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Dan Bernstein
Dan Bernstein Unfiltered Unfiltered on 312 Sports it's DBU on 312 brought to you in part partnership with my bookie and also by Chicago window guys. Call 847-302-9171. Check out the five star reviews at ChicagoNowGuys.com and by the Chicago Stars making this a soccer filled summer in Evanston. Come to a match for family friendly pro sports on the lakefront. Get tickets@chicagostars.com tickets as much fun as the the Cubs latest resurgence has been, there was a surgeons surgeons bad and then a resurgence. I am my nerves are frayed from watching this Cubs team right now. The the narrative for the team has been all over the map. There are so many variables and some is within their control, some is beyond their control. But either way as as much fun as it is right now and as much fun as it has been, I'm also a little unsettled in the uncertainty of it and I think it's just because of postseason scar tissue that's gotten built up. There were too many times, mostly post 2016, those teams that would get to the playoffs sometimes squeak into the playoffs and even though the the, the quality of play near the end of the season or certainly the quality of offense in large part near the end of the season was dropping, then you know they would miss the playoffs here and there. We had an angry Theo Epstein all this stuff our offense broke and all that. So the question now that I have, and this is really the headline when it comes to the Cubs, what do you trust? What do you trust? How do you know which team is going to show up? And I know we can look at the people coming back from injuries say, well you know, by the Time they get to that point. Oh, who knows, Maybe some of these long hurt relievers are going to come back and maybe people will be knocking on the door. I don't think Justin Steele is riding to anybody's rescue here, but there are, there are some other possibilities and I know we have the trade deadline, but there's been, there's something about this team where it's like, well, I hope it's this Cubs team that shows up for the games that matter. So let's, let's look at it. There's a couple truths here, one that we don't really care to confront about all the, all of the after the fact narratives behind postseason success and say this champion is. The postseason is separate from the regular season. It's, it's different baseball. The 162 the season, the six months decide who the best team is or the best teams are the playoffs decide who wins the World Series. And increasingly as we're letting everybody into the playoffs and that's going to continue to happen is that we've got a large playoff field that the variance isn't decreasing. It's short series where anything can happen and bad players can play tremendously. Great players can play very poorly because that's the nature of baseball. So already we have an understanding of home runs and luck being the reason why you win a World Series. Sometimes the best team wins the World Series, but not all the time. They're different things. So they're, they're really, they're two different awards. They're two different achievements is what they are. Two different accomplishments. Being the best team of the 162 and then winning the World Series, if it so happens, you're both congratulations. But the one that we choose to remember is, is the, the, the trophy. The winner of the playoff tournament is really the way to look at it. It's a postseason tournament. It's like ACC basketball or Big Ten basketball. Well, we had the best record the regular season. Yeah, well, we won the tournament. Who's the Big Ten champion? I don't know. Argue it. We argue it with bumper stickers. But that happens in baseball. We just don't recognize that it happens in baseball because it, that, that the way the stories are written has gotten away from us and we've just kind of all agreed to do it this way. So that's already there. And now we have this confounding team. Sometimes it's the greatest thing you've ever seen and the offense is just hell on wheels and it's a It's a party in the usa. What? We're having one in Washington right now. Did you know?
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah, yeah. All 12 people are really enjoying themselves.
Dan Bernstein
I just let the record show, please. I can't get enough of pictures of like six people standing in front of a stage that's got 15 people on it. Like, this is, this is just all time. If you had actually made pictures like this and said this is what it's going to be for your giant celebration in Washington, people would not have believed you. Fantastic. Nobody's there.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
I would have believed it.
Dan Bernstein
Nobody is there. So just keep, keep on doing what you're doing. Everyone, just everybody involved. You're, you're, you're doing great at having, having the Fox News desk, they set up a set overlooking this and they have to pretend it's not empty. Well, everybody's coming out. They'll be here soon. They'll be here. Well, it's going to be like, it's been great. It's like no one's there. Look behind you. All you have to do is look behind. It's, it's note perfect. So thank you. So it's been when, when they're hitting, it's that level of party and when they're not, it's misery when they're going through one of their stretches where they load the bases of with a bouncing single up the middle and then two walks, both of which have the last pitch appealed and they end up saying, okay, here we go. All right, what is happening again? All right, they do this, okay, now let's go. And then it's pop up in a double play and you're done and you're throwing things that Cubs teams in there, that team just appeared out of nowhere after 210 game winning streaks. And it's usually not this extreme. You know what I think it is? I think it's man made climate change. That's what I think it is. I think man made climate change and burning fossil fuels and the creation of plastics is making, it's polarizing the Cubs. It's somehow making the highs higher and the lows lower and bringing out all kinds of extremes in the environment, like dangerous heat. By the way, that, that was not dangerous heat. Am I yesterday?
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yesterday was a nice day.
Dan Bernstein
Yes, it was beautiful. Yeah, it was gorgeous. I, I, I had nobody to talk to because I was wandering the lakeshore and it was empty. Nobody was even out there doing anything. And it was beautiful. It was a lovely, hot Chicago summer day. But no, it was like warning, warning. You're Gonna die. Go outside. You will be killed by the heat. You will bury to a grass. Do not go outside. We're opening centers. If you are over 40 years old, you must go to a cooling center immediately. It's like, okay, can we just have a nice, a nice hot day?
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Tuesday was a lot worse than yesterday. That's, that's why. But it was today. Feels pretty muggy this morning.
Dan Bernstein
I didn't, I don't, but I don't like hot. I, I, I'm generally the first one to complain, but it was yesterday was fine.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Get as hot as you want. I'm good with that. Hey, real quick, too, back on the, on the Cubs thing, I remember and I forgot to mention this on oti, that's off the IVR Cubs podcast.
