Chicago Bears season ends in disappointment | Indiana will win the National Championship

Summary

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Dan Bernstein Unfiltered – Episode Summary

Episode: Chicago Bears Season Ends in Disappointment | Indiana Will Win the National Championship
Date: January 19, 2026
Host: Dan Bernstein
Producer/Co-host: Mattie (Matt Abbatacola)
Podcast: Dan Bernstein Unfiltered (312 Sports)

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Overview

In the wake of the Chicago Bears’ playoff exit, Dan and Mattie deliver their trademark candid reflection on an unforgettable Bears season. They deconstruct what made 2025 so unique, why fans feel fulfilled or unsatisfied, and why optimism for the future is complicated by NFL realities. The hosts also embrace deep sports analogies (including some gourmet food talk), discuss coaching and organizational culture changes, and break down the electrifying presence of Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson. In the closing segments, they pivot to quirky baseball nostalgia and bold college football championship predictions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Processing the End of the Bears’ Season

• Fan Emotions: Satisfying vs. Disappointing

  • Mattie notes the influx of fan feedback describing the season as “fulfilling” and “satisfying”—despite the painful loss.

    “There are some who say...the game itself and the end of the season—losing is no fun...and yet there can also be a simultaneous understanding of—even falling short of the ultimate goals—what this whole ride has been.” (Mattie, 00:34)

  • Bernstein counters that, for him, it’s memorable but ultimately unsatisfying because of how much was invested emotionally.

    “It was memorable. It was special. It was a season I’ll absolutely never forget...For me, the overall ending of this is just disappointment...” (Bernstein, 07:21)

• Food Analogy for the Season

  • Both use the metaphor of an extravagant meal (Alinea’s black truffle raviollo) to express the season’s highs and the sense of being overwhelmed by “rich flavors.”

    “This Bears season gave us so many unique individual tastes...It’s like having dessert for the main course almost.” (Mattie, 05:39) “There was one bite that I had that will never leave me...nothing lived up to that one bite...So I don’t know if that’s in line with your analogy, but yeah, no.” (Bernstein, 04:21)

2. What Made the Bears 2025 Season Special

• Rise of Cool Factor

  • Historically, the Bears have leaned on tradition more than trendiness. Mattie contends this year, “they made themselves cool.”

    “If nothing else this season they made themselves cool.” (Mattie, 10:27)

  • Bernstein and Mattie debate what constitutes a “cool” NFL team—concluding that sustained excellence and flair are key, with the Bears now rising in that regard, largely due to coach Ben Johnson and star QB Caleb Williams.

    “The thing that makes the Bears cool and desirable is Caleb Williams. It’s just that simple.” (Bernstein, 16:07)

• Caleb Williams’ Impact

  • Both rave about Williams’ playmaking:

    “There is not another quarterback outside of maybe Pat Mahomes that would have made that throw last night.” (Bernstein, 16:07)

  • They recount miraculous throws (including a 14-yard TD to Cole Kmet) and describe how Williams changed fan and national perception.

• Aggressive Coaching

  • Ben Johnson’s fourth-down decision-making and risk-taking draw praise (and questioning). Mattie highlights how this is the “new normal” for the Bears.

    “The new normal is going for it, keeping alive the opportunity for six instead of three. The new normal is taking those shots down the field.” (Mattie, 19:27)

3. Context: NFL Realities and Future Outlook

• No Guarantees for Next Year

  • Bernstein emphasizes that, despite hope, each NFL season stands alone—there are no true “building blocks” or guarantees of continued success.

    “...Each season is exclusive in and of itself. And this isn’t a building block for next year...It does not pick up and continue next year.” (Bernstein, 07:28)

• Roster and Coaching Moves

  • They touch on the fluidity of NFL rosters and the way small, shrewd personnel decisions (e.g., trusting little-known players, picking up CJ Gardner-Johnson midseason) have made a tangible, positive impact.

    “When tiny things that happen on the roster end up making material differences in seasons. Because the coaching staff is good...it shows you that something is going right.” (Mattie, 23:58)

  • Quote from Cole Kmet – Locker Room Perspective: (35:05)

    “The locker room’s going to look a lot different next year. That’s just how the NFL works…We put in the work for this year, not for next year…to just think that it’s just going to happen again, that’s very wishful thinking…”

4. Savoring the Rivalries & Emotional Highs

• Beating the Packers

  • Bernstein and Mattie agree: beating Green Bay—especially eliminating them—was one of the season’s most “delicious” moments.

    “If you’re that Bears fan...the ending is the ending. But we beat the Packers twice...That’s what you’re going to hang your hat on, then you got that too...” (Bernstein, 27:23) “That game, that outcome, that night was like your raviollo.” (Mattie, 27:48)

• Winning Over the Doubters

  • The consensus is that Williams and the Bears won over even non-fans and skeptics with repeated late-game heroics.

