Ben Johnson's offense with the Chicago Bears, Fitzgerald's settlement and Dan and Matt open their Book of Dead

Summary

Dan Bernstein Unfiltered — Episode 2 (August 26, 2025)

Chicago Bears Offense Under Ben Johnson, Pat Fitzgerald’s Settlement, and Opening the Book of Dead

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Episode Overview

This wide-ranging episode finds Dan Bernstein and longtime producer Matt Abbatacola diving deep into three major themes. First, they deliver an unfiltered, candid take on new Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson and the inherent challenges he faces in transforming the offense. Next, they break down the legal and ethical implications of Pat Fitzgerald’s hefty settlement with Northwestern University. Lastly, in a signature segment of darkly comedic reflection, they open their “Book of Dead”—reacting to the passing of notable figures in sports, pop culture, and beyond.

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1. The Bears’ Ben Johnson Era: Mythical Playbooks & Real Challenges

[07:32 – 18:49]

Key Points & Insights

• “The Magic Playbook” Phenomenon

  • Bernstein observes that every offensive-minded football coach, at any level, starts their new tenure with a “giant, glowing playbook” but quickly pares it down to only a handful of effective plays.
    • “Offensive minded coach comes with giant playbook... Loves the sacred giant glowing playbook. This will solve everything. The magic playbook.” – Dan [08:11]
  • The coaching reality is that only a few plays wind up working by the end of camp, regardless of initial optimism.
    • “I have a thousand plays, end of training camp, I have three plays that work. It happens no matter what.” – Dan [09:31]

• Ben Johnson’s Intelligence & the Reality with the Bears

  • High praise for Johnson’s smarts but skepticism about how quickly his complex offense can actually take hold with the Bears’ current talent.
    • “He is as smart a coach as we’ve had here... Mark Trestman, very smart, too—just a weirdo... Eberfluss basically couldn’t find his own ass if it had a bell on it.” – Dan [10:20]
  • Matt echoes that Johnson should be smart enough to know his massive playbook will need to be cut to what works in Chicago.
    • “I’m hoping he’s being truthful... that he has taken those 3,000 plays and he’s whittled it down to... 45 that I know we can run... and just like you said, he’s going to get down to the bare bones and then build up from there.” – Matt [14:56]

• Fan Base Expectations and “Wasted Years”

  • Bernstein calls out Bears’ front office for what he sees as a wasted year of Caleb Williams’ development under the previous coaching staff.
    • “You wasted completely a number one overall pick, quote, unquote, generational talent. You can’t say, well, it’s going to take a little bit of time. Ben Johnson is here to make him real good right now. Right now. And if that means you only run three plays, fine.” – Dan [16:25]
  • Both hosts warn fans not to expect an immediate offensive turnaround like Johnson’s later years in Detroit, given the state of the Bears roster.

• Key Frustrations

  • Bernstein pushes back on the “to the untrained eye” excuse from Johnson about rookie QB mistakes:
    • “I like to think my eye’s pretty trained at watching Bears football for, you know, professionally for 30 years. And it doesn’t look good.” – Dan [12:12]
    • “Don’t tell me I’m not seeing what I’m seeing.” – Dan [12:40]

• Summary Soundbite

  • “Let’s see what it looks like when they realize that this gravity that affects offensive coaches is going to affect the Bears. They’re not immune.” – Dan [18:24]

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2. Pat Fitzgerald vs. Northwestern: Massive Settlement, Zero Vindication

[18:49 – 27:54]

Key Points & Analysis

• Settlement Details

  • Fitzgerald’s lawsuit against Northwestern over his firing ended in a settlement—widely rumored to be $50 million or more.
    • “The initial speculation I heard was 50 million. That’s low. That’s low. More like keep going. I said 70. Wow. Yeah, wow was right.” – Dan [19:24]

• Legal Realities vs. Truth

  • Dissects the absurdity of Fitzgerald’s legal stance (“I didn’t know about the hazing”) and the university’s decision to settle, likely due to inability to meet the burden of proof with reasonable court evidence.
    • “Pat Fitzgerald had to pick one of two lanes... He can say it happened... I didn’t know anything about it. Now it’s completely preposterous... but proving that in court is something different.” – Dan [20:00]
  • Cautions listeners: Settlements do not mean exoneration or innocence.
    • “Just because something’s settled... It’s also the same way when charges get dropped sometimes. That doesn’t mean innocence.” – Matt & Dan [26:13–26:22]

• Moral Perspective

  • Dan’s conclusion: Fitzgerald should disappear from coaching, regardless of legal technicalities.
    • “Just take your money, buy a boat. Go away... I wouldn’t want my kid playing for him.” – Dan [25:31]
    • “However this went down, just take your money, buy a boat. Buy multiple boats. Buy a plane, figure out what’s next. I wouldn’t want my kid playing for him.” – Dan [25:32]

• Context Critique: University Priorities

  • The hosts lament Northwestern’s financial priorities—paying a massive chunk to a fired coach while laying off professors and cutting research budgets.
    • “It feels obscene for them to have to cut a check this big when they’re firing professors. When they’re talking about what the mission of Northwestern University is... they can come up with that chunk of change for Pat Fitzgerald just to get it out of their hair.” – Dan [21:49]

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3. “Book of Dead”: Remembering (and Riffing on) Notable Recent Deaths

[35:27 – 67:21]

A signature segment of the podcast, Matt opens his “Book of Dead,” prompting Dan to react to—and often reminisce, roast, or riff about—recent passings in sports, entertainment, and politics.

Some Notable Entries & Quotes

(Timestamps refer to when individual figures are discussed; only highlights included)

• Val Kilmer, Actor [38:20 – 39:45]

  • “Great actor. He will always be memorable... I think I’ll remember Doc Holliday from Tombstone at the very top. I think that was brilliant.” – Dan

• Loretta Swit (“Hot Lips” Houlihan, MASH) [39:56 – 41:19]

  • “Her character really evolved over time, that in the later episodes, she was given a lot more to work with and made the most of it.” – Dan [40:43]

• Jim “Wrong Way” Marshall, NFL [41:38 – 42:49]

  • Dan fondly recalls Marshall’s infamous fumble return and long, durable career, as immortalized in childhood sports books.

• Ozzy Osbourne, Musician [51:47 – 52:56]

  • “I didn’t appreciate it as much... But when I read some of the obituaries and really understood how unfairly... he was, oh, he’s satanic and he’s scary and awful and bad for our kids... A real one, an absolute real one.” – Dan

• Chuck Mangione, Musician [54:46 – 56:31]

  • Dan shares a story about a literal run-in with Mangione’s flugelhorn behind the scenes at a Bulls-Pacers game.
  • “He couldn’t look more like Chuck Mangione... the stringy hair, the hat...” – Dan

• Hulk Hogan, Wrestling [57:26 – 58:48]

  • “If I were allowed... to walk over and piss on his grave, I would do it. I would try to write my name in cursive... Bad, bad, bad guy. Racist, abuser, scab...” – Dan

• Tom Lehrer, Satirical Songwriter [59:53 – 62:14]

  • “Tom Lehrer... a Harvard-trained mathematician... an influential, really important satirist... before he died, made his entire catalog public domain.” – Dan

• Ryne Sandberg, Cubs Second Baseman [62:20 – 64:57]

  • Matt shares personal memories of Sandberg, his idol as a young Cubs fan.
  • Dan recognizes Sandberg’s understated greatness: “Looking at his body of work helps you appreciate him... he was a remarkable, deserved Hall of Fame baseball player.” – Dan [64:28]

• James Dobson, Evangelical Leader [65:00 – 66:25]

  • “There is not enough piss in the world for his grave. What a living piece of shit... The way he perverted religious beliefs to demonize LGBTQ women... a dangerous, awful, awful human being who made the world demonstrably worse. I could not be happier that he's dead.” – Dan [65:03–66:25]

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4. Tone & Noteworthy Moments

• Candid & Unfiltered: Both hosts continue to set this show apart from classic sports radio with their unapologetic honesty, personal anecdotes, and willingness to take strong stances on ethical and cultural issues.
• Mental Health Openness: Early in the episode, they revisit feedback from listeners about their mental health discussions and reaffirm their commitment to transparency on the subject.
  • “It’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to ask for help and to tell people you’re not okay... what’s not okay is to keep that inside.” – Matt [03:35]
• Light & Dark Humor: The segment on the dead mixes real affection, biting sarcasm, and irreverent riffs—a unique blend of sports talk and pop culture gallows humor.