Dan Bernstein
And thank you. You know, we, yeah, and you told me not to, you told me not to call it oti and you just called it oti.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
But I didn't leave it there. I said oti, off the IVR Cubs podcast. All right, you would just say oti, then leave it. And people are like, dan is a uti. That's rough. It does. Yeah. It happens often.
Dan Bernstein
All the time.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Anyway, the Cubs do have in, in, in their minor league system now. I think in aaa, they have Aaron Bummer, Kyle Hendricks and Drew Pomeranz.
Dan Bernstein
Hey, man, if you're trying to win the 2017 World Series, you're looking good.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Well, yeah, dude, but I mean, you're, you know, you talk about a bullpen that needs some help, and they're, they're not. I mean, they're trying everything possible. So you got these three guys now at aaa, I believe. Who knows, man? If one guy works out and gets there and gets out of the pile of outs at Craig Council stares at every day.
Dan Bernstein
Well, here's how I picture what's going on there. As an aside to what we're talking about. I picture the Cubs pitching wonks and you know that they're, they've got their, their people who do their pitching things, and they look at every trajectory and they look at the spin rates and they look at the heat maps and, and they're probably, you look at a pitcher and they're like, okay, okay, so here's, and what we usually see is throw this more, stop throwing this, throw this less, etc. Throw this after this, throw this only if you're going to throw this. And the problem is with some of these pitchers now, they're 100 years old and they can't throw anymore. And you're like, okay, let me see this pitch. Yeah, don't throw that. All right, how about that one? Don't throw that either. Okay, change it. No, no, don't throw any of those. We want you to throw no pitches. Please don't throw any of those. That's what's happening is you, you end up with people who you. You don't have anything to choose from because you can only do so much in an actual big league game to limit the bad and highlight the good. So if they can do this, if one of those guys is a one win player, that's good work, right? What do you think the collective war by the end of the season will be of those three of Liam Hendrick, Drew Pomerantz, Liam Hendricks, Aaron Bummer. Give me an end of regular season collective wins above replacement.
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Dan Bernstein
Two one. Like any, Any. Any of that. Anything that's not negative.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah, I just. It's hard. It's hard to. Because the Cub fan wants to and me wants, wants to think that all three will come contribute. But that's probably not going to happen, right? I don't know. Let's. And this is positive for a Cubs bullpen pitcher. Let's say 0.4 total from that group. Because it's one guy. I don't think all three are going to do it. Are they? I'm just gonna fuck it. It's. This is our Friday. It's on Friday. Let's say 1.2. All three combined. 1.2.
Dan Bernstein
Okay. If you.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
If let's do that.
Dan Bernstein
If they produce, write that down. Make sure we mark that. If, if somehow that troika of Drew Pomerantz, Liam Hendricks and Aaron Bummer, I'll say they produce a win
Co-host or Guest Analyst
bum.
Dan Bernstein
And who's the other guy? Bumdrix. If you want to, you can make them into one person. Now that would be great if you could just, just combine. That's an effective pitch. That's an occasionally effective pitch from this arm side. If you could combine them.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
What did I say? 1.1.
Dan Bernstein
You said 1.2. You said 1.2 total war. I know it's not right, but why not?
Commercial Voiceover or Additional Announcer
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, go ahead.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Feeling it right now with Dansby.
Dan Bernstein
So yeah, I, he's, he's, he's, he's an all. This is an all time on one here. There are some great comps that are going on with Dansby Swanson comparing his month or his last three Wednesdays to full seasons of, of other shortstops in the past. And I think he's the, I think he's now fourth in the National League among shortstops and value. And closing fast. And closing fast.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah.
Dan Bernstein
As of right now, Dansby Swanson's a 2.4 WAR. Otto Lopez of the Marlins is at 3.6. C.J. abrams and Ellie de la Cruz are tied at 2.5. So Dansby Swanson is a tenth of a win off from being tied for the being the second most valuable shortstop in the National League. Wow. Ahead of Perdomo, Dubon, Bogarts, Wynn, Bichette, Turner, McLean, Adamas and Tovar.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
You know he's, and I know you don't. This doesn't do a whole lot for you, but he's 11th in baseball and RBI's 11th.
Dan Bernstein
Oh, again, look at the team's walk rate. Look at the teams on base percentage and, and the number of opportunities he gets. Because I'd love to look at considering number of baserunners who have been on how many RBIs would he be expected?
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Oh my God, yes. Oh, yeah.
Dan Bernstein
If they didn't have he hit.250.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Valley they went to as a team.
Progressive Insurance Announcer
Right.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Where would they be then?
Dan Bernstein
That's the thing. Back to the original point. What do you trust? Don't go there again. Don't go to the valley so low. The Red River Valley. Don't, don't go there. Stay away from the Valley.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
The, the peak has been so high. The, the low has been. The Valley has been so low. Like you can't, I mean you're, you're realistically not Going to get that close to the, the peak again.
Dan Bernstein
Did you watch yesterday?
Co-host or Guest Analyst
That was the peak. That was, that was a. That was. Okay, so we're talking about Dansby Swanson like his last three series really epitomize what this season has been.
Dan Bernstein
Yes.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
You look at at the Mets series where what did he do against the Mets?
Dan Bernstein
Against the mets he had 10 home runs in 100.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Was 7 for 13, a double, a triple, three home runs and 15 RBIS. Then he goes to Milwaukee and he goes over 12 with four strikeouts. And then San Diego he's 8 for 13, a double, five home runs, 11 RBIS. He is the Cub season in an individ in, in an individual player in a nutshell right there. Well, from the best of the best to the absolute worst of the best of the best.