    “His performances, though, won so many of the doubters over...all right, you just can’t stop this guy.” (Bernstein, 32:21)

5. Organization Culture Shift

• Coaching and Locker Room Stability
  • They marvel at the absence of locker room drama, contrasting it with the past, and credit the coaching staff and players for unity and trust.

    “For a team to have this much success with such little controversy or issues at all...is really, really remarkable.” (Bernstein, 38:22)

6. Quick Hitters and Tangents

• Broadcast/Coverage Talk (20:28–22:22)
  • Both critique Tony Dungy’s dated, sanctimonious studio analysis—offer praise instead for modern football broadcasters.
• Speed Bumps in Chicago (38:48)
  • A lighthearted tangent about “widowmaker” speed bumps on Grace street.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• 00:34 | Mattie: “There are some who say...the game itself and the end of the season—losing is no fun...yet there can also be a simultaneous understanding of even falling short of the ultimate goals...”
• 04:21 | Dan Bernstein: "...nothing lived up to that raviollo. And nothing after that lived up to that raviolo."
• 07:21 | Dan Bernstein: "...for me, the overall ending of this is just disappointment because I loved it the season so much."
• 16:07 | Dan Bernstein: “The thing that makes the Bears cool and desirable is Caleb Williams. It’s just that simple.”
• 19:27 | Mattie: “The new normal is going for it, keeping alive the opportunity for six instead of three. The new normal is taking those shots down the field...”
• 23:58 | Mattie: "When tiny things that happen on the roster end up making material differences...shows you that something is going right..."
• 35:05 | Cole Kmet (audio): “The locker room’s going to look a lot different next year. That’s just how the NFL works...”
• 38:22 | Dan Bernstein: “For a team to have this much success with such little controversy or issues at all is really, really remarkable...”
• 27:48 | Mattie: “That game, that outcome, that night was like your raviollo.”
• 32:21 | Dan Bernstein: “His performances, though, won so many of the doubters over...you just can’t stop this guy.”

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Important Timestamps & Segment Highlights

| Timestamp | Segment Highlight | |-----------|-------------------------------| | 00:09 | Opening reflections on emotions after Bears’ exit | | 03:54 | Alinea dining / food as an analogy for the season | | 07:21 | Bernstein’s disappointment vs. Mattie’s fulfillment | | 10:27 | The “coolness” of the Bears & what makes a team cool | | 16:06 | Caleb Williams’ franchise-changing impact | | 19:27 | The new “normal” of aggressive Bears football | | 23:58 | Coaching and front office trust-building | | 27:23 | The emotional “deliciousness” of beating the Packers | | 35:05 | Cole Kmet on NFL change & team specialness | | 38:22 | Lack of drama: a stable, united roster and staff | | 49:00 | Baseball segment: Wilbur Wood tribute | | 58:34 | College football championship predictions |

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College Football: National Championship Picks (Indiana vs. Miami)

• Bold Predictions: Both pick Indiana to win handily.
  • “Indiana is going to embarrass Miami. I think they are going to stomp them...culmination...one of the greatest coaching jobs in the history of sports.” (Mattie, 58:34)
  • “I’m also taking the over 47.5...because Indiana may do that on their own.” (Bernstein, 59:46)

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Nostalgic and Fun Segments

• Wilbur Wood, White Sox Legend (49:00–54:00)

  • A spirited, stats-filled tribute to the late knuckleballer, his innings-eating, and era differences.

• Trivia: The Royals Drafted Marino & Elway (54:26)

  • The hosts revel in baseball/football crossover trivia:

    “1979 Kansas City Royals selected Dan Marino and John Elway.” (Bernstein, 56:06)

• Random Ephemera

  • Off-the-cuff memories, including bad beer in college and Chicago’s worst speed bumps.

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Final Notes

• Forward Progress will continue as the Bears podcast no matter the season.
  • “...forward progress every day, all off season, Bears, NFL, whatever else the hell we want to do.” (Mattie, 61:23)

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In Closing

This episode captures the spirit of Chicago sports fandom—intense, self-reflective, a little bit weird, and always ready for another ride. The hosts deftly blend sharp analysis, colorful metaphors, and irreverent humor, ensuring whether listeners are Bears diehards, casual fans won over by Williams, or just here for college football and baseball trivia, there’s something for everyone.

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Transcript

[Dan Bernstein]

Dan bernstein unfiltered unfiltered on 312 sports.

