

For when they were eliminated by the Dodgers, I believe.

[Matty]

I think that's where somebody, a listener, brought us fried crickets.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I brought it. I. It was.

[Matty]

You brought them?

[Dan Bernstein]

I. I brought. It was the. The bamboo caterpillars from Sticky rice.

[Matty]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Which is now late, lamented Sky Point. They closed sticky rice, unfortunately, and they had discontinued the bamboo caterpillars because we only found out later that they were importing them illegally.

[Matty]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, they're still awesome, though. The kids used to love them. They used to ask to go there just to eat the caterpillars because I missed that restaurant terribly. But, but remember also what had happened in that summer's NBA draft? In 08, the Bulls had the number one overall pick and. And they selected Derrick Rose.

[Matty]

This is a good pick.

[Dan Bernstein]

So there was that excitement. And as we talked about yesterday on owc, Caleb Wilson is easily, easily the most exciting first round pick. The most exciting player on the Bulls is Derrick Rose. With the possibilities, what could be with. Every next time you watch him play, every next time you hear him talk, that level of excitement, you. That's the thing. You kind of know it when you see it, and you know that there's actual reason for genuine optimism when you see that guy play and. And understand what his whole deal is. So then you also had a Bears team that was not so far removed from a Super bowl appearance and that still had, you know, Lovey Smith in the, you know, the middle of that run when we trusted that there was going to be a level of competitiveness every year. So there was some excitement surrounding the Bears as well. Now the, and also wasn't 08, 07 and 08 the arrival of Kane and Taves. I'm pretty sure it was. I think that was the. They were beyond just some green shoots at that point and that was, it felt like the end of the dark ages that the Blackhawks were, were emerging from the wilderness. Yeah, that's right at the time in 08. So I'm pretty confident looking at the current Chicago sports landscape, we've lived through some, some, some rough ones, at least I have since starting in 1995. Some very, very difficult eras, if not for individual years. And we just couldn't trust that the teams were competitive or well run at all. And then to, to overlay this understanding with what is now 10 years since winning the World Series, which we're going to get to in a little bit, makes it even more interesting to me. But I guess the lesson is every once in a while it's okay to stop and appreciate it.

[Matty]

Yeah. And it's interesting too, Dan, looking back at 2008, that, that, that era, that time, so even, you know, 06 through 10, 11 like teams were expected to make the playoffs. All the Chicago teams like that was the expectations. And the only really successful organization to come out of that, that era, that time frame were the Blackhawks the only ones to actually win anything.

[Dan Bernstein]

The only ones who, who in with the players that were being developed in that era, that sort of became something. Yes. And, and unfortunately now we know that the Blackhawks were doing that while covering up a sexual abuse scandal in their ranks in and with their NHL team through their minor leagues, that they had a coach in Brad Aldrich who was abusing their players and they decided to cover it up in the name of winning a championship. And that has certainly the sourness of that, the horror of that is still echoing for some of us and it's still been hard to shake that because the after the fact understanding of shakes you to your core. To think about what was done in the name of winning and how there was another child who was hurt because they moved their coach out of there, sent him a letter of recommendation so he can go coach high school and abused other people. That, that's only the one that we know about that had him jailed, but not to dwell on that.

[Matty]

Yeah. Because you're looking back at 18 years since we've had this type of feeling, expectation, enjoyment of all the major sports.

[Dan Bernstein]

And sometimes you get lost in the day to day because even when teams are good and sometimes, especially when the teams are Good. We're going to dig into the details and say, all right, well, they're good, but how can they be great? Win a championship? What are they doing to win a title? What are they doing to win a title? What are they doing to win a title? And that's. That's what we should do. But it doesn't also mean that. That we can't appreciate where they are, that the. The Cubs, through all of this, remain surprisingly competitive. What the White Sox have done is.

[Matty]

Is.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is basically unforeseeable. That maybe there were some experts that believed you could see building blocks emerging this year and then the results starting next year. But the fact that they just flipped a switch and they called everybody up and everybody makes their debut, and all of a sudden they're, what are they, six games over and in first place in, you know, taking advantage of a weak division and a weak league, that.

[Matty]

That is.

[Dan Bernstein]

That there's no possible. You can go from losing 120 games to being at this point. But they did. They did, and they deserve a tremendous amount of credit for that. And underpinning all of it, the bedrock of our Chicago sports existence is the Bears, and you'd have to go a long, long time. And I know I was 2019. I was very excited. I thought, coming off of the 2018 season, or were they 12 and 4 in 2018, and they're bringing the band back. Here they are. And it just went completely off the rails. So we don't know that could happen to the Bears this year, too, because that does happen in the NFL. You get weird seasons in there, but nothing else other than the Bears. It was generating. That was the era of the Cubs where the offense kept breaking at the very end of the year, and it was like pulling teeth for them to score postseason runs. And everything was miserable around. Well, you know, the Madden is gone, and here comes David Ross in there and that. You started to get some of those sour feelings. But it's. It's all right to. To. To put a pin in this right here in the timeline. It's pretty good. It could be a lot worse right now as far as Chicago sports teams go. And I don't. I can't really speak to the Blackhawks. I don't pay the kind of attention that others do to what they're doing, but they do have somebody who I think is still supposed to be a potential superstar. Are we still there?

[Matty]

Oh, yeah. No, he still certainly is. Yeah, Absolutely.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matty]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like superstar. It's still on the table.

[Matty]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

For superstar And I. And there's. There's always grumbling around the Blackhawks because hockey people like to grumble. But there are. As long as there's still reason to believe that. That all of a sudden he's going to fulfill expectations and be a reason why they're a Stanley cup contender just because they have one of the greatest players in the game. And if that. If you tell me that that's still on the table, okay, then I know it's reason to buy a ticket every once in a while because you never know what that guy's going to do and you got to watch every shift. But it doesn't seem like he's getting the treatment of somebody who is a win because of or contend because of level superstar at this point. If you say so, Matty, I will take your word for it.

[Matty]

You should. Yes. Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, then. Then I absolutely will. We are down to the finals in the World cup, if I have this right. Technically there are two games remaining because there is a third place game that's going to be France versus England. Is that right? That they're gonna. They're gonna play a consolation game. And then it is Spain and Argentina for the World cup for that little tiny trophy that I used to hate and now I. Over time, I've learned to love it.

[Matty]

Why did you hate it and why do you love it?