Dan Bernstein
That's no way to go through a baseball season. As a fan, it just isn't. It's asking too much because it reminds me a little bit of good Rex, bad Rex.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Oh yeah. If you remember, he was a really frustrating quarterback. Only because I liked him a lot though.
Dan Bernstein
Sure. Terrific.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
That was the thing I loved.
Dan Bernstein
Terrific guy. Yeah. And you rooted for him because he was just cool and unpretentious and just kind of, kind of normal. You know, really no big ego and. But he played with one. You know, he. He played with a little bit of swagger and I remember that season of the, the being on tenterhooks to start a game because if he completed that play action pass on the skinny post to Masin Muhammad in the first series, you're like, oh, it's a good game.
Commercial Voiceover or Additional Announcer
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
All right. He's going to have a 110 rating and he's going to throw three touchdowns with one interception. And if he missed on that pass like, well, that's it. It's going to be awful and he's just going to look like he can't, he can't play. So the. This kind of polarization within a given team, within a given year, where. What are we getting today? I hate that because all you want is consistency. All you want is certain markets crave certainty. When we talk about the nervousness of markets, I think the same goes for a fandom. What am I rooting for today? What is a reasonable expectation of something that's going to happen today? The problem is the range for the Cubs is they could look like a completely flaccid and get too hit by a bum or they can score 23 runs.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Right. And. But that can happen to any team. I mean look at the game.
Dan Bernstein
But it happens to them more often.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Well, that's only because you watch more of those games and you don't watch every game. Yeah, there's a Major League Baseball 7 game losing streak right now.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, you're right.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Which is the worst in a long time. But here's the thing. And this is, and this is where I think I'm, I'm good at it. I don't get too upset. I don't get too, too overjoyed. Okay. I just, I let the season play out. I watch the games. And if a game, if a particular game tells me, matt, don't bother, I'll turn off.
Dan Bernstein
Oh, that's really smart.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
If it's the seventh inning and I think, all right, you know what? They're not, they're, they're not coming. If I think they're not coming back, my wife will say, you can't give up. You got to keep watching. I go, no, no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna watch a show that I want to watch. I'm not going to spend the next hour if I don't believe. And then if they come back and win, I'll watch the highlights. Okay? Because here's the thing, people get nervous about it and you ask for consistency. You cannot have consistency on a game to game basis.
Dan Bernstein
Right.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
You need to have, you need to
Dan Bernstein
have big picture look to it.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, but they don't have that either. They don't really have. They've had, so far, three quarters of the season have been great and one quarter has been terrifying. It's the existence of that one quarter for some of us, depending on how we're calibrated. Yes, that, that is enough to, to frighten me to say like, well, that's in them somewhere. That's still in them.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah, you know, you're right. You're right.
Dan Bernstein
But it wasn't just game to game.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
But, but it's, but it's, but they're, they're a better team, okay? They're, they're not. Again, you're not as great as your high. You're not as bad as your low. This team is not going to be more consistently towards that low because of the way that they're made up.
Dan Bernstein
I hope you're right. I hope you're right.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
And you know how we'll know at the end of 162? That's how we'll know.
Dan Bernstein
It depends how you get there. If they have another. And, and the point is, but how
Co-host or Guest Analyst
you get there doesn't matter. It's, it's where you get at the end. That's all that, like the players, the players don't care about how they get there. All that matters is where you get to at the end. And we need to adopt that as a fan in order to not be so crazy. Yeah, it's hard to do. I get it.
Dan Bernstein
It just. What do you, what do you trust with this team? Have they earned that trust? Have they, have they earned the trust that they put that in the rearview mirror, that whatever lessons they learned. And we were talking about it the other day, this idea of, of using that going through a ten game losing streak. Which is it? That's not a six game losing streak. It is really hard to find. And boy, you were scraping the bottom of the barrel back in the time to see how many good teams have lost 10 in a row. And it's a short list.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah, it was The Dodgers in 17.
Dan Bernstein
It was right.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
That, that, that did what the Cubs have done right. With 10 winning, 10 losing, 10 winning, 10.
Dan Bernstein
It's rare.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah, they were.
Dan Bernstein
We can't just say, well, like yeah, six game lose. It happens all the time. Seven even. Seven even eight. That 10 was a jolt. That 10 was scary. So I'm still, I've still got a little. The echoes of that even as they've recovered from this. And it's all tinged with this sense of sort of unreality and we just want to settle the season down. I want to figure out what I can trust in the playoffs. Listen. Because I'm pretty sure they're going to make the playoffs.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
I get it. And it's fair. Yeah. And I think according to baseball references, what I've been looking at, consistently, they're at an 87.2% right now to make the postseason, which, which has gone up considerably from where they were in, in May. Yeah, it. Dude, it's a, it's a fair point to make and it's a fair question to ask. But I ask you this, is this team closer to the 10 game win streak or are they closer to the 10 game losing streak? Does the 10 game losing streak feel like an anomaly to you with this team or does the 10 game winning streak feel like an anomaly to you?
Dan Bernstein
Well, I think, I mean that's a, that's an easy answer.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
That.
Dan Bernstein
Because they've had. Because, because three quarters of the season has, has been all seashells and balloons. I would say they're, they're more good than bad.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Right. And at any point, any team could rattle Off a significant win streak. You could look at Colorado, you know, Baltimore could, could, could rattle off an eight game win streak. You know, they could rattle off a 10 game win streak. They can, that's just how baseball goes. But you wouldn't look at them and say, yeah, they're closer to that 10 game win streak than they are when they're shitty, because that's who they are. We know their identity and we, we have to let it play out and then look at it. It's interesting how you talk about how you get there and it's funny because we've never, we've never discussed it from this angle. It doesn't matter how you get there. All that matters is where you're at. Where you're at at the end. Yeah.
