Matthew Boyd (7:16)

Yeah, he was.

Dan Bernstein (7:17)

He was. So I do think there is some in town, out of town bias. We know maybe too much about Braxton Jones and if he were, and I keep trying to say if Braxton Jones were on, I don't know, the Bills and so saying, well, you know, this guy started this many games and he has overperformed as a 5th round pick and maybe this guy's just the right fit for what they want to do. And I'm trying to make sure that I'm being fair just because we've seen all the bad and all the good and every single snap this guy has taken that again, everything gets back to trusting Ben Johnson. If he's good enough for Ben Johnson, should he be good enough for us?

Matthew Boyd (8:00)

Yeah. No, that's what it comes down to, Dan. And it's, it's interesting because when we looked at free agency at first we actually said, and we, I don't know where we read it at that that Braxton Jones could actually be the best free agent left tackle available for the Bears.

Dan Bernstein (8:15)

Right.

Matthew Boyd (8:16)

I didn't like to hear that. What confuses me is what happened last year. Now I'm reading that he's fully healthy, he's fully back in the weight room. And I do have to trust Ben Johnson and his coaching staff. It's hard for me to do that when I saw how it played out last year. Now, if they're telling me that he wasn't completely healthy last year, which is why he struggled a bit and why he couldn't earn a job, great. Now you're telling me that he's healthy and he can do it and you trust that he can do it. I read somewhere else that they're just going to he's a placeholder till Ozzie Chapillo gets back. If they fully believe that,

Dan Bernstein (8:59)

that kind of doesn't matter right now, but it doesn't matter now.

Matthew Boyd (9:02)

But if they think that's the plan, then I have to. If you can't trust them in one area and then not trust them in another, if they think he'll be back in time for the season, great. Then I have to trust you. If they think Braxton Jones can be the guy for the entire season, I can't see it as a Bears fan, but I'm going to trust you to say that this is the right decision to make for the team for this year.

Dan Bernstein (9:23)

And it looks like when it comes to linebackers, when it comes to the defense, the watchword is going to be anything but those front four and maybe including it's going to be speed oversize right now. You know, getting back to what we, what we learned when Levy Smith took over and everybody had to lose 10 pounds, everybody had to be in a different, different energy system, different kind of conditioning. And this is not a Matt Eber flu's get your track shoes on kind of thing. It's the reality of today's NFL that if you think you need more interchangeable pieces to keep up with the kind of offense that you're running here. And this is if, when a, when a program, to use that word loosely, gets turned around, it should be that your own defense is being, is being tested by your own offense. That you understand that it's the, the knock on effect of being really, really good at that side of the ball is you're much more aware of your own defensive weaknesses. You can probably see it and they probably saw it last year in training camp once things started to get humming a little bit. It took a while because things are really, really rocky after a while. And I know the practices during the season don't really reflect a lot because you're holding guys out and you're not necessarily going full speed. But if there is an understanding of wow. We, we, we can see it against this offense every day, what we have to be and how we have to be it. And we got to get faster and you know, Tremaine Edmonds big long tall takes up a lot of space. We got to have somebody who can move from point to point faster. Okay, great. And let's see what it all looks like. I am, I would say not blown away by what they did in a day or a couple of days here, whatever this has been. But that's all right. That's all right. I would much rather be excited about the what happens in its totality once we see the draft picks the keep getting back to the Nothing happens in a vacuum. And if we can begin to divine some of their planning for the draft might as we discussed yesterday, might there be that interior line prospect if it's not Luke Newman, is that coming? Is there going to be an offensive tackle? And I certainly believe hell they could use, they could use two picks on edge rushers because that guy's not here yet. The guy to make Montez sweat a number two is not here yet. And I don't think it's going to be Trey Hendrickson. I think there's some concerns there when you got a 10 year veteran who's going to be 31 who doesn't sign on on the first day of the legal tampering period that you always sort of wonder there why with all these teams diving in with all this money flying around yesterday, why did Trey Hendrickson not get any in that first rush? I don't know.

Matthew Boyd (12:25)

Well, what I've heard from a lot of different sources on just, you know, reading through the NFL insiders online and then on on Twitter that he's taking his own time, that he wasn't going to rush into anything. I know, I mean that that could also backfire for him too. But he wants to make the right decision for himself, not just based on the amount of money that's given to him. I do agree with you that the draft or the, the, the, the first day of free agency wasn't very overwhelming. You know, it wasn't like wow, they hit a home run like Linderbaum would have been a home run. Too much money that's going to impact what else you do. Max Crosby, two first round picks. Rich Eisen reported that the Bears were in on that and that the Raiders chose the Ravens because their first round pick was higher than the Bears at 14 instead of 25. But he says that the Bears were in on that, that they Were offering, too. I'm glad that didn't happen. I love Max Crosby, but I want to see my team built through the draft. I think that's more valuable, more important,

Dan Bernstein (13:26)

and that's more sustainable, I think, too.

Matthew Boyd (13:29)

And who. It doesn't matter. I mean, like, obviously the draft picks are very significant. The defense really hinges on, and we've talked about this too, on Kyler Gordon and Jalen Johnson. If those two guys aren't right and playing where they need to play at the level that we can, we can expect them to play. Your picks and free agency really are. You know, you're going to have two glaring weaknesses again. And we saw what happened last year with that. Those two guys, I think to me are more important than any free agent signing and any draft pick they're going to make. If those two guys aren't playing the way they're supposed to play and they're not on the field for 17 games, this defense going to. Is going to have some issues.