[Mattie]

Welcome to Dan Bernstein Unfiltered. DBU is brought to you in partnership with my bookie and it is the morning after the Chicago Bears miraculous season has ended. And I've been trying to sort of think through not just the way it feels, but how to, how to encapsulate what this season is meant. And man, the responses, the feedback, everything coming in so fast and so furious. I'm trying to still keep up with all of the emails and all the responses we've gotten through the app and everything else. And by the way, you haven't gotten the 312Sports app. You absolutely should. The words that are in common and this is also the stuff I'm hearing anecdotally and personally, the words that I'm hearing to describe the end of the Bears season and with every moment of distance that we get from it, describe sort of an awareness of what this has all been has been. The I keep hearing the word satisfying and I keep hearing the word fulfilling and tell me if that makes sense. The There are some who say, yeah, the game itself and the end of the season losing is, is no fun. You want to win and you want to win the super bowl every year and you want multiple Super Bowls and parades and yet there can also be a simultaneous understanding of even falling short of the ultimate goals what what this whole ride has been. And from a lot of people who are at least self aware fans I think, who are able to, to really enjoy their team and also keep things in context. I keep hearing the word that was really fulfilling, that was satisfying and not everybody will agree with that. And I think a lot of us have different feelings that kind of come and go and it's not easy to pin down exactly how it is in one moment to the next. You might have different feelings. But I but I liked that idea of there being a sense of fulfillment. So Mattie, roll with me on this. This metaphor a way of looking at this even not every great meal is the same. Not everyone satisfies you in sort of your brain chemistry in exactly the same way. And this Bears season has felt almost like one of those where there have been so many surprising flavors that are really intense and really rich that by the time other things are arriving, you're almost a little bit full and almost a little overwhelmed by some of what you've already had. That whatever it is, whatever receptors you have in your brain are kind of blown out by some of the things that You've eaten already. Does that make any sense? Like. Like, it's rich. Like, do you ever have, like, whether it's a. Some. Some caviar appetizer, just. Just unbelievably decadent kind of thing. You're like, well, my taste buds are just not gonna. Whatever comes next isn't gonna top that. Like, I don't even know what to do. I'm so blown away by some of this stuff. It's like having we had dessert for the main course almost. You know, I know. I'm trying to think of a way to start.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know. I understand what you're saying, and I think the food analogy, it works for me. And it takes me right back to my dinner that Natalie took me to at alinea for my 50th. Okay, and have you eaten at Alinea?

[Mattie]

I've not, but I understand, like, this sense of where you're eating with your eyes and you just. You. You get to the point where it's like, I can't do much more, and I don't. I don't know where this goes next.

[Dan Bernstein]

So it's an experience that. I think saying it's an experience is. Is more accurate than saying it's a meal because it is an experience. And it's not just your eyes. It's every. All of your senses are invoked into the meal. From the first one course had rock and roll music playing because it fit the nature of the course they were serving. But I only bring it up because there was one bite that I had that will never leave me and will probably be my favorite bite I ever had in my life. And it was their black truffle explosion, and it was just a black truffle raviollo. And it's just a one bite raviolo, and it's filled with liquid inside and a black truffle flavor. And it just. It didn't. It didn't overwhelm or ruin the entire meal. But nothing lived up to that one bite that I had before and after and no other food. And I've had some amazing food in my life and in our travels that will always be my favorite bite I've ever had in my life. And again, it's not like the stuff that came before. It wasn't great because it all. It was always great, and the experience was all great. But nothing lived up to that raviollo. And nothing after that lived up to that lived up to that raviola. So I don't know if that's in line with your analogy, but yeah, no.

[Mattie]

It'S almost like this season, this Bears season gave us so many unique individual tastes. Whether it was the Caleb Williams spectacular plays that culminated in that throw to Cole Comet, the 14 yard touchdown to Cole Comet. It's like there were so many surprises and so many improbabilities, as if you have. In a. In a meal like that, the. The way something is presented to you, you can't even believe it. And it's like, you know, they lift the glass off there and there's smoke underneath the glass or there's, you know, these like the live sushi or whatever it might be that there was a. Everything was presented to us in a way that was kind of spectacular. The coach is taking his damn shirt off. There's people getting hot dogs. And there were just lots of little different fun, amusing things about this season that made it memorable, unique. With all of the Bears history that hangs over this team, everything and all of it and all of what we impose on this team, they created stuff that was uniquely their own. This is team. And this time of the Bears has a different flavor than other times do.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, no, I. Here's the. I'm trying to just put in words what this whole season meant.

[Mattie]

Yeah, but why. Why is it fulfilling? Even though they came up short. Why. Why does it. Was there something about it where it's like, that was really good, you know, give me, give me, give me a cup of coffee and an Uber home.

[Dan Bernstein]

You said that people will. Not everyone will agree with that. And I don't agree with it because it wasn't fulfilling for me and it wasn't satisfying.