Dan Bernstein
And how healthy you are at the end.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Like look at Dansby Swanson. I mean, he's been up and down and up and down and up and down. These last three series have been great to terrible to great. It doesn't matter how he got there. He's at a 102 WRC plus right now, little elevated for his career. And he'll, he'll dip a little bit below 100. He should be.
Dan Bernstein
I.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
But doesn't matter how we got there. It doesn't matter. All that matters is where he's at.
Dan Bernstein
The season numbers will, especially the rate stats are, they're great. This, this was your walk rate. But when you, when you look at the tendency to disappear for long stretches and then just say, well, I hope that doesn't happen in October, that's what I'm talking about is it's one thing if it's just one season and this is just, it's just a weird year. It just variants and it's a weird year. That is absolutely possible that none of it is predictive. But the idea that it all happened when it did, and part of the reason why it is more anxiety inducing in my mind is because certain things in baseball don't make sense. And that's the stuff I struggle with. I struggle with acknowledging, accepting that certain things in baseball don't make sense. Why should somebody with a, you know, for example, a 120 WRC plus instead of it being 120 the entire time, have it go from, you know, 20 to 140 or whatever it is.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
It's a game of averages. And I know it's 300, doesn't hit 300 from, you know, March to October. That guy, that guy hits 501st stretch. He hits 101st stretch.
Dan Bernstein
You know, I understand that. You know, I get that. What I'm saying is that. That this team in particular has been uniquely polarized in the year, and I hope. And we got to find out what we trust, and I hope that isn't the kind of thing that carries over that October session like, oh, oh, they're in one of these things again. And this happens just because of the nature of the playoffs, that you don't. You don't get time to make up for being in a bad stretch. I guess you could argue that's any team, any year.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Absolutely it is. It is. But also, I like to think that the better a team is, the less valleys you're going to have. And. And if they've gone through the worst part of it right now, again, it shows what we've talked about, the resiliency to come back from that, but also the ability to limit. So it's. The depth doesn't quite get as low.
Dan Bernstein
I hope you're right. Maybe they.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
But here's the issue that I have. For me, a lot of that has to do with pitching. And their starting rotation is not something where I say, all right, this guy is going to end this streak right now. This guy is going to put a stop to this. That's why Jed Hoyer needs to do something significant and not just some fucking bum starter to bring in like he did last year. A guy who's got barely an arm left. Michael, this year. But. But he was terrible last year, dude. Come on. And that was a terrible trade deadline, you know, signing. He needs to do something. He needs a guy, at least one guy, if not two, who have been positive and successful this season. Not something to be like. We hope this guy can turn a corner. We hope that with our pitch lab, if we don't break him, he can be better. No, you need a guy, at least. At least one guy, if not two, that are being successful on the mound this season.
Dan Bernstein
All right, well, we got those 1.2 wins coming from. From that team of. Okay, Pomerant's, Hendrix and Bummer. So, yeah, that's.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
That's a new law firm that they've replaced. Me, Time and Murray.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. Bye. Thank you.
Commercial Voiceover or Additional Announcer
Yeah.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
So this is Commarant's, Bummer and Hendrix. Hendrix. Thank you.
Dan Bernstein
We're in the round of 32 World cup matches. You can trust me. You hope. I don't know if you took in the U.S. and Bosnia.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yes. Yes. Yep.
Dan Bernstein
I did, too. I guess they're gonna be without Balagun for the next game because he was Red carded. And that's probably not good. Whatever you're watching. You know, we had Belgium and Senegal. And Senegal and USA and Bosnia. Regardless of which game it is, you can make a real easy bet if you want. You don't have to know a thing about soccer on my bookie. You can just bet if the McDonald's golden arches are going to show up on the broadcast. It's an actual bet. And then you're not tied up in injury reports or expected goals or pretending you watch qualifying matches. It's just one of the biggest sporting events in the world. And you can be there with my bookie. Well, you have to be there with our promo code date be you to claim your deposit bonus and get up to $500 in protection on your first bet at my bookie. Remember, once you see it on screen, the bet is gone of the McDonald's bet. Use the code DBU when you register and deposit. You'll get a deposit bonus. You'll get up to $500 in protection on your first bet. It is only at my bookie.
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Dan Bernstein
Fun stuff. Balloon fun stuff in the NBA and all kinds of movement of major players. Lots of trades going on, not all great. I was really surprised to see how cheaply the Sixers picked up Jalen Brown. Yeah, I. I had to look at it twice. I'm a.
Commercial Voiceover or Additional Announcer
Come on.
Dan Bernstein
Wait, wait, wait, wait a second. Hold on. That. He went for. For. I mean, Paul George, when he's healthy, can still hit shots, but he's. He's an unk. He's. He's an old guy now. He's. He's a contributor. He's a. He's a fading star. And you give up a couple of picks. JALEN Brown's only 29 right now. And the guys, you know, in the MVP race, that's a huge deal if they've realized that this is the end stage of Joel Embiid, that we don't have to ask him, we need to ask Joel Embiid to do less. And obviously you need to conserve him for the playoffs. But okay, now you, boy, you got a lot of speed in that backcourt in Edgecombe and Maxi and now Brown and you're. You had Embiid up front. This is. They become formidable in the east. And the east is wide open still. Absolutely wide open, which makes it fun. Now with the Heat adding Giannis. Throw in that too. I also Toronto got Kawhi Leonard, but they gave up too much.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah, they did.
Dan Bernstein
He's 35. Like what do we.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah, I mean they're trying to run something back that it's just. You're not going to be able to reach back that farm.