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5. Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “Offensive minded coach takes job... comes with giant playbook... end of training camp, I have three plays that work.” – Dan [08:11–09:31]
• “I like to think my eye’s pretty trained at watching Bears football for, you know, professionally for 30 years. And it doesn’t look good.” – Dan [12:12]
• “Don’t tell me I’m not seeing what I’m seeing.” – Dan [12:40]
• “Just take your money, buy a boat. Go away... I wouldn’t want my kid playing for him.” – Dan [25:32]
• “There is not enough piss in the world for his grave.” (on James Dobson) – Dan [65:03]
• “Let’s see what it looks like when they realize that this gravity that affects offensive coaches is going to affect the Bears. They’re not immune.” – Dan [18:24]

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6. Timestamps: Major Segments

• Listener gratitude, mental health talk: [00:39 – 05:00]
• Bears’ offense / Ben Johnson: [07:32 – 18:49]
• Pat Fitzgerald/Northwestern: [18:49 – 27:54]
• TV/movie chat, segue to ‘Book of Dead’: [27:54 – 35:27]
• Book of Dead (celeb/practical deaths segment): [35:27 – 67:21]
  • (Individual deaths and reactions go from [37:16] (Wink Martindale) through [62:44] (Ryne Sandberg) and [65:00] (James Dobson))
• Closing notes / outro: [67:21 – 68:07]

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Conclusion

Episode 2 of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered merges sharp sports analysis, unfiltered personal opinion, and candid irreverence. From dissecting the realities of coaching transitions in the NFL, to denouncing institutional failures at Northwestern, to commemorating (and critiquing) the lives of the recently deceased, Dan and Matt bring personality and candor that Chicago sports fans have come to expect. This episode sets the tone for the podcast’s blend of sports, social commentary, and dark humor—with plenty for both diehard fans and casual listeners to chew on.

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For more, subscribe to Dan Bernstein Unfiltered and the new Bears-specific podcast, “Forward Progress.”

Transcript

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[B]

2 of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered on 312 Sports Today's show brought to you in partnership with my bookie, Dan Bernstein, here with Matt Abaticola. Hello. Hey, Dan, how are you, buddy? I'm really good and I have to say, immensely gratified by the response we got from yesterday's show. I can't even tell you just to follow up with the number of people who have reached via text, via DMs, et cetera, or just anecdotally people that I've seen. Thank you. Thanks for all the nice things that you've said and if you said horrible things, that's fine too.

[A]

Thank you for those as well.

[B]

Yep. Thank you for being a part of it. Thank you for subscribing. That's all good too. And I hope you really feel gratified with and I told you this was gonna happen.

[A]

You did.

[B]

I told you that there was a latent group of these hidden Matt Abaticola fans that didn't even realize how much they missed you.

[A]

Yeah, it was, it was really interesting yesterday to see all the response and lots of text messages and emails and messages on social media platforms from former listeners and friends and former colleagues. Just really positive stuff. And to see that a lot of the YouTube comments and just to see my name included was really special. Yeah. So it felt great. And responding to people and saying thank you for reaching out. It just, it was a really good day. Yesterday was a really, really good day. So thank you for listening to the show, for subscribing to the podcast. Make sure if you haven't done so, you've heard about it, whatever, make sure you do that. Make sure you subscribe, go to YouTube, subscribe to 3one2Sports, Dan Burnson and filtered. And also very exciting too is forward progress our Bears podcast, which we will drop our first episode later today.

[B]

So so many Bears thoughts I'm gonna start with one today, but I. But I've got so many others that are for Forward Progress. They're sort of granular roster stuff here on cut down day.

[A]

And when you to YouTube, make sure you subscribe to Forward Progress, its own YouTube page. So make sure you do both. You can't just do one without the other. You have to do both. So make sure you do that, please, as well too.

[B]

I also want to say too, the number of people that have mentioned our openness about mental health and our respective ongoing journeys or experiences, however you want to phrase it, that there are. That, yeah, we're here, I'm here. And if everybody who has said this is the first time I have mentioned this to anybody, or I've been thinking about therapy, or I just started therapy, or if this is the kind of thing that helps you in any way, yeah, we're gonna continue to talk about stuff like that and be open and forthright about it. Cause that's part of it. It's a really important part of it. And it's especially hard sometimes for men and sometimes for those of us who've been brought up to keep a stiff upper lip and soldier onward. What, that it is okay to not be okay?

[A]

Yeah, it's okay to not be okay. It's okay to ask for help and to tell people you're not okay. It's okay to not feel right and okay, but what's not okay is to keep that inside.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And to keep suffering through it, because that's not right. And this whole stereotype of men are tough, men don't cry, men don't talk about feelings and emotions. Yeah, I'm not the best at it. I've worked really hard over the last several years to become better at it. And I want to be better at it for myself, for my wife, for my boys especially. I want my boys to see a man who can open up and be emotional and be empathetic because it's a characteristic that men just don't have, that women have. Naturally, to have empathy for people is a really strong character trait. And being okay and talking about your feelings is something we need to do. So thank you for doing that because I have heard from a lot of people who don't know you personally, who said it really meant a lot to hear you talk about it. And. And you know, because we.

[B]

Me too.

[A]

Yeah. And we've had this Persona on, on radio for years of what we were and who we were, and you don't really get the full view and image. And that's why I love. That's how we started Dan Bernstein unfiltered. We started 312 sports. And now forward Progress later today from this place of transparency and honesty of, hey, we're just regular people and we have emotional and. And mental health issues at times to deal with, just like you.

[B]

And you can come hang out with us by subscribing in wherever you get your podcast. You mentioned to the 312 sports YouTube page and forward progress YouTube page as well. On this show, I've got a very. Do I call it a show?

[A]

Sure, you call it a show.

[B]

I keep calling it a show.

[A]

Call it whatever you want. A show.

[B]

Episode of a podcast. But is it a show?

[A]

It's our show. And you're on that show, which is great. Yes.

[B]

Okay. I just. I don't. I don't know really what is appropriate to call. But the kids these days are called the podcasts.

[A]

You call it the pod. Okay, the podcast.

[B]

Yeah. That sounds affected the show on the pod. And then I think of the pod people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I think like this literal pod and it's weird. Or like an escape pod. Like Donald Pleasence is in as the president in Escape from New York.

[A]

Yeah, but this is. We're not an escape pod. Well, I mean, we could be an escape pod for people to escape their workday.

[B]

See what you did? How deep do you go in cinematic escape pods? I've got Donald Pleasance in Escape from New York. And then I have the very start of Star A New Hope.

[A]

That was the escape pod.

[B]

Right. Where 3 PO and R2 go down to Tatooine in an escape pod.

[A]

Well, I'm sure if we went through scientific, like scientific science fiction movies, sci fi movies, we could find more pods. I can't think of any more.

[B]

Maybe the end of Alien when Ripley thinks she's done. When she's leaving the Nostromo, but the alien's actually on there disguised as a couch.

[A]

Now, I know it's a submarine, but could you. Is it a.

[B]

Like, you see the alien's head? Like, I think that couch might be.

[A]

Alien because of the alien head.

[B]

I don't like this couch.

[A]

Well, is. Ow.

[B]

This couch hurts.

[A]

What Captain Phillips was on, is that a pod also? It's just a submarine.

[B]

Captain Phillips.

[A]

Oh, you didn't see. Really?

[B]

That's. I am the captain now.

[A]

Right. That's all I need to know. That accent, really.

[B]

But is it Michael Caine? I'm your captain now.

[A]

That's a Better movie. Tom Hanks's Boat gets pirated by Michael Caine.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Hello, mate.

[B]

I'm your captain now, so. Yes. My bears thought.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Do you wrap up the start?

[A]

Well, no, we didn't say what else you're doing though.

[B]

We are.

[A]

I want to talk pods and aliens.

[B]

I know. I want to talk about the settlement between Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern. What it means and what it doesn't mean. And then we're going to. I've been waiting for this. I've been waiting for this. You've got the list of people, notable people who have died since I've been in the wilderness.