[Mattie]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was memorable. It was special. It was a season I'll absolutely never forget because of the play of Caleb Williams and the fact that they came back and had seven winning drives late in the game and had a couple that just fell short. For me, the overall ending of this is just. Is disappointment because I loved it the season so much. And for it to end the way it ended in a game that they very easily could have won were it not for a few turnovers from the quarterback who was the reason you were at the place you were to begin with. I'm just disappointed. I'm disappointed because as we've talked about this entire year, each season is exclusive in and of itself. And this isn't a building block for next year. They don't just pick up and go where they now as a team. It's not a building block for next year. The individual experiences that each player had is going to benefit them. If they play next year. You know, some guys may not play, some guys won't be with the Bears, but each individual experience that each individual player had is a building block in their career. But not as a whole. As a whole, the 2025 Bears season ended last night and it does not pick up and continue next year. There is no guarantee that. That. All right, this is what we did this last year. This is what we'll do next year. There's no guarantee to it. So it's not a building block. You can't say it's momentum moving into next year. We can take this as a group, what we did, and build on it for next year. You can't do that. You can't say that in the NFL. That's why there are teams that win five games next one year and win their division the next year. That's why there are teams that go to the super bowl one year and finish with six wins the next year.

[Mattie]

And there are also teams that go to multiple Super Bowls and make multiple playoff runs because they have the coach and they have the quarterback, and that should be all you need to do that.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, you're. You're correct on that. But you don't go multiple years because you want the previous year correct.

[Mattie]

You go because you have the coach and you have the quarterback.

[Dan Bernstein]

You go because you have the talent. Right? You go, you have the talent and you get enough wins that you need to get there. And you don't have injuries that derail you.

[Mattie]

Well, the Bears did, though. That's the thing about this team.

[Dan Bernstein]

But it didn't derail them. Every team has injuries. It just derailed the Bears because they were strong where they needed to be, which was the offensive line. The offensive line was. I mean, you had your three interior guys that were there for every game, almost every. Almost every snap for all three guys. Darnell Wright, who missed, but you know, he was there for most of it. And then your left tackle was a toss up in the air. You just don't know.

[Mattie]

The most important position arguably on your offensive line might have been.

[Dan Bernstein]

You end up in your final game of your season with your all world left guard playing left tackle. And a guy that you. Most people were asking who's. Jordan McFadden started your divisional round game and that all worked out really well. But the strength of your team was that offensive line, which was healthy for pretty much 100% of the snaps.

[Mattie]

Maybe there's an aspect to this sort of beyond the one loss record or how far they went. And for a Long time, at least for most of my life the Bears haven't been the cool team and certainly like around the league and the Bears have always been old fashioned, I think and they've relied on history and heritage and the standing of their brand. This has been the family owned team, every aspect. And a lot of it was when Virginia was alive that a lot of this was because you had the NFL's matriarch here who was a toddler as the NFL was being actually created by her father. And the Bears skewed as far as their brand. The Bears always seemed old, historical, important, but in a, in a legacy kind of way. I think the Bears, if nothing else this season they, they made themselves cool.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, let me, let me ask you about that because that's interesting that you say that and I think just off the top of my head here and I just jotted it down in our lifetime of watching football, which is pretty similar, the starting points, there's. There really have only been four cool teams. I want to understand what you mean by cool teams. San Francisco, Dallas, New England, kc. Am I incorrect on that?

[Mattie]

No, those are dominant teams teams.

[Dan Bernstein]

But those, those sustained excellence makes you cool, doesn't it? Like what makes you cool?

[Mattie]

There might be some other aspect of having somebody see for me.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, like, like who's been cool. Like, like the Raiders haven't been cool in our life. Yeah, they were. Yeah, they were.

[Mattie]

Well yeah, when they were a. Fuck everybody. Al Davis just win baby. There's no doubt. The Raider. Yeah. With, with, with Jack Tatum and those guys just, just murdering people.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, they.

[Mattie]

Yeah, they were. I would.

[Dan Bernstein]

Violent and dominant doesn't mean cool though. Like what do you mean?

[Mattie]

I let's like around like I would say and maybe, maybe there's a difference between sort of the, the counterculture teams. The Raiders always were had a counterculture.

[Dan Bernstein]

Very, very much counterculture.