[Dan Bernstein]

I hated it because it's like the biggest sporting event in the world and it's this tiny little trophy. But that's much more. I think that's much more world than like America would be. Giant trophy. It feels almost Trumpian. Like put plastic fake gold on stuff and super glue it to things. And that makes you more important and better because the bigger the trophy, the bigger the. The more that your mother and father love you. And we know that's not really true. And now I see the little World cup and I think that it's like the Holy Grail at the end of the Indiana Jones movie, that it's. It's the humility that it wouldn't be gaudy. It wouldn't be. Because really it was just a. A wine cup at a Seder is all it was. It might have been the one for Elijah with the extra wine in it that you'd slug down, but not that any kid would ever do that. I wouldn't know why that would happen, but maybe they chose wisely. I think with the. How the World cup looks, you can spend hours breaking down all the tactics and lineups, or you can just ask, will Both teams score. It's a bet for you at my Bookie. That simple. Are you. Are both teams going to score? Then you don't have to do any homework. You don't have to look at injury reports. You don't have to pretend that you watched both Argentina and Spain play all their qualifiers. You can just bet if somebody's going to score or not. The biggest sporting event in the world, the World cup final. You can be there with my bookie. Here's your promo code, dbu. Dbu. Those three letters. You can claim your deposit bonus and get up to $500 in protection on your first big bet. At my Bookie. You register, you deposit and then you get a bonus and you get that $500 in protection. That means if you lose the bet up to $500, you get it back and you run it again. And it's only at MyBookie with that code, DBU. Don't let managing your money be scary. Don't let it be intimidating, because it's not. I think having intelligent control control of your finances and your investments is really important and I believe Monarch can help you in doing so. Monarch is an app that functions like a financial advisor in your pocket. And as you get older and more people are relying on you to do this right, Monarch helps you do it. Helps you hit savings goals or a net worth milestone. Helps you realize when a large percentage of your income is going somewhere unexpected. I love the fact that Money Monarch lets you compare your investments to the Benchmark S&P 500. Most apps are going to tell you what you've already spent. Monarch helps you set goals and map out big purchases and see if you're actually on track before it's too late to adjust so you can write your own money story with Monarch. Use the code [e-mail] to get your first year of Monarch Core Half off at just $50. That's 50% off your first first year. @monarch.com with the code DBU, we have the tech to get food delivered in 15 minutes, but we all have horror stories about buying tickets. The GameTime app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few taps. Fees are included, so what you see is what you pay. And the Game Time guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy and more with Game time. Download the GameTime app and create an account for $20 off your first purchase term supply the official christening the dedication of Champions Gate at Wrigley Field is going to be tomorrow, this weekend. The whole full celebration of the World Series team is going to be this weekend in the home series against the Minnesota Twins. And 10 years, you see people get older. We've seen a lot of these great Cubs players finish up their careers. We've seen them all eventually sort of process out away from the Cubs system. You know, Jed remains. And who else technically remains? Is it. Is it just Jed now that Kyle Hendricks is gone? That was the last tie there. Crane. Kenny Crane.

[Matty]

Kenny.

[Dan Bernstein]

The Rickettses. There is, there's.

[Matty]

Isn't Randy, Randy Bush still like an advisor or something?

[Dan Bernstein]

I haven't heard that name. I don't think so.

[Matty]

I think he still has a role with the team. Maybe.

[Dan Bernstein]

Maybe still still collects a check. The. The strangest thing, and it happens so fast. There are a couple things that.

[Matty]

Where.

[Dan Bernstein]

Where my mind goes here. One is I continue to really feel bad for Chris Bryant that it was such a fast rise, such a great peak, and now he's essentially done playing baseball. The last that I read was his degenerative back issue is so severe that he sometimes has problems getting out of bed in the morning. And it's. It's awful. It's awful to think about. And he's got all the money. I don't care how much money you have. That chronic pain, chronic physical pain for a relatively young person is just terribly unfortunate. So I'm mindful of that. And because he's technically on another team still, he's a Colorado Rocky, and that limits his involvement. Does it not have to? Yeah, I mean, and not just by scheduling. I mean by what he's allowed to do and what's considered. Okay, I know there's. There's all sorts of easements that you can get and special permissions for these kinds of things that are generally allowed. But yeah, it's. It. It makes it tough. And. But nothing is stranger than the curious case of Joe Madden. Nothing. And we talked before the fact about, man, if the Cubs, whoever is the skipper of the Cubs when they win a World Series, that person is a made person for life. Absolutely. Set like a Mount Olympus set as a royalty, essentially. And we were wrong. We were wrong about what would ultimately happen to the person who led the Cubs to win the World Series because in short order, Joe Madden fell out of favor with upper management. And it was very public. They. And it started in the World Series itself. He didn't manage very well, and they played over the managing to win the World Series. I think I was understood. Everybody Celebrated. It was great, it was fun, it was awesome. Everybody got their rings, but they didn't win because of. At least once the World Series started, the actual game managing, they. You can make all kinds of arguments about the soft stuff and say, hey, you know, he. That was his culture, that was his team. And yes, it was. I. That it absolutely was. But the stuff that Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer eventually grew weary of had to. Had to do with pitching decisions, those lineups, but management of the bullpen, and there was the whole Pedro Strope running down the line and pulling his hamstring thing. There's any number of those. But it happened so fast that he had, he opened his restaurant and he had Madden's post and he had all of these idealistic charitable events that he was doing with his artwork and all the Joe Madden branded things. I think that pissed off some people with the team too. I think it bothered people that he was about his branding and his. The celebration of his celebrity as much as anything else. And I don't. I can't tell you when people thought it became too much or how people thought it became too much, but, boy, that restaurant sure closed fast. It was gone. It was there and it was gone and it was good. It's Tony Mantuano. The pizza was outstanding.

[Matty]

Oh, I didn't know that's who. That's who did his restaurant.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matty]

I had no idea. I never, I'd never gone to it.