[A]

So what do I have? I have here about, let's say approximately 20 people.

[B]

If we don't get them all in today, we'll do the rest tomorrow.

[A]

But my goal is to get them all in today. I'd love to get them in today and because some there's going to be more reaction and response than others. But there's one again, there's one I am really excited about.

[B]

Just.

[A]

I'm not excited they die. I apologize.

[B]

There's definitely one. Well, if you, if you include recent, if you included him relatively recent, there is one that better be not the one we talked about that. There's one guy who died recently who. Okay, okay.

[A]

Well, yeah, we'll get into it. But yeah, we're going to bring out our dad later.

[B]

I have said this about every offensive minded new coach at almost every level. And I'm going to say it again now. And this goes for my experience with both football and basketball primarily. I don't know enough about the arcana of hockey to know if it's true for hockey. But my guess is it also is any sport where you can create and design offense. This happens. And the immutable truth. The phenomenon goes something like this. Offensive minded coach takes job. This is whether or not it's an established coach with head coaching responsibilities or a promoted coordinator or somebody moving from college to pros. It doesn't matter. This holds across any scenario. Offensive minded coach takes job. Offensive minded coach comes with giant playbook. Loves the sacred giant glowing playbook. This will solve everything. The magic playbook.

[A]

He comes down from the mountain with three tablets of plays.

[B]

Two. Well, essentially, yes, you beat me to the punch on this. I have a thousand plays end of training camp. I have three plays that work. It happens no matter what. And I don't care if you're coaching seventh grade and you've written down all your inbound stuff and what you're going to run. You're going to run a basic little box in a zone defense. You're going to get through a week of practices and you're going to come home and you're going to walk. In you go, we can't run anything. And my worry, it's not really worth. I know it's happening with the Bears and Ben Johnson because it happens and it's. It's supposed to happen.

[A]

And it's not an indictment against Ben Johnson or any. Not yet. Correct.

[B]

Not yet. So. But this is my question. I think as. He is as smart, just intellectually, he is as smart a coach as we've had here. I mean, Mark Trestman, very smart, too. Weird. He was just like. He was a weirdo. And Nege had a reputation for being smart, but I don't know how smart he actually was. Eberfluss basically couldn't find his own ass if it had a bell on it. And also dt, which it did, by the way.

[A]

I don't know if you knew that.

[B]

I didn't.

[A]

Yeah, that was never covered. I was really surprised. I was like, I need to get back into this so I can talk about the bell attached to Matt Eberflu's ass.

[B]

I did not know that. But also defensive guy, which usually means he's dumber. So.

[A]

I know it's not. I know. I know.

[B]

I know. You know football.

[A]

I know.

[B]

Hit that guy. Thanks, coach. Get right on it. It's an acronym. I know Ben Johnson should be smart enough to know this phenomenon. He should be smart enough. And I think is there's no way he went into this thinking anything other than knowing the truth that I'm telling you. He knew this. He knew. You're going to get to the end of training camp and see what you can block and what you can run and what. What you know works amid all of the things that are bouncing around in your head, all the special little things. And I don't know how they feel about where they are now because you've got some complicated things going on right here. Caleb Williams looked awful in that last game. And I didn't like some of the comments about. Well, to the. To the untrained eye. You hear that when Johnson said, what are the untrained eye, it might have looked bad. Well, I'm pretty trained. I look bad.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I like to think my eyes pretty trained at watching Bears football for, you know, professionally for 30 years. And it doesn't look good.

[A]

Yeah, that. That kind of commentary really bothers me because the Average fan can be just as smart as some NFL coaches that I've heard speak and coach teams because there are so many. There's so many resources available to the average person today to learn things and to understand things and than to learn the game of football more than you ever have.

[B]

Don't tell me I'm not seeing what I'm seeing.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And don't go down that road, because that reminds me of the Greg Blosch, shut up. Eat your hot dogs, drink your beer.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which was a misstep. Also handing out bullets, actual live bullets, to guys on the defense. But here's. It's happening here. And I don't know if he knows what the Bears can run and what the Bears can block yet. They haven't had enough time in full pads against real competition. They've had all of these controlled practices, these scrimmage sessions with other teams. They've had the ones in the games a little bit. Enough. But don't tell me, oh, Caleb isn't. Isn't making the same mistake twice. Yes, he is. He's late to get the ball out, and he's running around and turning his back to the play and taking a sack. Don't tell me he's not making the same mistake twice. So if you say, well, he's, you know, the corners of the line aren't great, he'll figure out how to. How to chip with some of those tight ends. No, the point of bringing in Ben Johnson isn't to have tight ends helping a deficiency or bringing a deficiency on the edges back up to normal. The point is to get those guys down the field acting like wide receivers and stressing out a defense. You know, this thing's already operating from a position of weakness rather than strength. If that's the case, and I don't want that to be the case, it's. I hope Ben Johnson is smart enough to know this truth about offensive coaching. When he took the job, I want him to have told Declan Doyle and everybody else and said, hey, I know we're not gonna be able to run all our stuff, but let's throw everything at him. And he's mentioned it. Let's throw everything at him. Let's get a really good idea of a base, of what we can do, strip it down and build out from there. I don't know what that looks like. I don't know what he's saving that we haven't seen yet. But it's not like we're reading reports of everybody watching every practice and saying, that they're seeing all kinds of bells and whistles. I know there's been some. The silly stuff at the end of practice where they have the fat guys running patterns and. Which is fine.

[A]

Right. But here's what concerns me, is that I like to think that Ben Johnson knows what he has. I mean, I'm taking him from what I've learned about him so far these last several months, that he's an intelligent football guy, that he gets offense, and I'm hoping that he is being truthful and honest behind closed doors, like what they have, where they're at, the deficiencies of their quarterback, of their running game, their passing game. And he has taken those 3,000 plays and he's whittled it down to. There's 45 that I know we can run, you know, or there's 30 that we can run or there's 100 we can run. And. And just like you said, he's going to get down to the bare bones and then build up from there.

[B]

That's what.

[A]

Now, my concern are Bears fans because.

[B]

Don't worry about it because.

[A]

But they're talking, though, about what he did in Detroit. And the Bears offense may not sniff 30 points a game this year. They may not sniff 20 points a game this year. We just don't know. Get 20 somehow, but we just don't know. And I don't want people to expect game one to turn into what they were doing in, you know, year three in Detroit.

[B]

Yeah, but you know what, though? I was. I was a little peeved when I heard him say that. Caleb Williams. This year we're only going to start tapping the potential. He's not going to be this year. What he's going to be down the line. You wasted a year, but Ben Johnson didn't. It's not his fault. This is more a question for Ryan polls. You wasted a year.

[A]

Yes, he did.

[B]

You wasted completely of a number one overall pick, quote, unquote, generational talent. You can't say, well, it's going to take a little bit of time. Ben Johnson is here to make him real good right now. Right now. And if that means you can only run three plays, fine. This. I'm still haunted. Just as a Bears observer, I am haunted by that image of Nick Foles on the sideline with the earpiece in, laughing as he hears the play come in and turning to the guy next to him saying, we can't block this, we can't block it. And when everybody in the offense knows they can't block it. Or they can't run it. You've got to figure that stuff out. And at this point, I have a lot of trust in Ben Johnson. I have very high expectations for him. I didn't think they'd land him right. Him. But it is. That was a really sobering night against the Chiefs. And I don't know what it is about the Chiefs that always tell you the truth about the Bears. No matter what you think about the Bears, well, they're playing well. Then you go up against that, you're like, oh.

[A]

I mean, you also have to look at that. That Bill's game. Like, come on. I mean, they were playing guys that aren't playing, that won't be in the NFL. I mean, from. From the start, from the get go. Yeah. Now you want to see your team do that against guys that shouldn't be playing at that level, against starters. Great. I love it. But I trust Ben Johnson. He's giving me no reason not to trust him right now. But when you bring up the whole. The whole idea of a wasted year, that's where I'm still stuck there as a Bears fan, too. With Ryan Poles, the fact that you move forward with Matty, and I know it's in the past and it's gone and they corrected right now with Ben Johnson, but you wasted an entire year of the number one pick. We knew. Don't tell me that I'm not a trained enough expert in NFL play to know that Caleb Williams would not be successful with Matt Eberfluz as the head coach. I knew that going into the season and they proved me correct.