[Mattie]

I look for, for people my age, the cool team was with the Oilers were the Bum Phillips Oilers. They were that, that, that team was. They had the song and the weird uniforms and the, the, the. The coach with a cowboy hat and I don't know. I always thought that the, the late 70s early 80s Oilers were a cool team and I always loved their uniforms too. Oh yeah. But, but I mean Bump Phillips and Earl Campbell and everything that they had going there was just really, really fun and they weren't necessarily dominant but they were one of those teams like you knew the, like the uncool teams were like the Falcons and the Saints and like you just. Teams like Ugh you go through your football cards and they didn't pop. You were like, oh, this guy. And Walter Payton was cool. But nothing else on the Bears was.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And I think for most organizations, for most franchises, the cool status is very limited, and it just bursts up and then it fades away pretty quickly. Where the Bears have had that. I mean, I think the Lovey Smith defense. Bears were very cool. You know, Ryan Erlock or Lance Briggs, those guys were. That was cool. You know, again, the Niners, the Cowboys, the Patriots, the Chiefs. I mean, that's.

[Mattie]

Yeah, I don't. I don't. I don't think the Patriots were. The Patriots weren't. The Patriots were. Were a Death Star. I never thought that was. That was like.

[Dan Bernstein]

That was cool to me. I mean, they fucking started everybody. Yeah.

[Mattie]

But it wasn't here.

[Dan Bernstein]

And they. All they did was go to the playoffs and win their division and wins championships. That's pretty cool to me.

[Mattie]

Well, that's. That's a just. I think we're talking about separate things. That year, they were dominant at football, but you didn't. I don't know. There wasn't that kind of electricity with them because they were an automaton. That was a. That was a machine that just sort of marched over you and moved on to the next thing.

[Dan Bernstein]

So do you mean, like, cool as in within your own community or cool from a national perspective? Because I'm not sure how cool the Bears are nationally. I'm sure how well liked Ben Johnson is nationally and how people look at him taking his shirt off outside of Chicago, thinking that was cool.

[Mattie]

I don't know. If you were a player, I think you'd love to play for him. I think you'd love to play for that guy. That he might be annoying from the outside and you think, like, what's wrong with this cat? But I think that he's. His reputation would be of a guy who is. Who fosters belief in the locker room. Yeah. You know, his players adore him. You don't hear a whisper. You don't hear a whisper about that. But from the locker room of a player being like, yeah, there's this guy taking his shirt off, you know, but he's. Because he believes all this stuff. Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

And we've. And we've heard that for the last couple decades of the Bears coaches, the, you know, the whispering and the talking. Longer. It's back and.

[Mattie]

Yeah, longer than that. Yes. It didn't. It didn't. It never takes long if the coach is an idiot. It never takes long. For you to hear.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. That he's.

[Mattie]

The players know he's an idiot. But I haven't heard anything about this.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, not. Not one thing. And even all the. All the people that cover the team, I've never heard that from any of them. The thing that makes the Bears cool and desirable is Caleb Williams.

[Mattie]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's just that simple. That there is no chance that that dude should have tied the game last night. He backpedaled and threw a 45 yard ball into the end zone and a wide open Cole Comet. There is not another quarterback outside of maybe Pat Mahomes that would have made that throw last night. A healthy Pat Mahomes all year.

[Mattie]

I mean how many touchdowns. It was the one against the Browns to DJ Moore where he threw it to the back right of the end zone, tipped and then caught into triple coverage. Yes. Like there have been any number of throws. It's going to time to actually go back and put the list together of the throws that Caleb Williams made just this year.

[Dan Bernstein]

And that touchdown last DJ was tip too.

[Mattie]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was fingertip on it. Yep.

[Mattie]

That no coach would ever tell a quarterback to make. You. You cannot make coaching tape off of Caleb Williams.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Which is interesting. Looking at last night's game with Ben Johnson being very aggressive on fourth down. Has he. And he has. He has been all year. Why he didn't give Caleb the opportunity to convert. Why he took the ball out of his hands. Whether it was an opportunity for Caleb to use his feet with the ball in his hands or to throw on fourth down. I just. I don't understand why I didn't see that. More like why take the ball out of your. The ultimate playmaker's hands.

[Mattie]

I don't know what Johnson saw throughout the game. He did tell us and we'll know more as this week goes on. Yeah. He did explain that the. He did think about going for two when it was 17, 16. And the reason he ultimately didn't was he just didn't think they were executing well in short yardage situations. Period.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, no. Not running the ball between tackles fucking three times in a row. No.

[Mattie]

No. And I don't. And again, I don't know different with your quarterback. I don't know what they expected. There. There was one. One of the plays where they got caught behind the line of scrimmage where was. Because they brought the left side of the line around and allowed two defenders to come in when they. When they pulled everybody around playing power to the right side and they just sort of vacated that side of the line. I don't know what he had in mind for play calling, but there was, there was enough from like a step on the accelerator kind of coach, a push it, push it, push it. Risk taking coach to back off in that moment because of what he had seen. And maybe, maybe there's something more specific about that. And maybe it had to do with the, with the snap, maybe it had to do with conditions. I don't know. But.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, but they, but they. Everyone to a man who spoke to the media said the conditions were not an impact or an effect on them at all. Let me ask you this too, and this is just a hypothetical, because I said it and this was all hindsight, because knowing that they lost the game, I said to Natalie, as we're sitting on the couch and kind of reviewing the game, I just said, I wish maybe they'd gone for two at the end. And she was like, well, you say that now because they lost. But what if he'd gone for two and didn't make it and they end up losing? 17, 16, okay. She's like, everybody would have hated him. And I wonder about that. I wonder if people would have said, hey, that was the aggressive right thing to do to like end the game right there instead of going for the tie at home.