Dan Bernstein (14:08)

Well, durability is so important now. And that's the thing about guys like Gallimore, where you just are, you have a reasonable expectation of availability. And I don't think I'm declaring it a new market inefficiency, but it's sort of that math of would you rather have all your eggs in fewer baskets? And if one of those baskets isn't there anymore, if a guy gets a high ankle sprain and he's out for five weeks, would you rather have a slightly lesser player who's available all the time? And because they've, they've got some of their defensive people locked in. I get it. I, I, the, the four picks, though, in the, they got four picks in the top 89 in a good draft. Where did you say the, the, the strike zone was for this draft?

Matthew Boyd (14:59)

Like between 35, 45 to 75.

Dan Bernstein (15:04)

45 to 75 is the hit and

Matthew Boyd (15:06)

a, and a guy that you'll get safety, wide receiver at, like the area is going to evaluate around the same as the guy who's around the 45 area.

Dan Bernstein (15:14)

Yeah. So I'm going to give the Bears a. So far, so good here. I'm going to circle left tackle as being a boy. I got it. I really got to trust you, Ben. This is, you're, you're, you're maybe spending a little bit of capital there as far as my, my level of confidence. But if you're telling me don't worry about it, don't worry. It seems to be the message they're sending is don't worry about it. But the message they sent in training camp last year, the way they were talking about that, that non contest contest between Jones and Benedet and Tropillo last year.

Matthew Boyd (15:52)

Yeah.

Dan Bernstein (15:53)

And even Darnell Wright remember because there was the idea of maybe moving him to left. So I think that's off the table now as far as we know. And like you said, they ended up in the most important game they played all year. They had to move their left guard out there. So let's, let's just see if in fact Braxton Jones is now and it wasn't healthy enough to play. Like you say, the health issue, according to what I understand from the Bears explanation on Jones is his whole timing of getting his body where he wanted to get it and getting his base where he wanted to get it was thrown off. That the injury prevented him from adding weight and, and adding the anchor in the lower body that he needs, which is the key for him. Yeah, the man needs an ass is what he needs that he needs a giant ass. He needs to be able to, to not be bulrushed. This was the subject of our conversation we had with Carmen Vitale last week too. That your, your left tackle can't have somebody just push him backwards or push him over. And if, if his injury prevented him from adding effective size and effective weight, then that's a, I think that's a reasonable excuse for some lesser play that is correctable and should be correctable. So. All right, this is stage one, but four picks in the top 89 is the next part of this as things will still simmer. I mean they, they need a couple of wide outs here and there. I can't believe some of the money it's being spent on wide like Alec Pierce and Mike Evans. I'll say it, that I think the wide receiver is the new running back. I just think every single year there are more and more NFL ready wideouts in every draft. There's so many guys who can play that position well enough that spending on a 32 or 33 year old and using your cap on that, I'm, I'm, I'm much more inclined to give that to, to somebody younger. And it's also, I will say my personal bias right now in, in pro sports in general has been this, this different understanding of the aging curve. I know it's happened in baseball and it's reflected a lot of valuation in baseball. But these in large part, you know, NBA, maybe there's more, a little bit more seasoning where guys have to learn some things. But these are young men's games now. And when in doubt, boy, especially in the NFL, you, you want to commit your money to the most pliable, flexible, twitchy, fast people.

Matthew Boyd (18:43)

Yeah, and I don't disagree with that, Dan, but you know, let's take Mike Evans as an example. You, you can evaluate Mike Evans skills today to determine if he can be effective on the football field. Of course, he's not out tackling. He's not out, you know, using his body in a way that's, that's violent like a defensive player is. Can he still run routes? Can he still catch the ball? Can he be a leader in a locker room in a team that was struggling at the wide receiver position all season last year? Question marks for the 49ers. We'll talk more about Mike Evans and Ford progress because there were some comments that, that we received and some emails I got about Mike Evans. I don't think people fully understand what Mike Evans is as a wide receiver and what he's going to be as far as a Hall of Famer is concerned.

Dan Bernstein (19:29)

Oh, he's an all time great.

Matthew Boyd (19:30)

Now to say all that. I don't want, I didn't want, I didn't want the Bears to sign him to a three year deal. I don't know how the money all works out, but three years, 60 million, I would have liked like a one year with an option maybe to see that's what I thought he'd get somewhere. I didn't think he'd get three years for the Niners. But again, that just shows some desperation too. Whenever they need a wide receiver that

Dan Bernstein (19:51)

you know well, I mean, do they or can they go into the draft and find somebody you don't know who's going to be awesome?

Matthew Boyd (20:01)

Well, they're going to add, yeah, they'll add through the draft as well. But you needed a guy in there that's going to be your, your leader. I mean, because they've had nothing but

Dan Bernstein (20:07)

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Dan Bernstein (21:41)

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Matthew Boyd (23:58)

Well, that wasn't last night's game because the team Mexico, their crowd was. They were great and non stop and certainly felt like a road game for

Dan Bernstein (24:07)

Team USA and fun is what it was. Yeah, yeah. But don't tell John Smoltz. Don't tell.

Matthew Boyd (24:13)

You know, and I think it was probably deliberate in the broadcast because John Smolt's volume was lower than the, the play by play guy, whoever he was.

Dan Bernstein (24:21)

I don't remember. Joe Davis.

Matthew Boyd (24:22)

Joe Davis. Thank you. He was lower. Like I could barely hear him. Or maybe that's just my ears.

Dan Bernstein (24:27)

I would turn him off completely. I, I would, I, I would let him sit there and have him talk into the mic and turn it off completely because he does not like baseball. And it is apparently his mission to make you, the viewer, not like baseball and not appreciate anything and to somehow find, find everything distasteful or against the, the better nature of the game because he just funny that.

Matthew Boyd (24:53)

It's funny that you two don't get along better.