[Dan Bernstein]

So. Yeah, well, they, yeah, there. I loved their pizza. But Joe Madden quickly became almost a. Almost a relic of that team and nobody's hired him to do anything. And then he kind of made it worse because he Giants thing, a lot of different things. Every time he got in front of a microphone, there was. There was a bitterness. If I don't think the hatchet's even completely buried in that regard. You remember the Jed and Theo said, well, we're going to move our. We're going to spend a lot more time in the clubhouse, we're going to have a lot more proximity to these players. And they kind of lowered their power over him. And because it was the trend in base, there were larger trends at work and that was making managers control of a team. And managers sort of singular position at the helm of a team was becoming a less common practice, that front offices were doing more to run teams and managers were there to help push the buttons and help become psychologists and deal with players and, and handle this, but just not in quite the same way. Managers in general lost autonomy. Madden became a Symbol of a lot of that and I think still is a symbol of a lot of baseball change that was happening as the Cubs won the World Series. If baseball believed that Madden had more to do with that, then somebody would have hired him. I think it's, it's. It reminds me a little bit about what Bob Brinley, because Bob Brinley won a World Series and never managed again for another team. Became a broadcaster, still a broadcaster, never managed again, but his bench coach sure did. Bob Melvin. Bob Melvin ended up being a decorated manager since that. So we were, we were wrong. I was wrong. I thought that whoever it was would make the Ditka worship look like small potatoes in comparison. Mike Ditka did everything that Madden did, even with the, I'm going to put my brand and my celebrity ahead of the team and I'm going to enjoy this and I'm going to put slap my name on everything that you can find everywhere and simply maximize the opportunity for fame and fortune. And that was all fine. And Ditka became larger than life and in this town became royalty. Madden never did it never quite happened for him. And it's like, it's complicated as to why, but I'm just mindful of that as we get these reunions back together. And also, we were checking. The Cubs aren't paying David Ross anymore, right?

[Matty]

Correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

His.

[Matty]

Yeah, his contract ran through 2024.

[Dan Bernstein]

I wonder what he wants to do now. I wonder if he's waiting for the phone to ring to go back into a dugout somewhere. Because it still seems like the trend in baseball is less expensive, less power, less something new, something different, rather than a ton of recycling that they'd rather just say, okay, we know somebody who can do this well enough who is going to understand that a lot of these buttons are getting pushed above them and the responsibilities of the overall job have changed a little bit. And when Stephen Vogt can be just pulled out from, you know, he takes the catching gear off, he slides right in, does a decent job. I don't think you're going to have the same lifers who, who are the last lifers that are left. You know, Francona is still going, and a lot of teams would just rather not have the headache of having a powerful, headstrong, expensive chief of the dugout.

[Matty]

Just a refresher here on Ross. Since his time with the Cubs ended, he did express interest in wanting to manage the Mets. Talked about that openly. Also was associated heavily with the Atlanta Braves opening and apparently has initially softened his stance on being a Manager and would also consider being a bench coach. So he still, he still wants to pursue coaching.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. And he could be a broadcaster at any point. We know that he's very skilled at that. He's done plenty of it. When they were reminiscing, I forgot for some reason I kept like, oh yeah, he played in 2016. Yeah, he was actually a play. He hit a home run. Like he's. He played. He mattered as a player in those games. And he was a part of our show. We had a regularly on the show and I'd be like, oh yeah. And then it starts to set in how long ago it was. And I do think it's really important to be aware that Javier Baez became Pete Crowe Armstrong. Like that. That's how it's supposed to work. Yep, that is exactly how it's supposed. Rather than lamenting his departure and the one year that they traded Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, then the non tendering of Schwaber, which is a different discussion entirely that I think in large part is unfairly to some involved inflating Kyle Schwaber's actual value.

[Matty]

Right. But then Dan, the bias thing is so fascinating because he was the remainder of the year rental player that became Pete Crowe Armstrong that didn't do anything for the Mets and has gone on to Detroit to not.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right, right. That's how, that's my point. That's how you do it. That's how you do it. You get the most out of somebody and then when it's okay, we're moving out, we don't want to. This is going to be a huge contract. That's going to be bad money for us. What can we get from another team? Oh, we ended up getting somebody who people are comparing, possibly the next Mickey Mantle.

[Matty]

Still though, Javib is involved in the greatest play I've ever seen in baseball.

[Dan Bernstein]

Against the Pirates.

[Matty]

Against the Pirates. One of one of the most spectacular, unbelievable, ridiculously stupid plays I've ever seen.

[Dan Bernstein]

It drove him, the guy who did it. I forgot his name. The first baseman who for some reason ended up running down the line rather than just stepping on, stepping on the base. It ended his career. He ended up going overseas. He ended up I think playing in Korea.

[Matty]

Oh really?

[Dan Bernstein]

Look him up. I don't even know where he is anymore. But that, that was my takeaway on that was after it was post hoc ergo propter Hawk. I don't know that that play caused his departure. I don't know if it hastened it, but it certainly was coincidental. For somebody who I, I think never did they ever play in the major leagues again after making that mental mistake.

[Matty]

Will Craig is who it was. Okay. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

See where he went after that? All you had to do was go step in the back. But I used to love my, my memories of this team and covering this team and being around the 2016 team are a lot of little things and a lot of little stories about. More about the celebration, more about the catharsis of the celebration is where my memories go. And the odd twist of Joe Madden. Not to mention, I think the lesson from 2016, now that I think about it, is the fleeting nature of that kind of sports glory because the Bulls gave us a false understanding. It's not supposed to be three championships and then one year away and then three more championships. Basketball works differently. It's not supposed to be like that. And maybe and the Cubs had their competitiveness, they could have won more World Series. They, they, they didn't because baseball's really hard and there's incredible, incredibly large amount of variance in the postseason and teams change every year. But the number of individuals on the Cubs, Jake Areatta, Poof.

[Matty]

Poof.

[Dan Bernstein]

That was a couple of seasons of, of magic. Of light magic, though. Yes. Of that pitch, whatever that slider cutter, whatever that was, all of a sudden that gone. He just lost the feel for it and then he wasn't the same. Was that also, I don't know. Was there sticky stuff involved before we were talking about sticky stuff? Who knows? Maybe between the decline of Baez, the injury to Bryant, the disappearance of Jake Arietta, and the odd, uncomfortable, excruciating denouement with the divorce with Joe Madden is a reminder to just enjoy the hell out of these times, man. And I guess my intent when I started this wasn't necessarily to conflate the Cubs reunion weekend with this being a pretty good time in Chicago sports, but the lessons in there, that these things slip through our fingers quickly. And I don't know what's going to happen with the Cubs or Sox this year. Hell, I don't know what's going to happen with the Bears this year. But the anticipation is part of the joy. The fantasizing about what realistically could be is part of the joy. It's part of why we're sports fans. And I guess I apply the logic to this like I apply to when you give a gift, whether or not to make it a surprise. And as I've gotten older, I have become much more supportive of allowing the gift recipient to enjoy the anticipation, rather than giving the surprise. If you say, hey, I'm going to buy tickets and we're going to take a trip. And rather than saying, hey, kids, get in the car, or, what's that limousine doing outside, dad? Well, guess what? We're going on a very special vacation. I don't want to do that because maybe just the way I'm wired, that sometimes the best part of the gift or best part of an experience is the anticipation and is the planning and is the thinking, ooh, maybe this could happen, or maybe this could happen, or maybe we'll do this. Having all those possibilities in front of you and being able to picture good things. And I think that is a huge amount. That joy is just as real as whatever joy you get on the actual vacation is whatever actually happens. Sometimes. Sometimes you realize after the fact that the anticipation is even better than the vacation or that it was all part of the same thing, and that's okay. And. And I think that's where you can be with a sports team, whether or not you say, I don't know, the Bears. I don't know if the Bears are going to be. They're going to cash in on. On all these possibilities. This year, Caleb Williams gets hurt and Tyson Bajan's out there. You got a different year. Colson Loveland gets hurt. You got a different season. You just do. Coaches can do some things, but people get hurt, and seasons change immediately. And you get a clunker in there and you get an 8 and 9 in there, even though you do everything right. And then you try to regroup and get them the next year. But the anticipation right now, this moment, being a Bears fan, this moment thinking, get to training camp, and rather than asking Matt Eberflus what's up his sleeve, and he goes, what's up yours? We know Ben Johnson just can't wait to spring. All kinds of tricks.