Dan Bernstein
I was, I was shocked. I. And looking over the new east, you know who. I don't know if they're ready to win the east, but you know who's going to be a must watch and should get a lot of national time? The Bulls. The Hornets. The Charlotte Hornets. So you've got you. You got rid of Lamelo Ball and Lamello Ball is. That's a guy who could be in the MVP race every year if he just wanted to try to play smart basketball. He's a really, really, really talented player. He could be a star if he took the game seriously. If he. Because he could defend also. There's nothing really that he can't do. He's a brilliant passer. It's just a matter of score and situation and knowing a good shot from a bad shot and really caring and maybe having a coach and Chris Finch, who is a demanding dude might bring that out of him. But they got Brandon Miller, Con Canyl and now Nas Reed. I love Nas Reed and that they are tough now. Good luck with that. That Charlotte real quick has just gotten a whole lot better at basketball. There's then a huge debate over what the Portland Trailblazers are doing. You know, we talked about the contract for the coach and this idiot owner and all that, but you still got Drew Holiday there. You still still got Damian Lillard coming back a rising star in Denny fda. And now you're adding John Morant. All right. I'm fascinated to see what that looks like. Absolutely fascinated. I'm just a little surprised that, you know, I was going to say Toronto you got to watch out for. But you get rid of Brandon Ingram in this. And how many games is Kawhi Leonard going to play?
Progressive Insurance Announcer
You know, who.
Dan Bernstein
Who really who's going to be there? And I know he didn't. That Ingram himself didn't play a ton of games. So maybe you're just replacing one oft injured star with another who's kind of the, you know, the devil you know in that regard. But I wouldn't get crazy if you're a Bulls fan. I wouldn't say, well, you know, hey, the Bulls can make a run at the play in here. They're not trying to quite yet, but they still have, is it the mid level exception at 9.4? They've got enough that they can probably add somebody. I think the Bulls have a starting lineup at least. Yay. The Bulls have a starting lineup. So that gives them a. There's a reason to keep an eye on this team as a reason to watch them create this roster to develop their guys. And if we're surprised if all of a sudden Caleb Wilson realizes that he's better than he thought or he's more NBA ready than he thought and that could happen, you know, let it, let him fly, let it go, let it happen. Let him eat, as they say. Russ Armstrong is the owner of Chicago window Guys, and that's who you're going to call if and when should say when you need windows. And maybe you need them right now. You know, the summer you walk around or you're doing a little yard work and you're looking like, you know there's a blown seal in that window or that one's not closing right. Or that's all. The, the, the. It's not sliding because it's warped. You don't want that because that's inefficient. It's bad for your house in general. So call Russ and have him custom make really good windows for your home because he owns the factory. He is Chicago window guys and he can handle everything. So he doesn't have to go through layers of decision makers to try to get things done or say, well, I don't know. Let me talk to my supervisor. I don't know about that. Because he can do whatever he wants. And what he wants to do is help you have good windows in your house. He's done that with me, and I have great windows in my house. I've recommended Russ to co workers, to friends, to neighbors because we all had the same, we all built our homes at the same time, same builder. And I said, you know that thing that keeps happening? You can switch that window out because Russ can handle that. Oh, okay, I'll call them. It's that easy. 847-302-9171. When you're getting quotes, ask those other sales reps who's installing my windows. They won't know they're not gonna know because they use subcontracted labor, they pick people up and they're there in your house that day. So you don't want that. You want Russ's people. It's his crew. The same people that were in my house will be in yours. And I recommend them wholeheartedly. 847-302-9171 and check out the five star reviews@chicagowindowguys.com Something big is happening at 7 o' clock tonight. Today, Thursday, July 2nd, something important is happening. And if you've been following the story, when the judgment came in against Alex Jones and Infowars for knowingly spreading false information and harassing the Sandy Hook families, he had to put his assets up for sale. And he's been going out of his way to move money around to try to not meet the judgment, to try to not compensate. He's been doing all kinds of awful Alex Jones things, as you can imagine, as one of the worst people on earth. One of the things they did. And I'm so glad that the Global Tetrahedron Corporation noticed that the Infowars brand, the website, the social media positions, everything was auctioned off. And the Onion, that's Global Tetrahedron. The Onion bought Infowars. I think we talked about that. There have been all kinds of legal maneuvers and last ditch stays and cease and desists and everything that has been sent out. And finally, finally, finally, finally, it appears that the Onion owned Infowars is launching tonight at 7pm Chicago time. Who is in charge of it? Who has been hired by the Onion to run this new network but Tim Heidecker. Yes, of Tim and Eric. Awesome show. Good job. Adult Swim. Tim Heidecker. That Tim Heidecker. Yep. He is in charge. This was the article that was written in Fast Company and I have declared myself able and sort of immune from any possible legal recourse coming from fast Company because my little sister is in charge of all the content there, so she runs the place. So I could. I'm just going to bring this to Lily Smith wrote the article and is it Tim Heidecker's favorite form of comedy? Wastes your time. So there's no better punchline than the Internet society's ultimate time sucking, which has woven its addictive algorithmic tendrils into every single aspect of our lives, bottoming out in the silty, dark, disorienting unreality of Alex Jones. Ooh, that's good writing. That's sexy words. Infowars, the right wing conspiracy theorists poison pill of a brand went up for auction in 2024 after the families of the victims of a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School successfully sued him for defamation, and he subsequently declared bankruptcy in 2022. That's when the satirical website the Onion stepped in. It's been attempting to officially take over infowars brand assets and related production equipment with the intention of donating its proceeds to the Sandy Hook families. Well, they're not waiting any longer. Infowars.com is still in limbo, but a new Infowars website is launching today all the same as sort of a pirated brand. Spending time on the site is like looking at a simulated head on crash that collides the visual urgency of a 24 hour news cycle with the lo fi low res graphics of desktop era