[B]

So let's. Let's see what it looks like when they realize that this gravity that affects offensive coaches is going to affect the Bears. They're not immune. The Bears are the furthest thing from immune to this because we've seen it happen before. And if they can manage their way through this quickly enough, it's going to define the season.

[A]

I'm really glad that you started with this, though, because there's something that I want to tie into that when we.

[B]

Get into forward progress, I'm here for it. I've got more notes and all a bunch of roster stuff. When people tune into forward progress for the first episode today, let's take a quick timeout and when we come back, I want to talk about how Pat Fitzgerald absolutely clowned his former bosses at Northwestern in a legal fight. What it means and what it doesn't mean. If you are waiting for Sunday to start betting, you're missing half the Fun. And you're missing half the money. College football is already cooking. Week zero is in the books. We've had some exciting games already. Upsets, blowouts, wild covers. That Stanford Hawaii game was insane. My bookie lets you hit it all, whether you love player props or game lines. Everything you need before the pros even kick off. So when Sunday rolls around, if you're doing it right, you're already up. So my bookie's got it all under one roof. You can win big on the NFL super contest Survivor pools. If you are new to my bookie, know this code. It's three letters, dbu. They stand for Dan Bernstein unfiltered. Any bet you choose up to 500 bucks is fully covered. So just make a play. If it doesn't hit, you get it right back. You're going to opt in using your bet back bonus token. It is the code DBU at MyBookie. My Bookies where betters win together. Bragging's good, cashing in is better. So long last. The civil lawsuit, the wrongful termination suit that Pat Fitzgerald brought with his high powered lawyers to take on the embattled Northwestern University ended with a settlement. So nobody's really admitting anything. There's a huge chunk of money that changed hands. The initial speculation that I heard was 50 million. That's low. That's low. I was told somebody gave me the little kind of thumbs up thing. More like keep going. I said 70. Wow. Yeah, wow was right. Now it's a settlement so Northwestern doesn't have to keep paying legal fees. And I don't know if they just saw the end of the road and realized we can't prove that he knew about every little bit of all of the horrible systemic abuse that went on. The hazing, the bullying, the sexual abuse, all of it. We don't have to go through every gory detail to know how bad it was. But I want to be really clear about something. Pat Fitzgerald had to pick one of two lanes to file this suit. He had to either say this never happened and I can prove this never happened, or he can say it happened. I'll stipulate to all of this happening. I didn't know anything about it. Now it's completely preposterous. After everything we've read, after every bit of testimony, to think that he didn't know about it. Now, proving that in court is something different. This isn't court. What's proven in court is proven in court. Guy gets his massive chunk of money, but it strains credulity from A reasonable person to think that the head coach, this. It's a college D1 major conference head coach of a massive program. Say what you want about what they've been, but where they are now is right. It's not Alabama, but it's a big time program with a big time empowered coach. It's your job to know for him to say his last resort to get this paycheck, which is to say, you can't prove. I knew it. This was all just going on. I didn't know anything about this. The Shrek stuff and the clap. That would do coincidence, all of the just. It's all circumstantial. And while Northwestern may have found that to be true, as they did their calculation and their math, from a legal perspective to say just not worth it. Let's look at the context here. Northwestern is under fire, having to come up with bribe money to pay to Washington to even continue operating funding people. They just laid off a ton of professors there. They've got massive money problems. It feels obscene for them to have to cut a check this big when they're firing professors. When they're talking about what the mission of Northwestern University is, their educational mission, they can come up with that chunk of change for Pat Fitzgerald just to get it out of their hair and say, just be done with this. Because it would have cost them more to keep litigating it. And they're firing professors because they're having to grovel to get enough funding for cancer research. So the context will make you crazy. But they made their decision. They know what they can prove and what they can't prove. I don't think any reasonable person would believe for a second that Pat Fitzgerald didn't know about that stuff. And even if we take him, let's say we take him at his word. Well, not only can it not be proven in court, but let's. Let's just work under the assumption here that he didn't know. That is terrifying and disqualifying. When you would think that somebody in the. If he didn't know based on everything that was said, everything that happened over all of that time, first of all, of course he knew.

[A]

Right? That's alarming. That would be obviously devastatingly alarming.

[B]

But if we go with his. If you say he won this argument, stop. I won. They cut me the check. They couldn't prove it. Ha ha. Hire me. I'm clear, right? No, no, no, no, no, no. However this went down, just take your money, buy a boat.

[A]

Go away.

[B]

Buy multiple boats, Buy a plane, figure out what's next. I wouldn't want my kid playing for him.

[A]

And that's the thing that's interesting about settlements. I know that. I've already seen commentary out there that, see, this proves that he didn't know. This proves he wasn't involved. That's not. That's not the point of a settlement. And I think whatever your perspective is, whatever, whichever way you lean on each given case is how you're going to view the settlement. Now, we know of some really big settlements that have taken place, politically speaking. And it's like, oh, okay, it didn't prove that this guy didn't do this or he didn't do X, Y or Z.

[B]

That is not a license to turn off your common sense.

[A]

Correct? Correct. Yes.

[B]

Just because something's settled. It's also the same way when charges get dropped sometimes.

[A]

Right.

[B]

That doesn't mean innocence.

[A]

It doesn't mean that you didn't do it. Correct. It just means that the burden of proof within the court of law says I couldn't prove what we knew to be true. Period.

[B]

Right. And we all know what is clearly true to a reasonable person in this situation. But he chose it. He chose as his legal argument, I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know.

[A]

I didn't know this was happening behind my back. Wasn't involved.

[B]

Fine. The reward for that is the money, not another job. The reward for that, Our legals, the American legal system, is set up to make you whole again through money. Is that crass? Kinda.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

Is it gross to try to put. To quantify some of these things? Yes. But that's the system we have. Things can't be undone. We can't unwind time. We can't change things. So take your money. What I don't wanna hear is that somehow he's redeemed and that now should be trusted.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

With people's kids coaching a team when he absolutely allowed this to happen.

[A]

And you started off by talking about the fact that Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern, Division 1 school, big program, you know, Big Ten, I don't care. It could be the smallest obscure Division 3 school and the football coach knows what's happening on that campus, Period. So you can't tell me that you. Absolutely. And then to. And then their influence on what's happening increases more significantly based on the level of program they're in.

[B]

Of course.

[A]

Simple.

[B]

I had an observation last night. And this has been happening to me as. And I know people don't think about the idea of like Flipping channels like they used to. I still do. I like it. I like seeing, quote, unquote, what's on. I have DirecTV. And sure, if I want. I get overwhelmed when I. And I know I could watch any movie I want anytime. I could right now. I could. I could put on Big Lebowski again for the 15th time. I could watch Die Hard again if I.

[A]

Right. Watch Maverick again if you want to.

[B]

It is good.

[A]

It's very good.

[B]

So good.

[A]

Yeah, I'm about. I think I'm at like, 50 now. At least 50 or. I mean, I'm in the 50s probably. Times I've watched.

[B]

I could watch Jennifer Connelly walk around. I could watch her grocery shop. Just put her in that white sweater and jeans and give her. Just have her walk around and. Grocery shop.

[A]

Mariano's.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Pushing the cart.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

And you're following.

[B]

Watching just two hours on the screen. That. That. That'd be good.

[A]

Jennifer Connelly, grocery shopping.

[B]

That's all I need.

[A]

All right.

[B]

It's fine. But anyway, I got Goodfellas last night.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I was getting ready to go to bed. I was tired as hell, man. I was up since, like, four in the morning. I could not sleep. Yesterday I got up, I was so excited. I was bouncing off the walls to come in. And so I was tired, but then I kind of got overtired. And then Goodfellas comes on.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Oh, damn it. And I'm watching, and I realized something. When you've seen a movie, you've seen a lot of the movie. There are certain things that become annoying that you don't expect to become annoying.

[A]

All right? You found something annoying in Goodfellas.

[B]

It's only because, you know. Let me explain. The character, Maury Kessler.

[A]

Tread lightly here.

[B]

No, no, I love this one.