Dan Bernstein (24:55)

He has a problem with everything. I cannot take the fun out of everything. I cannot stand him. I cannot stand him. And everything has some kind of subtext against the modern game. Every criticism has to do with what he doesn't like about how people play baseball now. Because things were better when he played. Get off my television. And you know what? For those. And what you're going to say right now is, what are you watching? Well, because that's where the game is. But you know what? I flipped over to FS1 and I had an awesome hang with the FS1 crew doing the Cuba Puerto Rico game. And I really enjoyed watching Cuba and Puerto Rico. Tyler Mon and Ryan, Roland Smith on FS1. What a great baseball hang that was last night because those guys were upbeat, informational. So much info about all of these players, about everything that was going on and explaining some of what was the international histories and who was Where. And Ryan Roland Smith, who had pitched for the Mariners and some other teams as well, he's Australian. And so it's. I knew it's. There was a different sound to it. I'm like, oh, who's. Who's this. This affable Aussie? And it was Ryan Roland Smith, who is the regular Mariners analyst, and he was tremendous. And they were having a conversation, and it wasn't this stilted, weird, like a series of bizarre proclamations. And that's the other thing about Smoltz, is that he's an idiot. And, you know, it's. It's one thing for him, and I'm not just talking about his style. Like, he gets. He starts talking and ends up saying nothing. And he's. Everything is this grandiose pronouncement from the Mount and he's. He's stating you. These, these baseball biblical truths that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. If you actually were to parse out what he's saying and, like, read the stuff that he says as he says it, it doesn't go anywhere. It's just where. And sometimes he even gets to the end of one of these things and there's. And there's no response. It's like, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know what you're trying to prove. I don't know what you're saying. I don't know what you're talking about. And I'm going to another channel and watching two teams having fun playing baseball and hearing broadcasters who like baseball. And I guess Tyler Mon and Roland Smith know each other because Mon has some experience calling games in the Australian League. He's got a ton of international experience, and he's done. I think he Double A or triple A, wherever he's been. But how hard is it called a game? Make. Make me want to hang out there, make me want to, you know, spend some time with you. It really isn't that hard, and I'll say that. And I mentioned this before, even as bad as the Bulls have been and as pointless as the Bulls have been, Adam Amin and Stacy King amid this is maybe especially in this have been a really good hang. Like, I like having you on. And if I'm. If I'm not looking, if I'm doing other things, if I'm, you know, consolidating the dishes or cleaning a cutting board, you know, you're just kind of there hanging out with me. My wife's out of town, my daughter's upstairs. So you're you're my friends for that night on my television. I don't want to have John Smoltz in my living room. If he showed up on the front door, I'd tell him to leave. Get out of here. I don't need you in my house. Those two guys last night were a delight, and I would be excited to watch more of them if Fox would give me the chance. It's just not that hard to make things fun and interesting now on the

Matthew Boyd (29:06)

baseball side of things. I don't know if you. How much of the team USA you were able to. To with withstand with John Smoltz talking, but.

Dan Bernstein (29:14)

No, I did. I just remember the score was here when it got interesting. Late. I was back there, and there's my guy, Alejandro Kirk. Did you see the childhood picture?

Commercial Announcer (29:22)

Yes.

Dan Bernstein (29:23)

Of Alejandro Kirk there with Aranda next

Matthew Boyd (29:26)

to him, and he was wearing a Cubs hat. He had a Cubs hat on. He did, Yep. He had a Cubs hat.

Dan Bernstein (29:32)

And what was the. The team's name was like, Bluey. Bluey or something. Yeah, I didn't.

Matthew Boyd (29:38)

I didn't see what it was. I was focused on the Cubs hat, telling the boys, I'm like, look, he's got a Cubs hat on.

Dan Bernstein (29:41)

Oh, so cute.

Matthew Boyd (29:42)

Yeah. Matthew Boyd had kind of a rough night. Went two and a third, gave him five hits, three runs, and DeRosa just kept putting him out there.

Dan Bernstein (29:49)

So you got it. Yeah. You're good. I was surprised.

Matthew Boyd (29:53)

He went back out for a second inning, and then he out there more, too. I was like, durosa, not like you.

Dan Bernstein (29:59)

Or like, if you're the Cubs. Is Jed calling over? There's, like, you know, 50 pitches was plenty for this time of year.

Matthew Boyd (30:08)

That's all. That's all worked out.

Dan Bernstein (30:10)

Yeah, I know. It is.

Matthew Boyd (30:11)

That's all worked out. So still, it just. It. It seemed like a lot, and it seemed like, yeah, a lot more than he did. And, yeah, it was like, oh, boy, this is.

Dan Bernstein (30:18)

This is not good.

Matthew Boyd (30:19)

But, yeah, fun game. It's just. It's fun, man. I'll tell you.

Dan Bernstein (30:22)

It's.

Matthew Boyd (30:23)

Obviously, it's a. It's a superstar lineup, and it's just. It's fun to watch, man. It's. It's so much fun to watch. Bobby Whit Jr. Made two. Two. The great plays at shortstop. It was unbelievable plays he made going to his right and throwing guys out. It didn't, you know, didn't hurt. The one guy he threw out was slower than me running down the first base, so.

Dan Bernstein (30:43)

Well, they have some guys who. Who aren't in the best condition at

Matthew Boyd (30:46)

this couple guys there looked like 16 in softball league. I was expecting to see him at a Chicago bar somewhere.

Dan Bernstein (30:52)

Well, that's what I love about this tournament too, is that it reminds me of having gone to games to this, the Chicago semi pro league, the Azteca league, where it's a lot of these older dudes who have played professionally in other countries and you know, they're really good.

Matthew Boyd (31:08)

Nick, you were watching the Cuba Puerto Rico game. The dude from Cuba that got the first RBI of the game for Cuba. He looked like he was £350, but first baseman. Oh, I don't know where he played, but longtime veteran guy. I flipped it over just in time to see that and he put a charge in the ball. But dude, there was no way. I mean he's. He's getting a double anytime soon ever.