[Mattie]

That may happen next year, that may happen the year after. That may happen three years from now. It will happen at some point. I think it will. I don't know. I don't know if they're going to win or lose doing it. But the, the lesson that I learned this year as a, as a long time Bears fan is to get used to this. The new normal is going for it, keeping alive the opportunity for six instead of three. The new normal is taking those shots down the field because that's how you score, that's how you get pass interference. That this is there. He's. I, I've read some stuff this morning and some opinions of, well, that he's going to learn his lesson about taking the points and he's going to become more conservative or all that garbage that idiot Tony Dungy was talking about last night. And I'm so sick of Tony Dungy. I'm so sick of him.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know, I guess I haven't watched a whole lot of Football Night in America, like pregame stuff maybe, because I think, you know, being footballed out for the day, I kind of go right to the start of the game and I didn't, I haven't heard Tony Dungy on a pregame in Quite some time. And I was really. I was really just wondering why he's still doing it.

[Mattie]

I don't know.

[Dan Bernstein]

Listening for a little. I heard a few minutes of it, and I'm like, this isn't.

[Mattie]

He's.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's not good. It's not. It's not a good listen. There's nothing relevant about it. There's nothing to learn from it. So I wasn't sure why he still does it.

[Mattie]

And a lot of the stuff is just flat. A lot of it's flat wrong. And the problem I have with him, not to get too sidetracked here, but the problem I have with him is they have him on as, like, everybody's sanctimonious father when he is a homophobic.

[Dan Bernstein]

Bigot. Yeah, let's. Yeah, let's not get sidetracked with it.

[Mattie]

No, I'm not. I'm not. That's.

[Dan Bernstein]

But it's. It's. It's disappointing, though, because I'm not sure if you listened or watched any of the. The pregame that was on abc, espn.

[Mattie]

I don't watch a lot of.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, no, it was really long. There was a lot going on. But some of the talent, they have studio talent and panel talent that does. Especially the guys, like, on the prime. Prime stuff is just. It's fucking great. It's great. And then. And then you flip over and you hear Football night in America, and it's like, oh, seriously, like. Like, let's. Let's update. Let's update the staff a little bit because it's a little bit old and kind of not relevant anymore.

[Mattie]

Well, I think there's a lot of places doing that, especially with all these coaches fired.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, that's.

[Mattie]

The other.

[Dan Bernstein]

The other 20 Roman get worse every day.

[Mattie]

I don't know.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was bad. That CBS game was terrible.

[Mattie]

I don't know. Yeah, it does.

[Dan Bernstein]

Jim Nance, that's my guy.

[Mattie]

Yeah, that game was desultory. It was. Everything was just jumping from one thing to the next. There was no. It was a disconnected game. And Tony Romo doesn't help that because he seems sometimes easily distracted or has a difficult time staying with the. The thematic threads. Yeah, I don't know of a given game.

[Dan Bernstein]

I distracted you enough here. Let's. Let's get back to the Bears.

[Mattie]

No, the point being that the Bears delivered a product this year. They gave us a very richly flavored, intense meal here.

[Dan Bernstein]

Here's what it is.

[Mattie]

Really intense.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it's. It's a difference between a basic, like, broth and, like, a really well developed, like days long ramen broth, ramen, you.

[Mattie]

Know, like a stock, like a consummate.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it's like a really good ramen. You know, you get, you know, you know you've had good ramen before and you've had bad ramen. Yeah. Cheap ramen. You know, it's like, it's like you can make a basic stock and here it is and that's, you know, those are your bad teams. But then you get that rich. You know, it's taken days and days of, you know, simmering and all the ingredients to make it really. And it's like real. This is just a broth too, but oh no, but it's so much better. So that's Caleb Williams, that's Ben Johnson.

[Mattie]

Well, yeah. And to carry that out, the good news is that's sustainable.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, it is.

[Mattie]

If you know that the base of everything you do is that good, you'll change ingredients around. You'll say, you know, what do we have today? Well, I don't know, we'll do, we'll do these mushrooms in a soft boiled egg. But as long as you got that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Stock, that stock that you need to work on for two weeks.