websites, print tabloid ads and overnight infomercials for Bowflex or Magic Bullet. The resulting website is at launch, a vehicle for making Alex Jones and his insidious website a very funny punchline. The satire is in service of a greater long term ambition. Eventually the new Infowars wants to become a challenger to social media, one that could someday look like a Netflix of comedy. So Heidecker said, for the short term we're going to take direct shots. So what everyone thinks of as infowars and goof on that pretty directly, that's phase one. Phase two is to become a player and a competitor to the various social media platforms. The homepage of the new site has a simple layout at first glance. Core colors include black, white and alarmist red. A black and white top navigation includes the new logo which replaces the O in infowars with an Onion, followed by menu items for the merch store and membership. A red news ticker runs immediately below it as well as the bottom of the visible page bookending a full bleed video. A special emergency broadcast in which Heidecker satirizes Jones. The program for the premier infowars episode will feature Heidecker's emergency broadcast, the first episode of an ongoing Onion series called the Jim Haggerty Show. Additional content will include short form segments from various comedians including Harris Alterman and Skyler Higley, along with Adult Swim style interstitials. Episodes will stream across all platforms. The Onion is on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Blue sky and its own website. Heidegger said, this is not stuff that you scroll through. This is the good shit. Jones's Infowars capitalized on fear mongering conspiracies spun up with clickbaity copy creative marketing to grab viewers. The Design ethos was a way for Jones to churn out sales of the supplements and survival gear he hawked on his website to stay solvent. Think long. Misleading urgent headlines, banner ads with supplement bottle graphics electrocuted by orange lightning bolts. So they're doing it. The visuals similarly arranged between the web of yesteryear and the alarmist nonsense of today's manosphere. The biggest homepage visual is Heidecker's parody of Jones wearing a suit with undue breathing room across the shoulders and the vein popping on disposition of someone who spent the last five minutes trying to break a brick in half with their bare hands. So there's some, some explaining of what you're going to see on there with their news tickers. They're reappropriating the ad style of Infowars with, with intentionally schlocky banner ads that offer products like demon guard holy protection patches, oxygen absorbing pills, patented tablets that turn your gold into piss. Okay. Or, or to send $10 to your grandson for just $50 a steal. And the thing is, there are people who, what they're hoping is that people don't realize it's fake, that actual Infowars devotees are not going to understand what's fake. So I don't know how far you can go for that to be true and just how quickly that they're going to get. Or there's going to be all of these calls that just say, wait a second, this isn't. I ordered my demon pills and I didn't get them. The Infowars gamification speaks to its broader goal, getting people off socials and onto this new site later, perhaps an owned app. They want to create a brand new curated space for people to live and make it feel less algorithmic overall. All right, man, all I have to say is let's go. This, this will likely be for the moment, a daily stop for me, I think just to go see it, just to check it out, just to kind of check in with it. I don't know exactly where else there is just some of these other things that they plan to be advertising. He said there's going to be a cooking show, there's going to be podcasts, there's going to be. This is, this is the beginning of a full blown idea with the money that they raise from this going to the Sandy Hook families who have not gotten a dollar. So that's the best part. And I do want to buy one of those rainbow Infowars. I don't know, T shirts, tote bags, whatever. I can find I'm gonna get. I think it says there's gonna be an ad for penis flattening pills.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Anything to stop swarming D or no.
Dan Bernstein
Yes, yes. The pills that will control your swarming D, they're designed directly for Brian Flores. I'm just, I'm just, I'm over the moon with the fact that they finally won the auction and they're not going to wait that they're going to put this website up. So seven o' clock tonight, that's the launch. Enjoy.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
That's really funny.
Dan Bernstein
On July 5th, that's Sunday. The Chicago Stars return to Evanston versus Utah Royals FC. Go check them out because these stars are celebrating.
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Dan Bernstein
A summer of soccer on the north side. You don't want to miss it. The stadium is easy to get to. Maybe you've heard about it. Martin Stadium and that you can reach via the cta, via Metro, your car, your bike, it's right there. It's a beautiful spot along the lakeshore. And the best part, tickets start at just $19. Wait, no, that's not the best part. You know, the best part is that professional women's soccer that includes us Olympians like Mallory Swanson and Alyssa Nayer is right here. And it's all set up with family friendly pre match entertainment for your young soccer players, for your young kids to see their role models play up close. There's a kid zone. There's yard games, there's a mini pitch. So even if they get a little restless, there's a place for them to run around and come back to the game so you don't have to sit there and keep them quiet. Everybody knows that it's supposed to be a place where kids can enjoy and be themselves. So playing right on the lakefront in Evanston, summer soccer doesn't get better than this. Get your tickets now@chicago stars.com tickets.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah, we're gonna go in August. We're looking at some dates and trying to fit it around our Calendar. There's a Sunday in August that works out for us.
Dan Bernstein
That sounds like fun.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
It really does. Yeah. And I'm just looking forward to seeing the stadium, too,
Dan Bernstein
now, you know, I like to go into a long weekend with a feel good story. Okay, so you do? Yeah. Every once in a while, I just. I like to leave you feeling, I don't know, good about yourselves and. And good about life.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
I don't know. I'm. I'm sensing something here from you. Okay, so I'm reading this right. Okay.
Dan Bernstein
All right.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
All right. What do you got for me? Give it to me.
Dan Bernstein
Nate, I couldn't even pretend. I had to bail on the pretense completely. I was gonna be like, no, it's. Believe me, you're. No, you're. You got me. I'll cop to this one.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
All right.
Dan Bernstein
What do we do?
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Okay. Okay.