Dan Bernstein (31:33)

Well, he could get a double.

Matthew Boyd (31:35)

I don't know, dude. He. That was a big boy and he looked, he looked my age too. So I mean he was an old guy.

Dan Bernstein (31:41)

I'm trying to see is that you got first rbi.

Matthew Boyd (31:46)

They mentioned him right away on the, on the broadcast. Long time, long time guy for Cuba.

Dan Bernstein (31:52)

It's not yoel Yankee, is it? It's Alexander Vargas. I don't know. It's.

Matthew Boyd (31:58)

No, it's not. It wasn't Vargas

Dan Bernstein (32:03)

Nunez.

Matthew Boyd (32:04)

Yeah. Anyway,

Dan Bernstein (32:10)

But there. But to see good old fashioned Cuban red baseball uniforms. I still have my red pants, you know. Well, you should I. Because you remember when they. The White Sox, when, when Brooks Boyer was touting, you know, the, the first baseman Abreu and this big A Bray signing and all of the highlights had him in his bright red Cuban baseball outfit. And I just. Wait, so Brooks Boyer got Terry and me. Oh yeah, I remember red baseball pants. Were you there that day when we were across the street?

Matthew Boyd (32:43)

Yeah, whatever. I think was like a Captain Morgan bar at the time.

Dan Bernstein (32:46)

Maybe, or maybe I don't know what it was branded like the Bacardi something,

Matthew Boyd (32:51)

but I just remember it was Bacardi, I think.

Dan Bernstein (32:53)

Remember we ate it. We ate the whole ice cream thing. We got the, the helmet Sundae with like 12 scoops of ice cream.

Matthew Boyd (32:58)

Yes.

Dan Bernstein (32:59)

And Terry ate 2/3 of it and they kept bringing us food. And I, and I still have my red baseball pants. But I don't wear them. Because you should. I, you know, I'd get odd looks, but maybe I should.

Matthew Boyd (33:13)

Oh, you should wear them at home or when you go fishing.

Dan Bernstein (33:17)

No, but then I'll wear them if I'm fishing and I'm not at a good spot because I don't necessarily want people to have their eye on me if I'm doing well. It's. There's a. You know, there's some subterfuge that goes on. You got to kind of pretend that you're in a bad spot if you're in a good spot, because then people aren't going to come near you.

Matthew Boyd (33:32)

Yeah, I think it's this guy Alfredo. This Pond Rodriguez, he was the DH. He's 39 now. That might have been him.

Dan Bernstein (33:41)

Alfredo Despond, he's an outfielder. Oh, yes. That's a. That's a big man.

Matthew Boyd (33:46)

That's. That dude. I think he's the dude that got the. The hit that. That drove in a run.

Dan Bernstein (33:50)

Yes. He was really good in Japan. He has played for Big Boy. He's played for the Chiba Latte Marines and the Fuku.

Matthew Boyd (34:00)

And I'll tell you what, those red uniforms. Those red uniforms don't slim you down. Those are not slimming. No, I can tell you that.

Dan Bernstein (34:07)

No, they. They. They do not. Now, you had a. You had a pitching note.

Matthew Boyd (34:11)

Yeah, I just had a. I was looking at some stats from last year, getting ready for this year's. This season of baseball, and I was looking at pitchers. Do you know how many pitchers last year threw for 200 or more innings? How many pitchers in baseball last year? 200 innings or more?

Dan Bernstein (34:32)

1 or 3?

Matthew Boyd (34:34)

3. Logan Webb, Garrett Crochet, and Christopher Sanchez from the Phillies. Okay, three guys.

Dan Bernstein (34:39)

Yeah. I mean, 200 is the new 300.

Matthew Boyd (34:43)

I went back. Now I'm not going back. 10 years. Every 10 years. 20, 15. Can you guess how many guys threw for 200 yards or 200 yards? 200 innings?

Dan Bernstein (34:53)

10.

Matthew Boyd (34:54)

28.

Dan Bernstein (34:55)

Wow.

Matthew Boyd (34:56)

So 28 just 10 years ago. All right, now let's go back to 2005, the year the White Sox win the World Series. How many pitchers threw for 200 innings or more? 50. 50. Right on the number. Nice job.

Dan Bernstein (35:09)

Thank you.

Matthew Boyd (35:10)

1995 was a shortened year, so we'll skip that because there was 20. 1985. How many pitchers threw for 200 innings or more? 159.

Dan Bernstein (35:21)

Okay, I'm just trying to see the graph line.

Matthew Boyd (35:24)

That's where. Yeah, so it kind of. It starts to drop off there and kind of levels out. 1975. How many guys threw all of them? No, there was only 57. Oh, 57. In 75. But here's the question. How many guys in 1975? So we're alive. I'm two. What are you. You're six. How many guys in Major League Baseball threw 300 innings or more?

Dan Bernstein (35:49)

10.

Matthew Boyd (35:51)

Five. Okay, good guess, though. Five. Five guys in 1975 threw for 300 innings.

Dan Bernstein (35:57)

Yeah, but see, what they didn't understand back then was the old third time through the order problem. Like how many of the guys got their tits lit the third time through the order.

Matthew Boyd (36:06)

It could have been that much because guys did it all the time.

Dan Bernstein (36:08)

Yeah, but they didn't. But again, they didn't understand bullpens in the same way they had the. It's our closer. It's the ninth inning. We got to bring in our closer. Yeah, we'll see. The game is being decided in the fifth, and your. Your chump ass rag arm guy out there is. Is going to be bad, Right?