[A]

I know. I'm just telling you.

[B]

Maury Kessler.

[A]

I'll call some people.

[B]

What? You were back in body.

[A]

Make some phone calls.

[B]

You're back in the. You were in Sicily, too, weren't you?

[A]

I was in Sicily, yeah.

[B]

Uh. Oh, the character Maury Kessler, okay. Played by Chuck Lowe, you know, the guy with the hairpiece and the whole thing.

[A]

And he's supposedly the wanting his money.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Needs his money now. I need my money now.

[B]

We know, you know that he's gonna get. He's gonna get whacked good.

[A]

Real good.

[B]

Like, is it. Was it a screwdriver in the back of the neck like he's garrotted? But it's also something, Tommy. It's a knife in the neck Right? Yes.

[A]

He's in the car. Yeah. In the car. Yeah.

[B]

You just start rooting for it early. Like, you know when you first see. You're like, oh, God, he's. Because you know how annoying he gets. And Scorsese does such a good job of every time you see him. He dials up the desperation. He dials up how annoying he is. I. Now, the moment you see him, it's like, oh, would you please kill him now? But it's so good in the time in between you see him, and in the time in between he finally sits down in the front seat to go to the diner to get some Danish. It's like, oh, just get to that. Just kill him already. We know you're gonna kill him. Please kill him already. Cause he becomes more annoying.

[A]

But that's not a derogatory thought. It's just. That's really good writing and acting.

[B]

But when you've seen it for 60 times and you happen to go, it's like, oh, God. And then you get the anticipation of him being annoying, but it's still annoying.

[A]

Yeah. Well, I know I get it because, like, watching Top Gun, the original Top Gun, like, okay, like, are Mav and Iceman. Are they gonna kiss? Is it gonna happen?

[B]

You know, like, just kiss already.

[A]

Here it comes. In the locker room.

[B]

But they do. But they resolve it in Maverick.

[A]

They do.

[B]

With the hug.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I mean, that was an unbelievable scene, but the whole sexual tension of Top Gun, you know, they have, like, the wife who happens to be there, but she stays downstairs. Of course.

[A]

Well, she's not allowed in the office.

[B]

No, she's not allowed in the office workplace. But then they, you know, they have that. And Val Kilmer just steals that scene without really saying anything. Yeah.

[A]

No, that was such an unbelievable sequel to have the sequel be better than the original. And the original is just fantastic. But, yeah, you know, you wanted it. The whole time the sexual tension was there. Are you gonna kiss? Then you get in the locker room, and then he just, you know, air bites at him, and then they move on to the.

[B]

Ow. Please don't do that. Yeah, the air bite's a little threatening.

[A]

I sent you that meme last week.

[B]

I know what I was trying to. I didn't have a gif to send back to you. That was sort of equal.

[A]

There is no equal.

[B]

Speaking of which, meanwhile, Chris Ranji sends me a note yesterday.

[A]

Oh, boy.

[B]

He just sends me a text who says, hey, great to hear you back. You know, whatever. Love you, man. And I said, thank you, sir. And Then he so rangy, he sends me the eggplant emoji just like.

[A]

Well, he might have meant that for someone else, though, and accidentally sent to you. He might have been having multiple conversations going on. There's gotta be a college near his.

[B]

House somewhere in a schoolyard somewhere. So I found a gif of an eggplant, like wagging demonstratively and sent that to him.

[A]

Oh, boy.

[B]

I'm just happy I saved it because I'm gonna use it again because I like it. After a brief break, we are going to bring out the dead. Our dead.

[A]

It's the book of dead right here. The book of dead. I have it in my hands. Ooh, the book of dead. Scary.

[B]

Hey, you need windows. Yeah, you do. I know you need windows. You haven't thought about windows, so think about Windows. And when you do, think about Russ Armstrong. He is the owner of Chicago Window. Guys, Russ himself will come to your home. He will give you the estimate. When he gives you the estimate, he will also explain that it's his people that will install your windows. There's no subcontracted labor. They all work for him. The same crew that installed windows at my house, Russ's windows, will install yours. And he custom makes everything locally here in Chicago. Don't fall for the stuff out there that you hear. Boo. Buy one, get one free, 50% off. No. First of all, Russ has a price match guarantee. It's the best product, it's the best price. His number is 847-302-9171. Five star reviews are all over ChicagoNowdownGuys.com and when you're getting quotes, if in fact you know Russ, and then you ask these other places who's installing your windows, who is actually doing it, they won't be able to answer because they use subcontracted labor. It's going to be Russ Crew when you use Russ, so make sure you give him a call. I've recommended him to friends and coworkers and neighbors, and everybody loves the work that Russ has done. 847-302-91 chicagowindowguys.com all right, I asked for it. All right, you ready? I'm ready for you to crack open the book.

[A]

Okay, the book is open.

[B]

Now these are. How do we describe These are any notable people of certain level of fame?

[A]

Certain level of fame, yes. They should be all their names. You should recognize who these people are. There. There might be a couple that you may not recognize right off the bat by their name. Okay. But we'll just start And I went back to. Went back to April. Okay. And moving forward here.

[B]

Okay. Because I think I got canned in officially in March.

[A]

March something or other. Something or other. But I just went through you.

[B]

You dial up the phone and there's the HR person on the call. I'm like, oh, I'm whacked. There's plastic sheeting on the floor.

[A]

How'd that feel?

[B]

Horrible.

[A]

Yeah. So I was let go due to a restructure and I had met on Monday for an important call with my boss. And call went great. Got a lot of great feedback. And then Tuesday night there was a follow up email and said, hey, we need to reconnect Wednesday morning.

[B]

Yeah. Mine said, hey, just check. Hey, just check it in.

[A]

Stop on by.

[B]

Stop by when you get in.

[A]

And so there was an email Tuesday.

[B]

Catching up. That's what it was, just catching up.

[A]

Okay. And mine was, you're fired. Mine was need to follow up Wednesday morning. So I remember I jumped on the zoom and then HR popped on. I'm like, huh? What's going on?

[B]

Hey, this is our national HR person.

[A]

But it was. Yeah, that was, that was very good.

[B]

It was a very off the back of the head. Here we go.

[A]

Mine was very nice. I saw it coming. So it was good. All right, so I went back to April and here we go. Here's the first name. And you should. You're a really smart guy. I'm really impressed with the depth of your knowledge. So if I were to say to you on April 15, 2025, Wink Martindale.

[B]

Yeah. Well, I have. He was the host of Tic Tac Dough.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

Among other things.

[A]

Started at the age of 17 in radio.

[B]

I don't know that I feel strong. Generally a lot of classic era game show hosts became insane right wing douchebags. So I'm going to try to. I'm going to presume that's a possibility, but I don't because don't know. So ignorance is bliss. I never had a problem with the old Wink Martindale and I don't know the people who know the defensive coordinator named Wink Martindale is only because he was named Wink Martindale. But yeah, when you think about it, probably something creepy about him. And the hairspray. What a great name. The Botany 500 jackets.

[A]

I mean, great name, right?

[B]

Yeah. Okay. But yeah, I don't really have a strong feeling and I hope he didn't become awful later in life.

[A]

Well, we hope not.

[B]

All right, so actually, I don't care. Maybe he did. Then he's dead. And we're happy.

[A]

Let's jump forward here. Oh, actually jump behind. I missed a guy in my dates here. Ready?

[B]

Yeah. This guy? Yeah.

[A]

And we already talked about him on the. On the podcast.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Val Kilmer.

[B]

Oh, Val Kilmer. It's hard to say. Great actor. He will always be memorable. A memorable actor who could be great. He could at times be great. I think I'll remember Doc Holliday from Tombstone at the very top. I think that was brilliant. And that is. It's not a great movie. It's still kind of a B movie, but I love it. And that locks me in when it's on, too. I think he was wonderful as Doc Holliday. He was great in Real Genius is probably where I first saw him. The movie with William Atherton about the scientific college is like, supposed to be Caltech.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It wasn't. It was good.

[A]

I doubt it.

[B]

I thought he was a little much in the Doors.

[A]

Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. I think you nailed it with Tombstone.

[B]

I think Tombstone is probably tops.

[A]

Yeah. As Doc Holliday was probably the best role that I've seen him.