Dan Bernstein
All I want you to do is just imagine Joel and Ethan Cohen somewhere.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Looking at each other.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Got it.
Dan Bernstein
Or texting each other and being like, oh, yeah, they. This is. We have. We have to sue the people involved because this was lifted right out of a Coen brothers movie. This is from the Guardian. A man recently died in Alabama from a heart attack while trying to discard his girlfriend's body after fatally strangling her, according to authorities. This is just a heartwarming feel good, you know, It's a kicker. In the news biz, that's what they call it. They call it a kicker. And it's like, hey, there's a water skiing squirrel. Or, hey, come on down to the local farmer's market. Now, see, I. I leave you with this. Daniel Robbins, 44, and Jessica Folds, 47, at the center of the unusually macabre case. Chambers county sheriff's deputies reportedly found Robbins and Folds dead next to each other on the morning of June 10th in a wooded area near an abandoned vehicle in the town of Lynette. The Chamber sheriff's office said in a statement that officials sent the bodies to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science for autopsies. Investigators were subsequently reported to have found that Robbins from Georgia and Folds from Lynette had been in a relationship before her death. He allegedly killed her before he died while trying to hide her body, according to investigators. A local district attorney, Mike Segrass, said he died of a heart attack while doing it. Their bodies are right there together, he said. The investigation by local and state law enforcement combined with autopsy results says Folds was strangled and Robbins was attempting to dispose of her body in a remote location when he died. The truck near the bodies of Robbins and Folds was still running, and the driver's side door was open when deputies arrived to find them, the tailgate was down, and there were drag marks in the dirt into the woods where the couple were found. So he got the body into the woods. He's like, all right.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
I knew this. Oh, boy, it's hot out today, huh? I got this. It's hot. Boy, what a day to do this kind of physical work, man. First I got to do the strangling, and now I got to drink. Dragged. Well, all right. You know, I got this weird radiating pain in my left arm. Segrass told the outlet that investigators suspected Robbins killed Folds as an act of domestic violence and everything happened the previous night, citing the fact that the truck was still running. Now, that's good police work. That's. It's the only in Alabama can they come up with that kind of deduction.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Hey, in this story, did we get any. Any of the measurables on the characters involved?
Dan Bernstein
No.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Okay. Really?
Dan Bernstein
Pictures or anything?
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yeah, but.
Dan Bernstein
But this is. I. I just.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Was he straining really quite a bit to.
Dan Bernstein
Oh, I'm sure.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
The healthiest of men.
Dan Bernstein
Oh, I'm sure.
Commercial Voiceover or Additional Announcer
Right.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Come on.
Dan Bernstein
This. Yes, that. That's what you got to picture is just. And. And the foreshadowing, the way the Coen brothers would have set it up by earlier in the movie, having him having it, like, have a coughing fit or having him breathing heavily, having him sort of stabilize himself.
Commercial Voiceover or Additional Announcer
Did you.
Dan Bernstein
You would see this coming, right?
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Oh, no. They would have had. The movie would have opened with him. Like at an ex. Like at a doctor's visit.
Dan Bernstein
No, at a diner.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Oh, no, the doctor's visit, telling him, hey, you need to start doing this or this. We've talked about that, you know, and they're. They're familiar because they grew up together. And then he leaves there and goes to the diner.
Dan Bernstein
Okay, that. That's not bad. What I imagine is the hypnotist in office Space, Okay. Because remember when. When Peter Gibbons is. You know, he's at the. They. They do show the hypnotist kind of. And then there's. Then there's a little cough that develops. So that. That kind of was sprung on you because it's such a minor character who only has one scene and has to drop dead of a heart attack in the scene. But the Coen brothers would be a little more subtle about it, depending on if it's comedy, drama, or one of their dramedies where you get to decide whether or not to Laugh. But yes, something would set this guy up. Or like he's so winded after the strangling is like, oh, that took a
Co-host or Guest Analyst
lot out of me.
Dan Bernstein
Like he's got to. He's got a really. He's got to rest up. Or he has his friend help. Hey, I need that. I got a bag. I need you to help me move into my truck.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
And you know that, that they. They extend the scene out quite a bit from moving the body from the house to the car. Like, oh, yeah, he stumbles down the front steps and falls.
Dan Bernstein
Oh, it's right.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
It takes her head along the way. Each. Yes, for sure.
Dan Bernstein
Thanks for everything.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
He's.
Dan Bernstein
He's got some scraggly looking dog that's barking at him the whole time.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
And he throws it and he throws an empty beer can at it. Get out of here. I told you. Shut up. Takes a bite of a chili dog. Yeah. So that's. That's your. That's your feel good story. I don't know if that's. You can celebrate the karma of that if you're just. Sometimes the universe will harmonize with itself as Stephen King wrote in whatever the name of the book was about the Kennedy. What is it, 112263 or something like that. So.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Yes, correct.