Matthew Boyd (36:26)

Because now I think. What did I see? The Dodgers and the brewers and a few other teams, their starters, like, didn't even go five innings, right? Yeah.

Dan Bernstein (36:34)

Because of the third time through the order penalty is real. It is a real bad.

Matthew Boyd (36:38)

And then you have a bullpen of guys that. That can throw as much as you need them to, and they're throwing 100 miles an hour. So 50 years ago you had five guys throw 300 in innings or more, and last year you had three guys that just barely went over 200.

Dan Bernstein (36:53)

Correct. Because pitching is especially asking guys to throw full effort all the time, no matter what, takes a different toll.

Matthew Boyd (37:04)

So how does the game change as it continues to evolve?

Dan Bernstein (37:07)

I think the game is, is. Is almost there, where we are not going to have starters and relievers. I think that the. It's obvious where we're headed. And this is going to be the new paradigm of understanding. We saw it with. Trying to come up with terms for it. An opener to get you through the first three guys in a lineup or the first time through the order. We're just going to have pitchers. Pitchers. And we're. And we're not going to define them by when they pitch early in a game or late in a game.

Matthew Boyd (37:40)

You don't think closer will ever change?

Dan Bernstein (37:42)

I don't know. I. Because that's the thing. It already has. Because the. Your closer may be needed in the fifth because that's when the games decide. You don't control sequencing, you don't control leverage.

Matthew Boyd (37:56)

So now I get that in the playoffs, but you think that that kind of mentality will happen more in the regular season. Become.

Dan Bernstein (38:02)

Yeah, with different guys. Yeah, with different guys. I think ultimately you're going to have pitchers, and some will be designed to eat innings, but it's not necessarily innings one through six, it may be innings two through seven or, or less it may be innings two through five depending on the leverage that's out of your control. That ideally every member of your pitching staff can do whatever you want. Like that would be the, the ultimate pitching staff. Everybody's left handed and right handed. Anybody is either stretched out to go multiple innings or they're all, and they can all do everything. But short of that, you try to get as close to it as you can and you have that kind of velocity, versatility and flexibility where people understand their roles can change.

Matthew Boyd (38:56)

And I think there's going to be a guy that'll come out Dan that throws righty and lefty.

Dan Bernstein (39:00)

Well, there have been starts a game,

Matthew Boyd (39:01)

he'll go four innings righty, four innings lefty, and he's your eight inning guy.

Dan Bernstein (39:05)

Well, it's, it's possible that there, that that would be the ultimate optimization, the next wave. But I think if we really look into the future, it's that you just have arms you've got and then you figure out that when you wake up that day, who do I have? How do I get all these outs? And you don't go with labels anymore. And you pay them a lot of money to learn a new routine or to have a more flexible routine.

Matthew Boyd (39:35)

That's gonna be a lot to manage for Pat Murphy.

Dan Bernstein (39:38)

Oh, we're gonna get to him.

Matthew Boyd (39:39)

Yes. Thing is enough, we're gonna get to

Dan Bernstein (39:41)

him later on this week because remember when we, when we did the Joe Sheehan piece about ABS and all that is. Oh boy, you know, you know what I'm thinking of this, you know what ABS is going to give Pat Murphy ibs. Yes, that, that. Because that poor guy. Yeah. Seriously, I, I can't wait to do this story. So stay, stay tuned to this space because Pat Murray's like, I don't know, I got an office full of R D people here. They're telling me to do one thing, we figure something out and then the league's the says we can't do that. So the unintended consequences of the ABS system are going to be a ibs. Yeah, I love it. It's the IBS system. Everyone's like, oh, and controlling their players and figuring it all out is going to be a thing. We'll cover it here on dbu. Don't you worry.

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Dan Bernstein (41:54)

You know what makes me happy even if I'm listening to John Smoltz Smash burgers And what I love about the bottom right burner on my stove on my, my Viking range gets like 14,000 BTUs. It's like, it's different than the other three burners. It's like this mega burner and I have this old ass pan that I think was my mother in law's and I think when Beth and I first moved in together is when I, it's like probably one of the best aspects of my entire marriage was having this pan and it gets so hot it's almost shaking and it starts smoking because everything gets baked onto it. That's when you get the Omaha Steaks burgers out. That's when you get these. And I like to take them out of the package and roll them into a ball because they come in patty shape. But I'm like, that's fine. So I take them out, wash my hands, I put a little salt and pepper on them and I roll them into a ball and then right on this incredibly hot pan just, just smash them straight down. And they don't take very long to get all of that sort of oh, what's, what's the name of the chemical reaction? You know this. Maddie, you're a, you're A cooking chemist. There's a, there's a term for the searing of the meat. It's a something reapply Maillard reaction. Is that right?

Matthew Boyd (43:17)

It sounds right.

Dan Bernstein (43:18)