[B]

And he's Elvis in True Romance, too.

[A]

Oh, is he really?

[B]

Yeah, he's the cameo for Elvis, but in very, very strange. Oh, and the movie Daniel gave me the Salton Sea. Vincent d' Onofrio actually steals that because he's so. Oh, God, he's unbelievable.

[A]

He's the best.

[B]

He's amazing. But the. Yeah, I've got positive thoughts about Val Kilmer. Very, very strange dude.

[A]

But that was. So he passed away April 1st of this year. All right, so let's jump back into May. If I were to say the name to you, Major Margaret Hot Lips Houlihan.

[B]

Oh, Loretta Switzerland. Yes. Very important to MASH was one of the first childhood shows that I really got into. Maybe it was my first grown up show.

[A]

I assumed that you were a big MASH fan.

[B]

Yeah, my parents watched it because it used to come out at 10:30 after the news.

[A]

I never watched.

[B]

It was always on and I've seen every episode. And in like fifth or sixth grade, I got the books that had the episode lists and I knew who all the guest characters were. But I think M A S H was probably one of my foundational shows.

[A]

And I figured it was. I don't know why I figured that, but for me, as a young boy, I've always been opposed to war, so I never really got into the movie.

[B]

So is MASH is also extremely opposed to war? And that's kind of the whole satirical Point of it.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

Thank you very much. Her character really evolved over time, that in the later episodes, she was given a lot more to work with and made the most of it.

[A]

But did you think she had hot lips?

[B]

Not particularly.

[A]

Okay, just checking. But you were a youth.

[B]

Yeah, you were a youth. I always found it interesting that Larry Linville, who played Frank Burns. Major Burns, not being confused with Larry Lujak. No. But Larry Linville, who was her.

[A]

Love.

[B]

Interest, had no lips.

[A]

That was her nickname.

[B]

No, she was Hot Lips and he had no lips. Maybe I was the only person who found that interest.

[A]

He was no lips. All right, June 3, 2025. This particular athlete had a very memorable day. On October 26, 1964. He returned a 66 yard fumble recovery against the 49ers running into the end zone.

[B]

Wrong way. Jim Marshall.

[A]

Wrong way. Jim Marshall. Correct. Ding, ding, ding.

[B]

Yes. I will just remember, in that play would be in one of the books that we would get from the annual book fair. Football players do the silliest things. And Jim Wrongway Marshall was always in there. It's like, ho, ho, ho. Remember this? There'd be four pages of black and white photos of him running the wrong way. And I kind of felt bad for him.

[A]

And you should, because if you look at what active NFL records he still holds. Most seasons played by defensive player.

[B]

Most time running 60 yards into the wrong end zone.

[A]

Most complete seasons played by a defensive player. Most consecutive games started, including playoffs, by defensive player. Most consecutive regular season games played by a defensive player. Most consecutive regular season.

[B]

How long did he live?

[A]

Starts played by a defensive player. Most consecutive regular season starts played with one team. Most opponent fumbles recovered.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Most fumble recoveries by defensive end. Most yardage lost on a fumble recovery.

[B]

How old was he?

[A]

He was. Let's see here.

[B]

Let me pull him up, because that's. That's a lot of football to live that long.

[A]

He was born in 1937 and just died in June.

[B]

Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, it's a nice run.

[A]

Most consequent. So 270 starts for the Minnesota Vikings.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

All right. So wrong way, Jim Marshall. Yeah.

[B]

I'm worried that our colleagues in Minnesota are now gonna be mad at me for underrating Jim Marshall. Phil Mackey is going to be.

[A]

They're not even old enough to remember Jim Marshall.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

All right, how about this guy? He was on the ed Sullivan Show, 1968, and right before they went into performing multiple songs in a row, he said, don't hate the black. Don't Hate the white if you get bit. Hate the bite. Do you know who said that?

[B]

Tiny Tim.

[A]

It was not Tiny Tim. It was Sly Stone.

[B]

Oh, okay. Yeah. Oh, sly stone.

[A]

Yep. June 9th, this past June.

[B]

Yeah. I got into him when I used to. My dad had the vinyl record collection, which is still in the basement, and my dad had a Sly of the Family Stone, like, triptych, fold out. Oh, his album collection's incredible. Really?

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Oh, like an original rubber sole. There's an original. Like the yellow cover. Cheech and Chong. And my first image of Sly Stone, I remember as a little kid, and you open up the double album, and it's him. It's Sly, full leather suit, completely sideways, like doing a jump slide. And, you know, that guy was just exuded. Cool.

[A]

I bet your dad had one of those.

[B]

Oh, yeah, Same thing also. Did he posed for your mom? Yeah. Come flying through sideways. You know, parallel to the floor.

[A]

All right, moving on. We're staying in the music world. The music world. Lost on June 11, 2025. Brian Wilson.

[B]

Genius. I didn't fine. Genius. And I understand the complexity of the music, the number of chords that he used, the singular brain musical mind that he was is probably overshadowed by the Beatles. And then famously, he was, like, preyed on by an evil doctor, this horrible Svengali. But, okay, I don't.

[A]

It wasn't Dr. Evil. It was an evil doctor. Right?

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Because if Brian Wilson was pursued by Dr. Evil, that's a story that no one's talking about.

[B]

Yeah. We should write that treatment right now and slide it under somebody's door and get it produced.

[A]

All right. I will fall in the large minority of people that I didn't like the Beach Boys, didn't care for the music, didn't.

[B]

I thought I certainly was the current iteration of the Beach.

[A]

It was all the same. Change the lyrics. Oh, it is true.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It's completely true. All right. Moving on to the world of tv, entertainment and cooking. Something very near and dear to my heart. And this is very sad, especially given the news that has come out since her death on June 17, that chef Ann Burrell. Anne Burrell passed away.

[B]

And my first thought was, you killed her. No, I don't believe your denial.

[A]

I did not.

[B]

Of course you're denying it.

[A]

I did not kill.

[B]

Which super bowl was it where we came downstairs and she was cooking?

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

She took me in the lobby of our hotel.

[A]

I turned around and walked away.

[B]

Yeah, you said something like, oh, we got to get away from that food as quickly as Possible before we smell it.

[A]

Yeah. And I know.

[B]

And your fault.

[A]

It is. It is my fault. I'll own that one. But, yeah, Sat. Sat. A lot. A lot of. Lot of. A lot of people love Anne Burrell. So. 6:26. So, June 26th, if I say the name Rick Hurst, does it mean anything to you?

[B]

Nothing.

[A]

Nothing at all?

[B]

No.

[A]

If I were to say to you his character of Deputy Cletus Hogg, would that mean anything to you?

[B]

No.

[A]

Really? Cletus Hogg.

[B]

Cletus Hogg. Oh, related to Boss Hogg?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay. I got nothing for you.

[A]

You didn't. Oh, you didn't watch one of the goober shows? No.

[B]

Dukes of Hazzard? No, I didn't watch the Dukes of Hazzard.

[A]

Are you surprised you didn't have, like, a model of the General Lee on your. On your dresser as a. You.

[B]

I did not.

[A]

I don't believe that.

[B]

I got nothing for it.

[A]

I don't believe that at all. I don't.

[B]

Smirks or whatever his name is.

[A]

Okay, all right, all right. Here's the one I'm really excited about.

[B]

Oh, God.

[A]

Okay. He passed away on June 30th of this year. If I were to say the name to you. Kenneth Collie. Kenneth Collie mean anything to you?

[B]

Collie. Like C, O, L, L, I, E.

[A]

C O, L, L, E, Y.

[B]

No.

[A]

Nothing at all. Okay, what if I were to say his character name? Admiral Pyatt?

[B]

Admiral Pyatt. Is that Gilbert and Sullivan? Nope. Is this some big war movie? Yeah.

[A]

Okay, what if I were to say Admiral Ozzel anything to you?

[B]

How many Admirals does he play?

[A]

Well, no, he doesn't play Admiral Ozzel, but he took Admiral Ozzel's job after Admiral Ozzel was choked out by Darth Vader. Oh. During the Battle of Hoth.

[B]

Okay. If I saw him, I would say that guy. Yeah. Okay.

[A]

Admiral Pyatt. So he got promoted because Darth Vader killed a guy.