[Matty]

Wait, did that really happen? Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Matty was asked what's up his sleeve? And there's this long leg goes, oh, no, what's up yours? Oh, boy. It was a halftime interview.

[Matty]

Will Craig, by the way, from the Pittsburgh Pirates, that play happened with Javier Baez on May 27, 2021. Okay. He last played for the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 1 of 2021. So that was five days later. He was. He was released. Don't know if that's causal. He went to play baseball in South Korea later that year, and then he only lasted a few months there, and then he's done playing baseball. So he clearly just wasn't a Major league caliber player. Had he been that play wouldn't have knocked him out of baseball or certainly not ended a South Korean career as well either. But oddly enough, it was just five days after that that Javi Baez play that he played his last game for the Pirates.

[Dan Bernstein]

What is he doing now?

[Matty]

I'm gonna say insurance or something in finance, but I have no idea. Let's see.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm just curious about what. That. That would be an interesting story. It's probably. We're not far enough removed from it for somebody to do the, you know, give him a call and say, well, what was life like after that play? Well, you should know this.

[Matty]

I'm very disappointed in you, actually.

[Dan Bernstein]

What I do.

[Matty]

So In June of 2022, Craig returned to Wake Forest to complete his degree.

[Dan Bernstein]

Good.

[Matty]

On August 25th of 2022, Wake Forest hired Craig as part of Tom Walters coaching staff for the 25 season. After graduating from Wake Forest, he. He was an assistant coach at Belmont University. Good baseball school for 24 and 25. And then Craig joined the Duke University staff as the recruiting coordinator ahead of the 26 season.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, that.

[Matty]

He's working at Duke. You should know that part of the newsletter.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know. I didn't play on the varsity team. I only played on.

[Matty]

You should still get. Don't you get like new newsletters?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I don't. My dad still does. My dad still gets stuff from Cornell sailing. Yeah.

[Matty]

Oh, no, we talked about this.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, he. But like asking for money.

[Matty]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like if. See, that's the thing. I must have been really bad if I don't even get letters from. From anything about Duke asking, you know, for the baseball. Asking for money. They don't bother the club guys.

[Matty]

Yeah, well, yeah, so he's. He's. He went back into. Into coaching and is at college level and is currently the recruiting coordinator.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. All right. Well, I'm. I'm sure they pay quite nicely and it's a. Durham is a lovely place.

[Matty]

Only 31. So he could still be playing baseball. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

But he's instead regaling recruits with major league stories. Hey, remember Javier Baez?

[Matty]

Yeah. Let me show you this video.

[Dan Bernstein]

I got a. Got a video. So that's. That is I.

[Matty]

You come play for us. I can show you how to do that as well.

[Dan Bernstein]

I tried to run him down instead of realizing that if I had just stepped on first base. He's out.

[Matty]

Still the greatest thing I've ever seen. And the reaction of particularly Anthony Rizzo in the dugout is just unbelievable. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

And if I remember the Jim Deshay's call, he's invisible. They can't see him.

[Matty]

He got the third base.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is that insane?

[Matty]

He got the third base where he was.

[Dan Bernstein]

He had the Jordy Nelson cloaking device because it was last used by packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson because he, for some reason, even if he said, hey, guys, cover him no matter what play breaks down. So Aaron Rodgers or whoever runs around Chucks who's. Who's running into the screen where you didn't even see him. Jordy Nelson. Anything.

[Matty]

Wide open, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

Come on, come on.

[Matty]

A cloak of invisibility.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matty]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

You can't do. Do that.

[Matty]

It's. Or.

[Dan Bernstein]

Or it was like in television soccer where you could run outside the left part of the screen and come in on the right.

[Matty]

Maybe he. Maybe that's what Nelson does.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Or like, you know, in Pac man when you could leave the left.

[Matty]

Oh, sure. Yeah. There's the little. Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

And you come so that the Jordy Nelson had that power. That's funny. I wonder what he's doing there. He's probably a recruiting coordinator somewhere. Also these days.

[Matty]

Also a duke.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know, I think it's really important to be smart about managing your finances. And that's why I believe Monarch is the app that can help you in doing so. Monarch's like having a financial advisor in your pocket. It's a personal finance app, and it tracks everything that can help you take care of your financial picture, accounts, investments, saving goals, and spending. Most apps only tell you what you've already spent. Monarch helps set goals, map out big purchases, and see if you're actually on track before it's too late to adjust. There's an AI weekly recap. It flags spending spikes, net worth, shifts, and upcoming expenses. And you can ask the AI assistant anything about your finances. How much did I spend on travel last summer? Can I afford this vacation without touching my savings? Write your own money story with Monarch. Use the code [e-mail] to get your first year of Monarch Core Half off at just 50 bucks. That's 50% off your first year at monarch.com with the code DBU. It is July. It is time to ride, smoke, repeat, ride away on any qualifying new Harley Davidson motorcycle from Woodstock. Harley Davidson. And you'll take home. Wait for it. A free Traeger smoker. New bike for the open road. A new smoker for the backyard. Big salmon in there. You ever do a salmon in your Traeger?

[Matty]

No, I don't cook a lot of salmon because my wife doesn't like it so good.

[Dan Bernstein]

Maybe do a lake trout or something like that. Do a. Do a big old fatty oily fish. And you smoke like a. Maybe a sable.

[Matty]

Yeah, I can't wait to do the brisket this Saturday.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, that's this Saturday. Yeah, you gotta. You gotta bring some of that in. But if you want that free Traeger smoker and a new bike for the open road. It's an incredible summer, don't wait. This offer is only available through July 31st. It's while supplies. Last stop by Woodstock Harley Davidson today before this deal goes up in smoke. A lot of smoke around here. Offer valid through July 31, 2026. One Traeger smoker with qualifying new motorcycle purchase. No substitutions or cash value. See dealer for complete details or [e-mail] I actually had smoked salmon last night. I got a craving. I made. I made.