Look, the M M A I L L A R D. I believe that's what it is. The Maillard reaction with when you get those crispy little bits of meat. That's how I make the smash burgers. And then it's, you know, the cheese and caramelized onion and toasted rye bread. If I want to do a big old patty melt. God, it's good. But the Omaha Steak burgers are awesome. And you know what, all their stuff is amazing. So whatever you like to do, there is an Omaha Steaks chunk of meat that is perfect for you and all of your protein needs. And it's one thing I love, whether it is their boneless center cut pork chops or their perfectly trimmed chicken breasts that make these really nice good looking sandwiches. Everything. Burgers, chicken, pork. They've got seafood desserts. I've talked about the caramel apple tartlets before. Easy to prepare comfort food, full of protein. And right now with Omaha Steaks you can get 50% off. During their semi annual sale, Omaha Steaks has their exclusive lineup. USDA certified tender steaks, gourmet burgers, all the versatile chicken, pork and seafood. Everything's delivered right to your door. And the going through that box and deciding what goes in the downstairs freezer and what is the upstairs freezer. Because I know I'm going to make it soon. Omaha Steaks is the choice of steakhouses and professional chefs around the world. This is a grass fed grain finished beef with more marbling for exceptional flavor. And the burgers that I use, they have some that are made from like brisket and short ribs. It's a family owned company, over 100 years of expertise in the meat industry. America's original butcher since 1917 and I've known about Omaha Steaks. It's been a part of my life since I was a little kid. My dad's from Omaha and we have known the Simon family that has been in charge of Omaha Steaks forever. And I just, I know that feeling. I've got young sort of childhood associations with that styrofoam box appearing on the front porch right now. You can get 50% off the world's best everyday protein. Go to omahasteaks.com for 50% off site wide during this semi annual sale and for an extra $35 off use the promo code Bernstein at checkout. That's just my last name B E R N S T e I n that's 50% off@omaha steaks.com an extra $35 off with the promo code Bernstein at checkout Terms apply. See site for details. One of the dumbest stories I can remember in a long time had its inevitable conclusion yesterday. And I had been following this and just kind of rolling my eyes at it. So let me just sort of rewind as to what happened with the Atlanta Hawks and a promotion that was not quite properly thought through. And it it finally got a little bit of national traction and attention and the league, I believe, correctly, decided it was a bad idea. The NBA canceled the Atlanta Hawks celebration of the city's Magic City strip club that was supposed to happen March 16 when they played the Orlando Magic. See a Magic Magic City. So Atlanta the the Hawks said they were paying tribute to an iconic cultural institution with food, including the club's lemon pepper wings, a version of which is named. You remember Hawks guard Lou Williams who got in trouble during COVID because he left quarantine to go to the strip club to get wings. And then there would be music and exclusive merchandise and they were going to have ti perform. They were going to sell lemon pepper wings. And the reason for this apparently, as I can understand it based on the reporting, is that the Atlanta Hawks owner, Jamie Gertz, the actor who she's from here, she went to Maine East High School, I believe, and she was part of a documentary and she produced Magic An American Fantasy. It was a five part docu series that explored the history of the club and its place in black culture and in hip hop culture and what it means to the city. And she said this iconic Atlanta institution has made such an incredible impact on our city and its unique culture. That's great. And that is a perfectly reasonable subject for a five part docu series. I haven't seen it. I've never been to Magic City. I've been to Atlanta multiple times, but I've never been to the Magic City Strip Club and Wings restaurant. But that's what it's for. You want to do a documentary on it, talk about its place in the culture? That's fine, but I thought it was a little much to have the Orlando Magic in town and then have the NBA's brand associated with your local celebration of this. Part of what kicked it up into the the Consciousness was a blog by, of all people, former Bull and current spurs center Luke Cornett, who and I don't even know how how many people read his writing, but he wrote that something. It was sort of. His prose was a bit weird, but he just sort of said that the, this shouldn't be involved because of the objectification of women, et cetera. And okay, that's his opinion. I get it. He probably represents the thoughts of, of many. But I think that's a separate piece of this. If we begin to talk about what it means to do that for a living and the inherent empowerment and what some would argue is, is feminist agency and if somebody wants to get naked for money, they should be allowed to do it, et cetera. I'm not going to delve into the right or wrong or the judgment over people who do that for a living or people who patronize it. That, that, that's cool. Whatever you want to do, whatever blows your hair back, not going to yuck your yum. I also understand that from the perspective of the city of Atlanta that when you are saying our culture is basically a more expensive Hooters, you know, what is, what is your culture? Well, it's tits and wings. Is that the best look for your city? Because they already can be. If you, if you remember, Augusta's been fighting that for a while too because as you have this little island that is Augusta national and the Masters and the patrons and everything, we, we affiliate with Augusta Georgia that over the years there's been just as many stories about the sort of little tawdry strip of stores and literally the Hooters where John Daly would set up camp and would be a. The other mecca there would be go hang out with John Daly at the Augusta Hooters. So you always had people writing about the juxtaposition of the, the this, this, this country club, this pristine country club in the middle of all of this other southern mid sized city culture. So here's Atlanta, which has a lot to be proud of. Is this really what you want to be front facing? If you're the chamber of commerce or if you're, if you say this is our culture, this is what we want you to think about. When you think about Atlanta is a strip club that's famous for chicken wings, that's up to that. But I get it. I understand why the NBA would be like, hey man, you want to do documentaries but don't make an official night of this on your official NBA promotional schedule. I just thought the whole thing was a little. It was just sort of ill conceived and not well enough thought through. If you like the wings, awesome. I've never had them. I'm sure they're great and If. If you want to go to a strip club, go ahead. But I think Adam Silver, correctly, he didn't really have to put his. His finger to the wind here to just say, you know, maybe something less than a. A branded celebration would be appropriate for that.

Commercial Announcer (52:39)

Yeah.

Matthew Boyd (52:39)

And it probably should have gotten this far, like, on the schedule, on the game schedule. And, you know, I think maybe a lot of our listeners don't realize that Jamie Gertz was the owner of the Atlanta Hawks.

Dan Bernstein (52:48)

Yeah.

Matthew Boyd (52:49)

That's the actress there.

Dan Bernstein (52:50)

Yeah.

Matthew Boyd (52:51)

Well, and I bet you a lot of people didn't know that she was the primary owner of the Hawks. And Jamie Gertz from Lost Boys, Twister, Less Than Zero, some of the things that. That she's been in that people might know her as.

Dan Bernstein (53:04)

But.

Matthew Boyd (53:04)

Yeah, that's just. That's crazy because I didn't even realize it till, I think, maybe last year.