[Cole Comet]

Yeah.

[Mattie]

Yes. As long as you've got that as the base of everything you do and you can, and you can pour that over whatever you want, that everything else will figure it out. If that's Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson, then you're probably in good shape.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. The ingredients are the other players that.

[Mattie]

Whatever you find and everything is sitting in that, then, then you're probably good. But it was like I say last night I thought I would feel worse about this all coming to an end, but boy, what this sets up now, especially the trust. The other thing that I was getting at is when little roster moves. As much as we obsess between this show and forward progress, especially forward progress, when tiny things that happen on the roster end up making material differences in seasons. Because the coaching staff is good. Because the coaching staff doesn't go with preconceived notions because they're like, oh, who's this guy? Who's Theo Benedict? Well, he can do this. He can do this, he can do this. And all of a sudden, who's Jordan McFadden? Well, he's going to start at left guard in the divisional playoffs because we think he's ready. When C.J. gardner Johnson is picked up off his couch and plays the role that he played, sometimes for better or for worse, there is a. It shows you that something is going right Something's when Ryan Poles and. Or Ben Johnson and increasingly we don't know where one ends and the other begins. And I think that's good. And I think that engenders more trust that we aren't saying. Well, I'll tell you what's wrong with the Bears. It's not the coach, it's the general manager and it's the McCaskey. Like the, the idea that there is. There's a shared vision and the smallest things are under control, that they're seeing it. They're. That the management down to the details is happening in a way where it shows up on the field in a given week. John A. Walker, where the hell did he come from?

[Dan Bernstein]

Right?

[Mattie]

You know, like. And making critical plays for you that the things that they're doing in a way that you, you trust them. You trust when a decision is made. Why'd they get rid of this guy? Why'd they keep this guy? This Kyle Menon guy. Boy, they sure put a lot of trust. You know, those of us, those of us who have been conditioned to say they need another running back. You can't go in with these running backs. What the hell are they doing? And then early in the season when the nun guy was running backwards and didn't know where he was going.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Mattie]

The number of players who improved. There's just a lot of.

[Dan Bernstein]

There's a lot of things that's great coaching.

[Mattie]

There's a lot of things that went well. There really were. There were actual tangible points of, of. Of good coaching that you could see and that you could note. And, and that's satisfying, that's fulfilling because of probably what it portends. The other aspect of this season for some. And I used this word. I used the word when it came to the schadenfreude of packers failure, of ousting the Packers. I use the word delicious. That if in fact, that is. That you sustain yourself, that you're the ambrosia, the food of the gods on Mount Olympus is Packer tears. You got that too. Like if that added to the richness. That's like a fulfilling treacle, a life of affirming substance for some.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, that, that if you're. Yeah, you've mentioned that if, if you're that Bears fan. That. Right. The ending is the ending. But we beat the packers twice. You know, if that's. That's what you're going to hang your hat on, then you, you. You got that too. In a season where you went two and four in the division, yet you beat the packers, two out of three times and you eliminated like you ended their season after they called you out and wanted you. They want to put your season to bed and you did it to him.

[Mattie]

Yeah, see that too. That's. That's what it's like. That game, that outcome that night was like your raviolo.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, no, you're right.

[Mattie]

It's hard. It's really hard to top that with anything but a Super Bowl.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, no, no, really is. You're exactly right.

[Mattie]

It really is hard to touch. Just.

[Dan Bernstein]

But that's for the fan base, which is amazing. That. I mean, the. The players were able to say, all right, we're were moving on. And they were there in this game. They had this game. That's what's so disappointing.

[Mattie]

I know.

[Dan Bernstein]

It wasn't like. It was like the Rams came in and dropped 50. Like, who was it who thought they were going to. Alex Smith? I think it was Alex Smith who said, oh, they're come in and put 50 on them. I think it was Alta go back and double check. Maybe someone can confirm was listening. There's a former player that said, oh, that McVeigh and the Rams will come in. They're going to put 50 on the Bears now.

[Mattie]

Da had his number, I think. I think. I think Da out coached McVeigh, Kyler.

[Dan Bernstein]

Gordon, Jaquan Brisker had a great game. Grady Jarrett, you know, he was. He was there, had a huge play, like wrap up and bring him down. You're so big and fucking strong, man. Dude, get that, you know, eight yard sack. Oh, man. Oh, man. Just. I hate that it's over. I just hate that it's over. It's so disappointing.

[Mattie]

Yes. Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

I've loved it for the city. I've loved it for the fans.

[Mattie]

I know.