Commercial Voiceover or Additional Announcer
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
I just. Just thought you'd want to know that it just something nice to take into your weekend. We know what else you can take in is the promo code DBU at my bookie. Because you need it. It's going to get you a deposit bonus and up to $500 in protection on your first bet at my bookie. Get in on the round of 32. Maybe you've got a better sense of this C. Or maybe the White Sox. The White Sox are starting a series tonight, so maybe you want to get in on that as well because they are in first place going up against the Guardians who are chasing them hot on their heels. An important series for them and you've got thoughts and ideas and opinions. Well, go to my bookie, play some of those things. Bet an individual player total bases or bet on somebody to hit a home run. Like I say, I just missed that one Bregman home run. If you want to do the round of 32, you can do the actual soccer stuff or you can just bet if the McDonald's golden arches are going to show up on the broadcast because that is a bet at my bookie right now, one of the biggest sporting events in the world. You can be there with my bookie. So just look that bet up, you can place it, or you can choose who's going to score a goal or who's going to win the games. DBU is your code. Do that when you register and deposit only at my bookie. Now, I realized yesterday that it's been two years since I have been able to give you. Unless I ran into you in the store. I've been able to give you my 4th of July annual warning. You know. You know what it is. Don't be a headline. Don't be an idiot. Do not light a firework if the firework is in your hand. I would also say, first of all, leave the fireworks to a professional. If you like blowing things up, and I know sometimes we all do. We like lighting things on fire. Fire, yeah. We just. It's fine. You can let somebody else do it. You can watch it from afar. If you do have to light it, stand far away. After you do, make sure it's not pointed at you. Try to avoid doing this. Combined with drinking and drug use, and this is really important. If it's one of those big mortars where it shoots way up in the air, don't put one of those on your head. It's going to happen this year. It's going to happen. I don't know if it's going to happen. Just don't let it be you. Do not light a firework on your head. Do not light something when it's in your hand because you don't want to blow off your fingers. You don't want to kill yourself. You don't want to light your house on fire. This is a weekend where this is going to happen. This is a fact. Fingers will be lost. If we speak in the passive voice. At least one human head will be melted. At least one house is going to burn down. Just. You can make this choice to remove yourself from the equation entirely and make sure that not a single one of those things actually happens to you. I'm counting on you. That's it. We're all counting on you here. Good luck. Those are your marching orders. Please, please, please be smart.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
So, to summarize, don't hurt yourself, don't kill yourself. Don't hurt others, don't kill others. Don't burn your house down. Okay?
Dan Bernstein
And don't burn your house down because you're lighting things on fire. By choice.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
Noted. Got it.
Dan Bernstein
Because you're choosing to light explosives. And you went to Indiana and you drove by the.
Co-host or Guest Analyst
That.
Dan Bernstein
That awesome Bears Stadium site and you already saw the crazy Kaplan signs because that's one of the only, you know, the businesses that are there might be the businesses that are going to open once the, once the Bears buy gum that Kevin Warren leads them to the swamp and they build up their their giant property bifurcated by an interstate on in a toxic swamp that smells like farts. And the say hey, I've thrown it open to businesses. Come join us and be a part of Chicago Bears land. And and your response to businesses? No, I don't think so. I think we're good where we are. That's it's going to be fireworks dealers. So that's, that's where you're going to go to buy the thing that eventually is going to kill you because you put it on your head and you lit it. So have a lovely fourth of July. And importantly, happy Birthday America. Yeah, this this has been Dan Bernstein Unfiltered it has been brought to you today by Russ Armstrong and Chicago Window Guys, 847-302-9171. Check out his five star reviews at ChicagoNowGuys.com by the Chicago Stars making this a soccer filled summer in Evanston. Come to a match for family friendly pro sports on the lakefront. Get tickets@chicagostars.com tickets and in partnership with my bookie Dan Bernstein, Unfiltered Unfiltered on 312Sports On July 5, the Chicago Stars returned to Evanston vs Utah Royals FC. The Chicago Stars celebrated celebrating a summer of soccer on the north side and you don't want to miss it with an easy to get to stadium and tickets starting at $19. Pro women's soccer has never been more accessible. Come to a match for family friendly pre match entertainment then cheer on us Olympians like Mallory Swanson and Alyssa Nayer playing right on the lakefront in Evanston. Summer soccer doesn't get much better than this. Get your tickets now@chicagostars.com tickets.
Episode Title: Can the Chicago Cubs Stay Steady?
Podcast: Dan Bernstein Unfiltered (312 Sports)
Date: July 2, 2026
Hosts: Dan Bernstein (DB), Matt Abbatacola (MA)
This episode centers on the rollercoaster 2026 season of the Chicago Cubs, exploring their streaky play, trustworthiness heading into the postseason, and the larger realities of contemporary MLB competition. Dan and Matt deliver their trademark sharp, unfiltered Chicago sports talk, veering from analytics-driven breakdowns to raucous side commentary. The show also includes quick detours into NBA free agency moves and a satirical review of The Onion’s acquisition of Infowars. The tone is candid, witty, occasionally darkly humorous, and always reflective of lifelong Chicago sports fandom.
[00:50 – 11:00]
Dan's Opening Anxiety:
Dan confesses he’s “unsettled in the uncertainty” of the Cubs — they’re fun when surging, but postseason “scar tissue” lingers from post-2016 collapses.
Raises the central question: “What do you trust about this Cubs team?” Is there any reliability beneath the chaos?
Notes the playoff randomness — best regular seasons don’t guarantee postseason success, especially in a modern landscape with “short series where anything can happen.”
Cubs’ Polarization & Comic Relief:
[10:01 – 14:26]
Discussion of bullpen help from AAA callups Aaron Bummer, Kyle Hendricks, and Drew Pomeranz.
Dansby Swanson’s Wild Streaks as Microcosm:
[14:28 – 26:47]
[26:47 – 28:02]
[29:48 – 33:44]
[33:44 – 46:42]
[48:42 – 54:16]
[56:05 – 59:19]
On Cubs unpredictability:
On the postseason:
On Dansby Swanson as Cubs microcosm:
On trade deadline desires:
On routine catastrophe:
This episode encapsulates the psychological whiplash of being a Cubs fan in 2026: hope, dread, streaks, and the ever-present question of what — or who — to trust in October. The discussions embrace both big-picture management issues and everyday fan emotional swings, with humor and sharp observations. Listeners are left with a blend of laughter, sports skepticism, and a strong reminder not to mix fireworks and foolishness over the holiday weekend.