Dan Bernstein (53:07)

Well, that's why if she hadn't done this docu series. Yeah. Then this would. This, this seems like an ownership level kind of vanity thing that also serves to promote her documentary. That's. That's what I get out of it. That if she hadn't been involved in a project around this particular strip club, then they wouldn't be doing this.

Matthew Boyd (53:32)

And I'm sure the Wings are great, but I gotta tell you, like, that the whole. Like, when I first heard the story and read it, I was like, man, the whole idea of food at a strip club.

Dan Bernstein (53:41)

Yeah. The concept.

Matthew Boyd (53:42)

The concept of it is just. It's lost on me.

Dan Bernstein (53:44)

But. But to me, all this is. Is a. It's taken the idea of hooters and just cut through some of the euphemisms and the halter top, just, here's the Wings. Take it off, walk around.

Matthew Boyd (54:04)

Yeah, I guess.

Dan Bernstein (54:06)

And if that's. If you want that as a city to say, here's our culture. Okay, cool. I don't know that everybody around it wants to celebrate it similarly.

Matthew Boyd (54:19)

Yeah. I think maybe, you know, again, the NBA shouldn't have letting it. They should have. They should not have let it got this far. That it shouldn't have been on the promotional schedule.

Dan Bernstein (54:29)

Correct, correct. And I don't know when, like, don't you have to release your promotional schedule, like, at some point and technically have everything approved?

Matthew Boyd (54:38)

I would think so. I would think so. But, like, you know, if the Atlanta Hawks then wanted to do a special night outside of a game night and do a TI concert, and, hey, we're going to host it and we're going to celebrate Magic City, you do that kind of outside of the basketball schedule, I would think.

Dan Bernstein (54:54)

Yep, yep. That. That. That's what I would do.

Matthew Boyd (54:57)

But, like, now I really want the lemon pepper wings.

Dan Bernstein (54:59)

I don't think I've ever had lemon pepper wings ever. I usually just get regular wings.

Matthew Boyd (55:06)

Yeah, I can't recall. I've made lemon pepper chicken a lot, but I've never had lemon pepper wings.

Dan Bernstein (55:12)

I bet.

Matthew Boyd (55:12)

I'm sure they're good.

Dan Bernstein (55:13)

They're fine. I don't know that it's a. It's a destination.

Matthew Boyd (55:18)

Maybe we should fly down to Atlanta tonight and get some wings.

Dan Bernstein (55:22)

They'd have to be really damn good wings. They'd have to be. I mean, but if they're good enough for Lou Williams to break out of COVID quarantine to go get them, that's why. That's why he's. He's now the namesake. So congratulations.

Matthew Boyd (55:34)

Yeah.

Dan Bernstein (55:35)

And if you can dig TI up

Matthew Boyd (55:36)

from wherever he's at to do a concert about him. I bet they're really good.

Dan Bernstein (55:40)

March is here. College basketball's heating up. Time to get in on the action with my bookie. The conference races, tightening the bubble. Teams fighting for their lives. Every time we turn on one of the various ESPN now it's a small conference semifinal or championship, and people are jumping up and down, reaching the pinnacle of whatever their tiny conference will do as they are just happy enough to win whatever championship they have before some Goliath stomps them into next week. But, you know, that's why it's fun. It's when things start to get interesting from your wagertainment perspective as well. Picking winners, picking props. The player points, the team totals, the futures, the tournament odds. As long as there is some kind of chaos, there is opportunity. Find the signal through the noise and the value. When you're paying attention, you can jump right in. Right now. One account, one wallet. Bet the spread, live, bet the second half. Hit the casino between games. Everything's in one place. Go to MyBookie AG with the code DBU and then your first bet is covered up to 500 bucks. If it doesn't hit, you have a bet back, bonus token. You run it back. MyBookie Ag, everything is there. The code is just those three letters. D, B, U. And then you're set. Don't just watch the madness build. Make it pay with my bookie.

Matthew Boyd (57:05)

All right. I have an apology to T.I.

Dan Bernstein (57:07)

sorry.

Matthew Boyd (57:08)

T.I. he actually released a song this year. Yes, early this year that was produced by Pharrell. It's called Let them know. And then it actually hit the Billboard Hot 100 in this month. So sorry about that.

Dan Bernstein (57:23)

T.I.

Matthew Boyd (57:24)

has a his next and last studio album coming out sometime this year. This is the first single from that. His last album was six years ago. So my apologies to T.I. and all the T.I. fans out there listening to DBU right now or watching us on YouTube. I didn't know that he had a

Dan Bernstein (57:42)

new I know we have a huge crossover with the TI fandom. I know that. So yeah, that's yeah, I think it's very appropriate. You may have to actually flagellate yourself in apology. You know, fart on myself. No, you no not flatulate. But you may what is it the have to like a pound of flesh or wear a hair shirt or something in penance for your misdeed. Speaking of which, we've got Weights in Fish and boy, I guess this is sort of my I guess I'm branded as weights in fish guy. I'm going to say thanks if you texted this, if you emailed it, if you somehow are sent via social media, if you sent me this story. Thank you for thinking of me. But I take you to Wood County, Texas, where a man was arrested Sunday after state authorities said he altered the weight of a largemouth bass that he caught in a fishing tournament. Stop doing this. Texas Parks and Wildlife said Curtis Lee Daniels entered a largemouth bass in a Lake Fork fishing tournament that was found to have three three quarter ounce fishing weights in its stomach. The same weights were also found in Daniels boat, according to an affidavit obtained by kltv. Now there's a couple things about this particular crime. One, you're just a bad guy and two, you're an idiot. If you're if you are plotting the chart here. If one axis is smart to dumb and the other is nice to mean, this is you're pinning the meters here. To mix a metaphor here on dumb and mean. The Overall prize was $11,500 and this guy decided he was going to take out right before he turned in his his fish. He was going to take the weights out of his tackle box from his boat, 3/4 ounce weights and shove them down into the stomach of the fish to make it weigh more. He was held at the Wood county jail on a $20,000 bond. Jesus. Yeah. On a charge of violating a fishing tournament law. It's a third degree fish felony.