[Matty]

Well, that sounds good.

[Dan Bernstein]

I wanted soul food, so I. And like Jewish soul food. So we had. I. I had stopped at New York Bagel and Bialy on Tui to restock our bagels, and I and I made two sesame bagel halves with cream cheese, a huge slice, thick slice of heirloom tomato, slivered red onion, a mound of lox and capers.

[Matty]

Yeah, that sounds good. So you did. You said you did two sesame halves, so you. Yeah, the other one bagel.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, two sesame bay. The other two halves.

[Matty]

Oh, okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

So four total bagel open face sandwiches. Yeah, two. Two are the mound of lox, tomato, cream cheese, and onion.

[Matty]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

And the other is my fresh, still kind of warm egg salad.

[Matty]

That's a lot.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. Yeah.

[Matty]

But only.

[Dan Bernstein]

Only four eggs. So I ate all four of those bagels.

[Matty]

Nice.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then a pint of Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream.

[Matty]

The whole point judging me. No, I'm not at.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, it's technically. But here's the thing about Haagen Dazs. It's less than a pint, so it's nothing. It might as well just. It might as well just be a bite. You could just have to.

[Matty]

I don't know what I'm doing tonight for dinner, but that sounds good. The salmon sounds good. Yeah. I buy smoked salmon at Sunset. They. They have good stuff there from their fishmonger, Jordy Nelson. In 2024, Dan became an appeals officer for the NFL. Whatever.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, it sounds serious.

[Matty]

It does.

[Dan Bernstein]

You appeal your fine or your suspension to Jordy Nelson.

[Matty]

Yeah. I wonder if he has a badge and a gun.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, but you can't see him that's right. You go to his office and he's just. He's a disembodied voice. You shall appeal to me.

[Matty]

What?

[Dan Bernstein]

Where is he? Takes off the cloaking device and he's just sitting there, maybe, you know, having a sandwich. But as long as he puts it on, you can't see it. That's how it works. So I have a problem and I need to talk it through.

[Matty]

Okay,

[Dan Bernstein]

the reviews for the Odyssey, Christopher Nolan's massive, sprawling, star studded IMAX masterpiece. The reviews appear to be good.

[Matty]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

The early ones trickling in.

[Matty]

They.

[Dan Bernstein]

This, this appears to be a good movie.

[Matty]

Well, from what I've seen, more than just good though. I mean, this is like what I've seen. A few words like you can't miss opportunity. If you like the, the atmosphere of going to the theater. This is a can't miss movie.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, well, I didn't see Oppenheimer.

[Matty]

Oppenheimer was very good. It was a very, very good film.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was a very good film, right?

[Matty]

Yes, very good.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, I didn't see it. I'm sure I'll eventually see it, but I'm just. I guess I'm not as big a Christopher Nolan fan as some people are. I think he's good. I'm just. I'm not. I don't immediately. Oh, I have to see Christopher Nolan movie. I'm not a big Batman guy. I haven't seen any of the Batmans. No, I saw the first one. I saw the Heath Ledger Joker one and that was it. What else has he done? I saw Memento.

[Matty]

Christopher Nolan.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, yeah.

[Matty]

I'm sorry, you said the Batman ones.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, I saw the one. I saw the Dark Knight.

[Matty]

Okay, well, his trilogy, the Batman trilogy was. No, it was better than. That was great. That was a. That was a fantastic. Probably the. I mean, no, not probably. That was the best thing that D.C. has ever put out.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. I trust you.

[Matty]

Okay. But yeah, the Odyssey, Interstellar, Oppenheimer, the Dark Knights, Dunkirk, Memento. Oh, Tennant. I enjoyed Tenant as well. Inception was good. Tenant.

[Dan Bernstein]

Tenet.

[Matty]

Tenet. Ten at.

[Dan Bernstein]

Diane. Diane, it's Tenant.

[Matty]

No, Tenant. Diane, it's ten and Diane.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's like people say pundit and it's pundit.

[Matty]

You've got magic legs, Dan.

[Dan Bernstein]

I invested in a fruit company.

[Matty]

Insomnia, the Prestige. Oh, he did the man of Steel, bruh. Oh, he did Batman and Superman suit. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think the only one I've seen is Memento and the Dark Knight.

[Matty]

Oh, he did Justice League.

[Dan Bernstein]

That sucked. Well, so here's the thing I like the Odyssey. I loved reading the Odyssey. I actually liked the way that my teacher, Ray Horton taught the Odyssey in high school.

[Matty]

No one teaches it better than Ray Horton.

[Dan Bernstein]

Nobody does. Nobody does. You got to know they're all gay. Oh, okay. That's how he started it. This is the most important thing to remember. All of them, Odysseus, Telemachus, they're all gay. All right, this. This should be interesting.

[Matty]

It's got a 96% on rotten tomato.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. It's just. I can't have a movie feel like homework. I can't have. The worst way to get me to go to a movie is to make me feel like I have to. Because then I'm gonna rebel and I'm gonna be like, man. And especially when they say you gotta see it in imax. Well, I get motion sick easily from movies. Like if you, if you go, you know, the. What was it? Saving Private Ryan. I almost lost my lunch. Seriously?

[Matty]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And with the jouncing shoulder mounted camera with people running around on the beach and that whole thing, I had trouble getting through that because I was getting nauseated. So I don't know how much of that is going on, but I don't want to feel like I have to go. I want to go to movies. I want to go to the movie and then I'm going to. Then I play these mental games of am I going to try to make myself feel like I want to go to justify the fact that I'm not being made to go. I don't know.

[Matty]

But why do you feel like you have to go see it?

[Dan Bernstein]

Because you don't get influenced by generally. I don't. Yeah, I didn't see Oppenheimer, but if it's a thing because I like the Odyssey and if there's like an awesome Cyclops scene. It's supposed to be an awesome cyclops scene. You don't get a lot of those.

[Matty]

I think you should. I think you should try really hard to not be you for once.

[Dan Bernstein]

I can't.

[Matty]

And stop thinking about this and just go see it.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's. It's. I wish it were that easy, man.

[Matty]

Like, we talk about you Bernstein things. Like when you. When Bernstein. Bernstein's Bernstein's life.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's everything.

[Matty]

I know, but that's.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's.

[Matty]

That's pretty special, dude.

[Dan Bernstein]

But that's it. But that's everything. And then I realize I'm doing it.