[B]

Hey, doesn't matter. Next man up. That's right. He's like a football coach. That's what they say among the Imperial Army. They've got a next man up mentality.

[A]

Vader takes his helmet off, puts on extra eye black, takes off smelling salt.

[B]

Do you take some spelling salt from George Kittle?

[A]

Yes. All right, here's the moving on. Oh, you'll have thoughts on this one July 1st.

[B]

I've thoughts on everything. I'll make them up if I don't have them.

[A]

Jimmy Swaggart.

[B]

Oh, fine. Good. Yeah, he's not the worst one. But yeah.

[A]

Oh, not the worst one, but.

[B]

No, the worst one did die. But, yeah, good.

[A]

But he's. He's up there. Yeah. So.

[B]

Okay, that's. That's an easy one.

[A]

All right. And I know you won't go to hell. You won't know this person, but I. The only reason I. And I'll tell you why I put her on the list. Sophia Hutchins passed away July 2nd of this year. Okay. She's Caitlyn Jenner's manager, longtime manager and friend. But here's the reason why I included her on the list, because as I was going through notable deaths on the interwebs, she died at. During an ATV accident.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So apparently riding ATVs some kind of accident. So tragic, tragic death for a younger person. I read the headline, though. It was atmosphere accident, which then inspired me to click into the link to read the story about how she died. I thought maybe she was.

[B]

Don't push the orange button. I don't know.

[A]

She was robbed, maybe getting out money.

[B]

I don't know what happened. No, I was thinking her card got stuck. She grabs for it and it eats her arm and she bleeds to death. I don't know.

[A]

I thought it was an ATM accident.

[B]

A horrible, violent ATM accident.

[A]

I don't know. I got. It worked. I clicked on it. All right, moving on. Michael Madsen passed away.

[B]

Yeah, Michael Madsen. When you talk about a. So many great movies, but when your cinematic legacy, at least as far as I'm concerned. Chicago guy, local guy.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Virginia Madsen's brother. And one of my. The guy that used to drive our limos to the remotes. What was his name? Greg. Greg.

[A]

Todd.

[B]

Todd.

[A]

Todd Celebration.

[B]

Yes, Todd. He was like, best friends with Michael Madsen.

[A]

Oh, was he really?

[B]

Yeah, they were really close. But I will say this, cinematically, it's a pretty cool legacy when the first two things that jump to mind are you cutting off a guy's ear and you being bitten in the face multiple times by a black mamba. Oh, those are the first two images that I have. Okay, that's pretty badass, right? That's a nice cinematic legacy. Oh, that's the guy that cuts off the guy's ear. That's the guy that gets killed by the most poisonous snake in the world while Elle Driver, played by Daryl Hanna, is flipping through her little journalist notebook and reading Mamba Facts.

[A]

Yeah, he has a lot of great movies. A lot of great movies. Just absolutely love Reservoir Dogs. Just a great, great film. All right, Michael Matson. So July 3rd we lost a great actor. I don't know. You might have. Again, your depth of knowledge is.

[B]

Stop. Stop prefacing and give me a damn name.

[A]

July 16th. Connie Francis.

[B]

Yeah, that's a Mike north name. Every time I hear Connie, all I can think about is Mike North.

[A]

All right.

[B]

That's exactly right. Okay, she's exactly dead.

[A]

That's what we get.

[B]

Light her up like Christmas trees.

[A]

They did.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Okay, now we're getting into a week in July that claimed a lot of lives. Okay, so July 22nd, the world lost Ozzy Osbourne.

[B]

A real one, an absolute real one. And I didn't appreciate it as much. I thought his music was okay. I didn't go out of my way to listen to his music. But when I read some of the obituaries and really understood how unfairly when he was, oh, he's satanic and he's scary and awful and bad for our kids. When a lot of his lyrics were anti fascist. Listen to the lyrics of War Pigs. And all he was saying about how evil people and evil leaders will use war to aggrandize their own powers, et cetera. He was, by all accounts, when I heard Alice Cooper talking about him on Alice's Attic, which I listened to on 971 at night. Alice Cooper, by the way, really good DJ. Yeah, really good. Great storyteller.

[A]

Good dude, too, actually. Really nice guy. Yeah, no, everybody says met at once in Arizona. Really nice guy.

[B]

Apparently he's going to be in at some point. Oh, really? Yeah, we're going to have a chance to talk to him at some point. But, yeah, I felt bad and I felt worse after the fact, but I'm not. I was never a huge fan of his music.

[A]

Neither was I, but I did love, like, the Osbourne family stuff. I thought it was. That was pretty entertaining. And you got to see a different side of Ozzy Osbourne. And speaking of that, of guests coming in, I just want to let our audience know that we will at times have guests come through. So it's not going to be just us going back and forth. And, you know, we'll include our listening audience. We'll include guests throughout our time as well.

[B]

There's no guests for the sake of guests.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

You're going to make it worth your time. If you are waiting for Sunday to start betting, you're missing half the fun and you're missing half the money. College football is already cooking. Week zero is in the books. We've had some exciting games already. Upsets, blowouts, wild Covers that Stanford Hawaii game was insane. My bookie lets you hit it all, whether you love player props or game lines. Everything you need before the pros even kick off. So when Sunday rolls around, if you're doing it right, you're already up. So my bookie's got it all under one roof. You can win big on the NFL super contest Survivor pools. If you are new to my bookie, know this code. It's three letters. Dbu. They stand for Dan Bernstein unfiltered. Any bet you choose up to 500 bucks is fully covered. So just make a play. If it doesn't hit, you get it right back. You're going to opt in using your bet back bonus token. It is the code DBU at MyBookie. My Bookies where betters win together. Bragging's good. Cashing in is better.

[A]

All right, so on the same day, died on the same day of Ozzy osbourne. So that's July 22nd.

[B]

We got a lot to go here. Well, halfway through.

[A]

No, we're. No, we're coming up towards the end.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Your guy also. Also July 22nd, Chuck Maggione.

[B]

Oh, yeah. He almost killed me. Chuck, man, rats Feel so good. Was his famous yacht rock number.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Before we called it Yacht Rock played the flugelhorn or a hat. The man in the hat, the cat in the hat, they called him the flugel horn. Yep.

[A]

Yeah. One of the best horns ever.

[B]

The best instruments that has the word flugel.

[A]

Yeah, we were like. We did like a draft of horns. That would be number one for me.

[B]

So it was Bulls, Pacers, game six or game seven at Market Square arena. And I'm literally, you know me, I'm running around 98.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

I got my cassette recorder and I'm running it. I'm there five hours early, and I got to get sound. And I'm running. I get sound. I'm going on this. And I got producers screaming at me. And I turned the corner, and the hallways at Market Square arena, it was. It was like the score on Belmont Avenue. It was like bricks and metal. It was like being in a submarine. And I turned, make this 90 degree turn, and there's right up in my face is the bell of a flugelhorn. Oh, and I duck out of the way.

[A]

Oh, like you almost. Oh, it could have hit you.

[B]

Almost took my head off.

[A]

Gotcha.

[B]

And I duck out of the way and. And kind of bounce off the back wall. And Chuck Mangione goes, hey, slow down, man. And like. Sorry. He was practicing. He did the national Anthem.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

And he wasn't just wandering the lives there. It's the only place he could live. But no, but he couldn't look more like Chuck Mangiotti. Like, he had the stringy hair on the sides and the hat and his little uniform thing, whatever it was, but like, oh, there's that.

[A]

And then.

[B]

And then. I didn't think of it again.

[A]

So here's what you gave us in this last. In this commentary, that Chuck Mangione couldn't look more like Chuck Mangioni.

[B]

And you killed Anne Burrell.

[A]

And I. Okay, but you also said that Market Square arena, bricks. And what else did you say? Bricks and metal.

[B]

Bricks and metal. It was just, you know, you said.

[A]

It'S like a submarine. So I'm curious. How many submarines have you seen made of brick? Because I'm curious to know.

[B]

I'm saying it was a good subject. It wasn't a particularly effective submarine. It was.

[A]

That was Hitler's downfall. Too many submarines made out of brick. What's that man building there with all those bricks? A submarine?

[B]

Yeah. Not so sure about your war plans there, Dolph.