Dan Bernstein (60:05)

Wow.

Dan Bernstein (60:06)

Yeah. Texas, I'm with you on this one. Daniels could face up to 10 years in prison or execution or or $10,000 in fines. Other Penalties include license revocation and civil restitution, which often means to the fish they take your boat, your bro they take. It usually means they confiscate your bro and certainly keep you out of tournaments. But. And I'm always trying to anticipate blowback and I go, what if he's got a child who needs money for life saving surgery? And this is the only. No, I think the guy's just an asshole. And I'm willing to change my belief if we learn more. But no, I always think like, what if it's Jean Valjean who is just taking a loaf of bread to feed his family in pre revolutionary France? I don't think this is that. I think this is Curtis Lee Daniels thinking that he's smart enough to pull one over on the organizers of this low level fishing tournament and he was going to walk off before tax with $11,500. I don't know what you do.

Matthew Boyd (61:26)

You can't trust a guy that uses a first and a middle name together.

Dan Bernstein (61:30)

Curtis Lee.

Matthew Boyd (61:31)

Yeah.

Dan Bernstein (61:32)

He's got a nice head of hair, I'll say that. Yeah.

Matthew Boyd (61:35)

I didn't see a picture of him. I just saw pictures of the fish.

Dan Bernstein (61:38)

Yeah, well, it's his mug shot. And then it's a picture of the fish which has been disemboweled. And it's got, it's a, it was a. It's got two big row sacks in it too. But in a largemouth bass, there's no real value to those row sacks. Where in some fish there would be like for, in a mullet, for example, those rosacks would be cured, salted, dried and cured. And in Italian, what would we call them? Matabatics.

Matthew Boyd (62:02)

They have a mullet.

Dan Bernstein (62:03)

What did you say? I said what would we call in Italy if we took out the egg sacs? I don't know.

Matthew Boyd (62:10)

Delicious.

Dan Bernstein (62:11)

Out of a mullet. Isn't it called botarga? I think that's right. And you take it and you grate it on like a rasp grater for that salty umami flavor. Salt.

Matthew Boyd (62:23)

Oh, yeah. Mullet row cooking question earlier too. It is the Maillard reaction.

Commercial Announcer (62:27)

The.

Dan Bernstein (62:28)

My guard reaction.

Matthew Boyd (62:29)

Yeah, M a I'm rolling today. Yeah, it's the when like amino acids and sugars, like interact.

Dan Bernstein (62:37)

Yep.

Matthew Boyd (62:37)

So that's, that's where, that's where you get that the, the.

Dan Bernstein (62:41)

Now we're back to the. The Omaha steaks. Hamburgers on the pan. Yeah, right. So my yard reaction. All right, so I get botarga.

Matthew Boyd (62:49)

Botarga.

Dan Bernstein (62:49)

B O T T A R, G, A, which I'm pretty sure is the. The dried egg sacs of A. Is a red mullet, I think, and it's used as a gray mullet. Great. Sorry. Gray mullet. All right.

Matthew Boyd (63:07)

Known as poor man's caviar. Yeah, you're right.

Dan Bernstein (63:10)

Okay. Because that's. Yep. I don't know where you'd find it around here. You probably have to go to one of those. Not in Texas, you don't think? I'm sure there's probably a little Italian boutique store in Austin somewhere that at least could find it for you somewhere.

Matthew Boyd (63:27)

So you're recommending people don't put, like, dumbbells and shit inside their fish? Yeah.

Dan Bernstein (63:33)

To win a tournament. Stop doing that. Stop doing that. And it's just sort of like our warning yesterday. We have a new segment called Stop Doing that. And whether it's the Michigan State kid kicking people to the balls or stuffing weights and fish, this is another.

Matthew Boyd (63:48)

Don't be an idiot.

Dan Bernstein (63:49)

Another DBU edition of Stop Doing that. So good luck to you. And I just. If the guy spends 10 years in prison, if you're the. If you're the guy in, like, the exercise room or, you know, out there on the weight bench, what are you in for? Murder. What are you in for? I robbed a bank. Train robbery. What are you in for? Weights and fish.

Matthew Boyd (64:15)

Yeah. Stay away from. If he's married, too. Like, you gotta tell that to your wife. Like, Dad's going away for a while because I put some weights inside the fish.

Dan Bernstein (64:26)

Well, how different is that than dad lost his job because he was. He was on social media talking about a fish.

Matthew Boyd (64:34)

Oh, yeah.

Dan Bernstein (64:35)

I mean, I'm right here.

Matthew Boyd (64:37)

I guess that's true.

Dan Bernstein (64:39)

Right? Because the moment you said that, I'm

Matthew Boyd (64:42)

like, yeah, that's true.

Dan Bernstein (64:44)

Yeah. It's not big. Yeah, kind of.

Matthew Boyd (64:48)

I gotta be there. Too bad you didn't have this segment. Don't be an idiot sooner.

Dan Bernstein (64:52)

Yeah, I know.

Commercial Announcer (64:53)

I know.

Dan Bernstein (64:54)

See, that's the irony of all this.

Matthew Boyd (64:56)

Stop doing that.

Dan Bernstein (64:57)

Stop doing that, you idiot. Exactly. And we will leave you with that lesson today on this edition of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered, that has been brought to you by our friends at Omaha Steaks and in partnership with my bookie, Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered. Unfiltered. On three, One, two, Sports.