[Matty]

And then you Burnstaining yourself.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, I am. But then it becomes meta bernsteining where I know I'm doing it.

[Matty]

And please, I don't start to refer

[Dan Bernstein]

to yourself in the third person. I don't want to do that either.

[Matty]

Yeah, please don't do that.

[Dan Bernstein]

But I, I can't. I, I have to, I have to figure this out somewhere because it's got Matt Damon in it.

[Matty]

You like Matt Damon?

[Dan Bernstein]

I love Matt Damon.

[Matty]

And he's trying to get home still, so you've got to go see it. Does he ever get home?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, he never gets home. He never gets home.

[Matty]

Maybe.

[Dan Bernstein]

What is he.

[Matty]

How much is. Hollywood spent a billion dollars trying to get Matt Damon home?

[Dan Bernstein]

Doesn't he have four teenage daughters?

[Matty]

I know he has all daughters. I don't know if he has four.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think he's got 14 or three and the stepdaughter. I think he's. I think there's a perfectly good reason why he's avoiding.

[Matty]

He doesn't want to go home.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matty]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Because if you, if you've got four teenage daughters or like a 20 year old and four 17 year old daughters. Could you imagine?

[Matty]

Yeah. So it says he has three children.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, he could. Yeah. But I think, I think the, his wife's. I think his. I think he married his wife when she already had a, A daughter.

[Matty]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

So I'm pretty sure there's four. So I would not begrudge him if all of these movies are somehow a way that he's trying to stay away from home.

[Matty]

Oh, yeah. No, you're. Yeah, you're exactly. Yeah, you're right. They've had three daughters together and then has a stepdaughter he considers his own child from the previous marriage. Yep, yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

And, and, and that's why he goes to Mars and he goes to Troy or all of these. Because he's returning from Troy.

[Matty]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think that's. It was after the Trojan War and

[Matty]

then there was a whole trying to

[Dan Bernstein]

get home back to Ithaca. He's got to get back to pedal. It's basically the Odyssey is a pain in the ass. It's Planes, Trains and Automobiles is what it is.

[Matty]

Oh, it's a great movie, though.

[Dan Bernstein]

But it's very much like Planes, Trains and automobiles. So it's like, geez, I got to get home. And then you finally get home. Spoiler alert. But it's about the friends you make along the way.

[Matty]

So I know that Hollywood loves to remake movies instead of coming up with original ones. So if they ever did a remake of Planes, Trains Automobiles, he'd have to be in it. Correct. He would have to play the Matt Damon? Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, I don't think. Do you think he's got the comic chops to do that?

[Matty]

Oh, absolutely he does.

[Dan Bernstein]

Come on.

[Matty]

Yes, very much so.

[Dan Bernstein]

He would be.

[Matty]

He would be Steve Martin to get Jack Black to do the John Candy scene.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, no, no.

[Matty]

It would be good together on screen.

[Dan Bernstein]

Too much Jack Black.

[Matty]

Have you seen that Netflix has done a remake of Little House on the Prairie?

[Dan Bernstein]

I never watched the original.

[Matty]

I never did either, but I. I was flipping through and I'm like, oh, wow. I'm like, Netflix is putting Little House in a Prayer. And I'm like, wait, this looks modern. And then sure enough, yeah, it's a remake of a retelling.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know, I was talking about that

[Matty]

it never need to be retold. Like, please, we're good.

[Dan Bernstein]

For some reason, my television watching, and it's probably just sort of my general elitism, but if something was rural or like, I didn't ever, ever, ever watch whether it was, you know, Beverly Hillbillies or Petticoat Junction or, you know, Hooterville Express, I don't know what they were all called.

[Matty]

Did you watch the. Any. Any.

[Dan Bernstein]

Nope. Never seen a full episode of the Andy Griffith Show.

[Matty]

Okay, so my. A lot of that is whatever you can recall. What. What don't I watch? Because a lot of those were in black and white.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right? You don't watch black and white. But I just. None of that. None of those. Anything rural. Like the Little House on the Prairie, Walton's Father Feely, or who is. Who is Merlin Olsen? Father.

[Matty]

Wait, was his name really Father Feely?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I made that up. I always thought that's what he was.

[Matty]

Should have double checked that one and be like, that's a bad character.

[Dan Bernstein]

I always thought that's what he was doing, though. Father Murphy.

[Matty]

Wait, wasn't that. I thought that was the mailman on Mr. Rogers. Wasn't he?

[Dan Bernstein]

That is Speedy McFeely. Yeah, Mr. McFeely.

[Matty]

Yeah. Well,

[Dan Bernstein]

I didn't worry about him. Mr. Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo. Little worry and always that I didn't.

[Matty]

Wait, what was he called?

[Dan Bernstein]

Cream Jeans Green. No, that was George. That's when everyone. Terry nicknamed George Captain Cream Pants. And then John Sundress did a song. Oh, Georgie Goffman. Captain Cream Pants. Wow.

[Matty]

He was called Captain Cream Pants. We call his. His. His naval call sign was Mango Shorty George. Shorty George.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, boy. Yep. Yes. At one point he was Captain Cream Pants.

[Matty]

Yeah. Didn't people ever wonder why the mailman McFeely would always deliver, like, personally deliver the letters into people's homes, like, just drop in the mailbox, man. You don't need to come in the house. But now we understand why he was in the house. Husbands are off to work on their nine to five. Right. Got a special delivery for you, Mrs. Johnson.

[Dan Bernstein]

Here comes Mr. Comes. Speedy.

[Matty]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

You don't want to be Speedy, though.

[Matty]

Well, he had to be, because he had a lot of houses to hit.

[Dan Bernstein]

Speedy delivery.

[Matty]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

And think about it that way. I guess you're right. Where was I? We were talking about the Odyssey. Right.

[Matty]

Well, the Odyssey. Yeah. Are you gonna go see it or not?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know.

[Matty]

Keep burnstating yourself.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know. I. I don't know. I remember what I was gonna say because my wife got me. She's like, what do you mean you didn't watch Little House on the Prairie?

[Matty]

Oh, stupid.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, because I'm not interested. I have the giant. I'm not interested sign. A bunch of goobers dealing with life in 1862, or whatever it is.

[Matty]

It had to be one. Like, it couldn't be more than one season. No one survived.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. They all died of. They all had to die. Typhoid and dysentery and scurvy and all these horrible diseases, weren't they? Or they were. They were eaten by coyotes. Like, wouldn't that be every episode that you're just. You're fending off wildlife?

[Matty]

So I've never seen an episode of Little House in a Prairie, but I never saw. What was the.