[A]

What's Dolph Lundgren doing there? I didn't know he was in the.

[B]

No apostrophe. Dolph. Oh, yeah.

[A]

Gotcha. Oh, okay. Yeah. Not Dolph Lundgren. All right. Chuck mangione. So that's July 22nd. Correct. I just confirmed this morning they're both. Both still dead.

[B]

Thank you. Check that every day, please.

[A]

All right, now we're in the same week.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

That was July 22nd. Ozzy and Chuck. July 24th, Hulk Hogan, American icon.

[B]

If I were allowed, and maybe I'll have the chance to do this, to walk over and piss on his grave, I would do it. I would try to write my name in cursive while pissing on his grave. Bad, bad, bad guy. Racist, abuser, scab. And as I later understood, a total jerk within the wrestling community. And I never understood. I don't know enough about wrestling that there's a protocol when doing these really physical moves to absorb some of the punishment yourself. I'm sure there's a term for it, but when you deliver a hit to know how to do it. So it doesn't injure when two people hit the mat to be able to take some of the impact on yourself, to lessen that of your co actor. And it's the equivalent of like. Yes. And in improv. And he didn't do that. He would literally throw people around like rag dolls and cause injury.

[A]

So yeah, really good documentary out right now about wrestling. I think it's called Unreal. And it would be on Netflix, maybe. You might enjoy that. It was very entertaining. But when you said co actor, what did you mean by that? Co actor? I'm not sure.

[B]

Don't play dumb with me.

[A]

What do you like acting like? So, like in his movie roles, what do you mean?

[B]

His acting not just as Thunder Lips, but in. In the. In the presentation of the scripted professional wrestling events.

[A]

Okay, well, we'll leave that one there. All right, Same week. Now we're at. Where is Hulk hog? Was the 24th. Now, July 26th, you're not going to know this guy's name, but I want. Just want to get your reaction. Junior Edwards passed away at the age of 61.

[B]

Senior Edwards still alive. Senor. Not senor Eduardo, different.

[A]

But Junior Edwards grew to fame and popularity because the TV show, which I've never seen. Swamp People. Swamp People. Nothing. Nothing. Yeah, me neither.

[B]

I just drained the swamp.

[A]

Yeah, I just. Oh, boy. All right, how about also on the same day, July 26th? Tom Lehrer.

[B]

Oh, influential. Really important to me. Tom Lehrer. The term genius. Tom Lehrer, a Harvard trained mathematician. I believe he graduated Harvard when he was 18 years old, went to work for the National Security Administration, and I believe he was 97 or 100 when he died, had been a math professor forever at UC Santa Cruz. But you will know him as the satirist who played the piano and sang all sorts of famous, wonderful comedy songs starting back in the 1950s. He was on Electric Company. People of our age, Gen X, will remember the Ly song and the Silent E song. Who can turn a tap into a tape? Who can turn a cap into a ca. That's Tom Lehrer. The album An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer, which was recorded, I think in 1957 in a performance at Harvard I had on vinyl growing up. I used to listen to it all the time. Really a daring, gutsy satirist. But because he did it through music and made people laugh, he got away with some things that other people couldn't. He did a show called that Was the Week that Was. And one of my favorite lines, the thing that still makes me laugh to this day and a song that still applies is a song called National Brotherhood Week, where he's. It's a jaunty tune about how everyone in the world hates each other. And I want to say, what was that? 1961, probably around there. And there's a refrain where he sings, well, the Catholics hate the Protestants. And the Protestants hate the Catholics, and the Muslims hate the Hindus, and everybody hates the Jews. A lot of stuff that he did remains timeless. He also, before he died, made his entire catalog public domain.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

That rather than doing the Michael Jackson, the Paul McCartney before he died, he said his gift to the world was take my music, everything I've ever written, whatever you want to do with it. And that's really cool.

[A]

That's very cool. All right. And here's the last one for you, and then we'll. Unless you have other deaths.

[B]

1.

[A]

Okay, well, we get to it. Here's the last one on my list. And this. I don't know if you'll have as much of a reaction as I had when it happened, but of course, Cubs second baseman Ryan Sandberg, who passed away on July 28 after a long battle with cancer. And I. You know, I watched the Cubs as a kid, grew up watching the Cubs. Ryan Sandberg became my favorite player. I wanted to play second base because of Sandberg.

[B]

Everybody wants me to scream, Ryan. Ryan. Ryan. It's not Ryan. It's Ryan. Ryan. Ryan. So they're done. Fan. There's our fan servicing.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

Check that box.

[A]

And for my 50th birthday, Barry Rosner got a Cubs Ryan Sandberg jersey. And. And. And Sandberg autographed it for me.

[B]

Oh, it's so nice of Barry.

[A]

It was awesome. And it was like, not just his name and his. And his number and the HOF he actually put 50. Can't believe you made it this far. I mean, it was just a really great, thoughtful, wonderful gift, something I absolutely cherish from my buddy Barry. But Sandberg. Yeah, Sandberg passed away on July 28th. So that's my list of celebrities for reactions. You have one.

[B]

I have one more to add to that. But let me just say about Ryan Sandberg that growing up a White Sox fan at the time, I obviously had a different relationship with Cubs, specifically 1984, which is one of the most miserable years for Sox fans of a certain age. When we were around Cubs fans, and he was. Sandberg was having his arrival and still the Sandberg game and all of it. And it was a very tough time for Sox fans. He was a great, great, great baseball player and a very, very, very nice man. And I gotta. I covered him when he came back to the Cubs. I was in spring training in Mesa with the Cubs covering them, and my memories weren't as much of him, but the way that Sean Dunston and Mark Grace were around him and used him as A foil because they were the interesting ones and rhymes just went about his work and was very steady in what he did. I think looking at his body of work helps you appreciate him. There weren't a lot of individual spectacular moments. He wasn't Ozzie Smith back flipping. He wasn't hitting 475 foot home runs. But looking at the body of work of his career, he was a remarkable, deserved hall of fame baseball player. And I knew him professionally. Got a chance to host a couple of events with him. And it's very sad that he died as young as he did. One more name I want to add to this list.

[A]

Okay, add your list. Sorry if I missed whoever this might be.

[B]

James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

There is not enough piss in the world for his grave. You know how the US has strategic oil reserves.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

If there were a US Strategic piss reserve, I'd wanna back up every truck, load them up, and bring him over to wherever his grave is. What a living piece of shit. James Dobson was this guy who institutionalized child abuse by essentially telling evangelical parents to beat their children. And his books were given out like candy at all these affiliated churches that this is how you do it. This is James Dobson. The way he perverted religious beliefs to demonize LGBTQ women. When he said that women should. Women. I believe his. The covenant with the man was to provide sexual relations and housekeeping in exchange for protection. A dangerous, awful, awful human being who made the world demonstrably worse. I could not be happier that he's dead. And I hope more like him die soon.

[A]

All right, then ask and answer. Yeah, yeah, I. I remember like, yeah, the. The Focus on the Family stuff and then, yeah, really against the. The gay community. I think really promoted like conversion therapy. Guy was the name of the program. Love, Love, Love Wins Out. Love Won Out, a program he had about anti. The anti gay community. It was just. Yeah, it just. Yeah.

[B]

Bye bye.

[A]

Yeah, you're.

[B]

Bye bye. And no disagreement here. Let me put it this way. It makes me want to believe in hell. When someone like that dies. I just. I wish I believed in hell because it would. It would be nice. I can still picture, you know, things that Dante wrote about if I want, but. Yeah, and I will.

[A]

All right, so that.

[B]

That concludes.

[A]

Bring out your dead. Bring out your dad.

[B]

Today's show has been brought to you in partnership with my bookie. That is episode two of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered. And you should subscribe and like and rate all the things that you do.

[A]

And follow everything on social media.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. We got a lot more to do and plenty of time to do it.

[A]

Yes. And then don't forget, coming up today, also our first episode of Forward Progress, our Chicago Bears podcast. You have to subscribe to that separately on YouTube as well. Okay. It has its own page, its own, its own channel. Go to it. Subscribe to Ford Progress as we'll break down Chicago Bears. We'll talk to you next time. Dan Bernstein, Unfiltered.

[B]

Unfiltered on three one, two sports.