[Dan Bernstein]

Was the big beard guy, Gentle Ben or Grizzly Adams or any Grizzly Adams.

[Matty]

If. If. If someone doesn't die every episode, then they're not doing it right.

[Dan Bernstein]

Painfully.

[Matty]

Someone needs to die every episode.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's why I like the Revenant.

[Matty]

Oh, yeah, that's.

[Dan Bernstein]

I loved the. I loved reading the Revenant. I like is that. That's like. That's how it is. That's how it is that you're constantly just on the verge of death.

[Matty]

Right? It's a fight for survival, life.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's all. Yeah.

[Matty]

Like, I.

[Dan Bernstein]

That. That spoke to me. That was great. Because you. And then you turn a Little House in the Prairie, and it's like. They act like they got running water and stuff that you spend all, you know, most of your day. You're covered in poo. You know, it's. It's. It's got to suck. Everybody had to smell horrible every time they show one of those old pictures. Like, here's a baseball game in 1910, and everybody came out to see George, her, Ruth. And everybody's wearing wool like it's, it's 95 degrees and everybody's standing around wearing. They're even shrouded in wool. Everything had to smell like absolute ass all the time.

[Matty]

Everybody at every baseball game. It just.

[Dan Bernstein]

Everything. Could you imagine a train, a store, one of those, you know, a four floor urban walk up tenement somewhere. It's 80 degrees out and you're wearing a wool waistcoat. The hell. God, we were. Stupid

[Matty]

wool hats.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, on purpose. You can't go out, it's 85 degrees and you're not wearing your giant wool hat. Well, it's a good thing too. It's been blocked with cobalt and iodine that is also going to seep into your skin and give you metal poisoning.

[Matty]

Well, better that than scurvy, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

And that's. Well, you always wonder about in the Odyssey, I'm wondering, is Christopher Nolan gonna show what it was actually like? Because that was a long time ago. I don't even know exactly what it was. If it's what's 10 years after the Trojan War.

[Matty]

I don't know. It had to be a couple hundred years ago, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

That's a long time ago. Like unless they all had Apple watches, which would have made things pretty cool. And they probably would have, would have done a better job conquering everything and winning the war if everybody had Apple watches. But then again, I don't know.

[Matty]

Hey, what happened to the cyclops?

[Dan Bernstein]

Didn't I think Odysseus slew the cyclops? No.

[Matty]

Like, why'd they go away? How come we still don't have a cyclops? Like, wouldn't it be cool to have

[Dan Bernstein]

like a friend who's like a cyclops,

[Matty]

12ft tall in a cyclops?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, but then, you know, we'd have all sorts of rulings about sports as to whether or not they'd be allowed to compete.

[Matty]

They draft eligible or not.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. And then only team, every team only gets one, I don't know, kind of hog the ball, right?

[Matty]

You have a.

[Dan Bernstein]

Because you got in basketball, you give it to him every time.

[Matty]

Yeah. And if he played, then LeBron would never be the greatest player ever in your mind.

[Dan Bernstein]

So, you know, like my son likes to start our stupid sports arguments. It's like having an old, it's like having an old score caller in the.

[Matty]

I didn't know that about him.

[Dan Bernstein]

And he says, he goes, I, he said, I've decided that no cloned individual would beat a team of five women yamas. And I said, Jason I think five LeBron's would be. Probably have a good chance against five women yamas, if not win because of the speed and the ball. And he's like, nope, no Weminyama seven five. And also shoots threes. Nobody's beating five women Yamas. And I said, okay, fine, great, you win. I. What am I supposed to say to that?

[Matty]

All right, no, if you're. If you're taking five LeBrons against five women Yamas. Yeah, I'm. I'm. Yeah, I'm. I'M taking LeBron to win. To win.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. I kind of thought so too. But then I said, why are we even discussing this? What are we doing right here? Because I'm the one that wrote the column about what would happen if five Ryan Archidiaconos took on five Zach Levine's. Well, that was worthwhile. That was an actual intellectual exercise that I think was important for the future of humankind.

[Matty]

You were having that conversation because he's your offspring and he was burn seeding you.

[Dan Bernstein]

So is that what it was?

[Matty]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, and it was that just like

[Matty]

randomly out of the blue, he just walked up to you and was like, hey, yes, I'm declaring this now.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, yes, that's my life.

[Matty]

Here's what you do when you're at home. You should just walk around with EarPods in all the time.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't. I don't like having.

[Matty]

I don't either. I don't use them. Then wear headphones.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like you just wear these.

[Matty]

Like you're always listening to something, just

[Dan Bernstein]

kind of bopping along.

[Matty]

Just ignore everything.

[Dan Bernstein]

I've got a better idea. I have a much better idea. An actual, like, USB speaker. Like the guys on the bikes by the Lakeshore. Oh, yeah, and I could just blast music in a backpack or something all the time.

[Matty]

Oh, you'd get in trouble for that.

[Dan Bernstein]

I got in trouble with Beth for not having seen the Waltons. What do you mean you haven't seen? Because she said something. Where did this happen? I don't know, relatively recently, as you know, good night. And then she's like, good night, John Boy. Oh, like, what the hell is John Boy? He's like. She's like, you know the Waltons when they say goodnight to each other? Yeah, I said, you're quoting the Waltons to me. How long have we been married?

[Matty]

That's another one not worth watching.

[Dan Bernstein]

But you're presuming I've seen the Waltons. The hell would I watch that crap for?

[Matty]

Well, I've never seen it, but I knew I Know the reference? I think everyone knows the reference except for you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, when she said John Boy, I

[Matty]

kind of like, I had.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, I took a second like, oh, that's okay. I know that. That's an American pop culture reference.

[Matty]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Some, some weird ass pioneer family, bad TV show.

[Matty]

Yeah. And why did the, like the moms, like, even in Little House and Prayer, they always looked really well put together. Like you couldn't be well put together.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, there was. The nutrition was horrible. Nobody had any teeth. They never really like musculature or teeth unless they. How depend how often you could kill a buffalo.

[Matty]

Like makeup and they got their hair did.

[Dan Bernstein]

Did the Waltons have a store? They probably had some general store where they'd go and buy a piece of gingham for Emmy Lou or whatever it is. I, I don't know, but I thought you had to kind of kill your. You know what, you had to go outside and.

[Matty]

Yeah, you need to grow it or kill it.

[Dan Bernstein]

You set a trap for a bison or something. What did you do that matchup to throw you in the air. Well, no, you haven't walk into a giant pit. You, you cover it or you set a box up with a Y shaped stick that holds it up. And then the giant box falls on top of the bison.

[Matty]

You pull, you pull the string from the stick. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matty]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then it's a big box.

[Matty]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then the box captures the bison.

[Matty]

Well, if it's a bison, it's got to be a. Have a big box.

[Dan Bernstein]

Heavy, heavy box.

[Matty]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm probably thinking of a rabbit.

[Matty]

Yeah, you probably don't do that with bison.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, you probably do that.

[Matty]

Although they could do that in Yellowstone.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, that guy couldn't. That guy's up in the air. There's not much you can do there. He's in the high. He's, he's in the hospital now, recovering but good. I'm, I'm glad we came to a conclusion that I still don't know whether or not I'm gonna see the Odyssey.

[Matty]

I think you should see it. I think you should go to the theater and experience it in imax. But I saw the one line the other day. There was only. There's only like 40 theaters that offer the full IMAX experience. Is that, could that be accurate? Is there really only that few?

[Dan Bernstein]

Meanwhile, Odysseus blinded the cyclops. He intoxicated the cyclops and blinded the cyclops with love and, and wrapped up like a deuce. Another runner in the night. That's right.

[Matty]

It's.

[Dan Bernstein]

It revved up. Wrapped up or revved up? Revved up.

[Matty]

Yeah. No, wrapped up like a douche.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's. That's what it sounds like, right?

[Matty]

That's what I think it's.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think it's revved up like a deuce.

[Matty]

It's not wrapped up like a douche. No.

[Dan Bernstein]

I always thought it was. Well, you know who wrote it, right?

[Matty]

Who?

[Dan Bernstein]

Springsteen. Oh, I had no idea.

[Matty]

Really?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Yes. He sings a version of it. Yeah. It's revved up like a deuce, referring to a classic 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe hot rod. Oh, yeah.

[Matty]

I should have known that. I mean, everyone should know that reference. Yeah, it was.

[Dan Bernstein]

The initial line was cut loose like a deuce.

[Matty]

Revved up like a deuce, not wrapped up like a douche.

[Dan Bernstein]

Correct.

[Matty]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

But audiences have been joking about the hilarious douche misrepresentation for decades. Even Springsteen himself has publicly laughed about the public's interpretation.

[Matty]

It's not interpretation. It's what it sounds like.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, but it's singing better. It's not. You're singing it wrong.

[Matty]

Yes. Boo. And then. Hey, who sings that one song? There's another lyric I always mess up about buying a train down in Africa. What is that song?

[Dan Bernstein]

West Toto.

[Matty]

Toto. Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

I bless the rain. Bless the rain?

[Matty]

Is that what it is? It's not Bought a Train?

[Dan Bernstein]

No. I bless the rain.

[Matty]

Okay, well, I'm glad that we cleared

[Dan Bernstein]

those two things up, because I bless the reins. God, there's bad lyrics in that.

[Matty]

I thought it was Bought a Train, and I always wondered why they had to go to Africa to buy a train if the trains were better.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's one of the worst lines in the history of rock and roll. As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti. That rhymes with nothing, really. And it doesn't fit in the meter of the song at all. And it's just way too many syllables. And I don't. I don't really get it, but I'm glad that they're. They're happy. Except the drummer who's dead.

[Matty]

You might be happy.

[Dan Bernstein]

Might be. That's true. It could be. Well, I feel better about that. Anyway. Sunday, we have the final of the World Cup. Do you think that Spain is going to win? Do you think that Argentina is going to win? Do you think that Argentina is mad because the conquistadors came over and conquered them and then had them speaking Spanish? I don't know. I don't know if those storylines are going to be explored as we get to the World Cup. But you can be a part of it. You can spend hours breaking down all the tactics and lineups if you want. You can. Or you can just bet whether or not both teams are going to score. It's a great, easy bet. It's available for you on my bookie. And that way there's no pretending that you watched all the qualifying matches. You don't have to look at injury reports or the weather or anything like that. It's just one of the biggest sporting events in the world. It is down to the wire. And you're there with my bookie. Especially if you have the promo code. Dbu. Get the promo code right now. You can claim your deposit bonus and get up to $500 in protection on your first bet at my bookie. Go to MyBookie Ag Register, then you make your deposit, and then you get a deposit bonus and that $500 in protection on that first bet for the World Cup Final. We'll bring you our DBU picks tomorrow. Mm. See? Only at my bookie.

[Matty]

All right, so hang on a second. He shot the Odyssey in 70 millimeter IMAX, all right? And there are only 30 or 40 of those screens in the world.

[Dan Bernstein]

Great.

[Matty]

The nearest location is the Cinemark Seven Bridges and IMAX in Woodridge. Cinemark true 70 millimeter IMAX experience.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I'm not doing that. I'm not. I'm not a big fan of the IMAX experience.

[Matty]

Generally I am. But why. Why shoot something when there's only 30 screens in the whole world that. That can even offer it?

[Dan Bernstein]

Why.

[Matty]

Why do that?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know. Because it's being shown elsewhere also. Stupid. I mean, people do it after the fact. Like they had. They put out the regular version, and then they put out directors cuts or special versions of things. So it's not that uncommon, I guess. But maybe you make it sort of a premium ticket and you hope that people want to see it.

[Matty]

Yeah, but they're. But they're talking about it and saying, well, you've got to see it like it's like no other film. And. But yet there's only one theater in the Chicagoland area that even offers it.

[Dan Bernstein]

I can't help you. You're gonna have to take that up with Christopher Dolan.

[Matty]

So I'm gonna. I'm gonna. After. I'm gonna Bernstein this whole thing.

[Dan Bernstein]

Now, see, you're doing.

[Matty]

Now I don't want to see it. I don't want to see it. Since I don't now I don't want to go.

[Dan Bernstein]

A quick reminder on our rewards page on the app. When you click on Rewards on the 312Sports app and you say, well, I haven't gotten the 31 2Sports, what do you mean you don't yet have the 312Sports app? It's free and you absolutely should have it so you can enjoy all this stuff. Just make sure that you've registered your account and you have put in the promo code Summer for the current rewards. That's the promo code. It's summer. And we've got a hundred dollar gift certificate to Lil Bob Ariba in River North, 100 gift certificate to Wildfire, a four pack of tickets to the Bristol Renaissance Fair and tickets to see AC DC in concert September 4th at Notre Dame Stadium. You want to say that you saw them perform highway to Hell under the auspices of Touchdown Jesus because that's really damn cool. So enter the promo code Summer on any of those rewards for a chance to win. And thank you for being a part of DBU today. DBU has been brought to you by Harley Davidson Woodstock. Make sure you visit them [e-mail] and in partnership with my bookie Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered unfiltered on 312 sports.