[Dan Bernstein]

Fun. It's been fun to watch because I don't. I don't go into bars. I don't go to games to watch. And I love seeing it. I love seeing it online. I love seeing people's reactions in their living rooms and all that stuff getting posted, you know, again last night, too, there's the Bears get the ball in their final drive. And I call, you know, the gang up from. From downstairs, you know, get out of the basement, come upstairs, watch the game with us. And for all six of us again to react to that, that fourth down, a touchdown to Cole Comet, and just to have that memory as a dad, you know, with.

[Mattie]

That memory's not going anywhere. No. Nobody.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's great. It's great.

[Mattie]

See, now you're doing it Again, I.

[Dan Bernstein]

Don'T want it to end. That's the thing.

[Mattie]

I don't. I know, I know. But we never want good things to end. Right? Isn't this what we teach our kids? Isn't this exactly what we tell our children is not just saying all good things must come to an end? Because that's sort of a little fatalistic. And it's that rather than lamenting the end of something, celebrate the joy it brought you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Mattie]

And this was one of those that deserved that more than just the sort of lip service of that. Because losing sucks and there's only one super bowl champion and you want to be that team. You never want to lose sight of that. Professional sports are about winning championships.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. There's 31 disappointed teams every year.

[Mattie]

Correct. Correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

No one ever walks away satisfied. Except that team that has the Lombardi Trophy.

[Mattie]

Correct. However, your experience is your experience. And what? That there's nothing. There's no shame in appreciating how much fun that was. Yeah. The beginning of something.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Mattie]

At the beginning of something. How do the Bills feel? Would you rather be the Buffalo Bills?

[Dan Bernstein]

I think you're exactly right though, too. Just looking back quickly here on the season, that. Yeah. That. That packers, those packers games were like the highlight of the season. Even. Even the game that you lost because you were right there for it. And it's just. It's one Caleb Williams under throw and he has him. And that's, you know, a little bit higher, a little bit deeper. Maybe you're talking about a sweep of the Packers. But then they beat him twice. And the way they beat them, they never had the lead. They never had the ball with the lead for an offensive snap.

[Mattie]

And you wouldn't want to change.

[Dan Bernstein]

Zero. It's just amazing.

[Mattie]

The order of events allowed it to build to the most satisfying.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Mattie]

Like have they the playoff win because they initially lost. And then the way it was stacked on the schedule for those games to be where they were and talking about all of the different comebacks and all the improbabilities and everything the season did about even the most jaded, cynical or detached rational fan had to have some buy in and had to say how many people, how many educated fans said, I can't believe this.

[Dan Bernstein]

I can't believe every single person.

[Mattie]

I don't believe it.

[Dan Bernstein]

But what's amazing, the non fans. The non fans, that he won over that. Caleb Williams won over that this team is a bunch of bums. This is garbage. This is trash. They're lucky they're playing bad teams.

[Mattie]

This guy who paints his fingernails, right?

[Dan Bernstein]

But his performances, though, won so many of the doubters over that. Like, all right, you just can't stop this guy.

[Mattie]

This is.

[Dan Bernstein]

This is something special. And, you know, you do it one time, and it's like, that's a fluke. It's an anomaly. It was just, you know, they just got lucky that one time.

[Mattie]

You.

[Dan Bernstein]

You do it a second time, you do it a third time, you do it a fourth time, a fifth time, a sixth time, a seventh time, and you're like, holy shit, this guy is something special.

[Mattie]

One way or another. Yes. Even if you say, well, that was lucky. Well, that was lucky. Well, that was lucky. At some point, it's the willingness to take the risk, and it's the. It's the willingness to see possibilities down the field and trusting your teammates that other people just like, nope, I don't. I don't care what's going on. I'm never making that throw.

[Dan Bernstein]

But what's amazing, too, is, yeah, they all didn't work out, but they worked out more than they didn't. But even the ones that didn't work out, he didn't crumble. It wasn't like he just. He fucked it all up, and they just. Oh, they just fell apart, and it was just. The pressure just got too much. No, he just didn't execute it, but he was right there in it. That's the thing.

[Mattie]

What's the line in. Is it Empire Strikes Back?

[Dan Bernstein]

I am your father, Luke.

[Mattie]

No. When.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yoda help us, Obi Wan, you're.

[Mattie]

No. When Yoda lifts the X Wing fighter out of the swamp in Dagobah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, is it. There is no try, only do or no.

[Mattie]

And he just. And he just pulls this thing out of the water. And.

[Dan Bernstein]

Luke. Oh, give it to me one more time. Luke. Is that the one? They're in the cave after the workout.

[Mattie]

He says, I don't believe it. And he says, that is why you fail. And it felt like this year. Don't you remember that?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't.

[Mattie]

It's when he was lifting rocks with his mind, and he was. You know, he was training, and then he left before his training was over. And that. But he's. But he said, I don't believe it. And he said, well, that's why you fail. And I think there were people this year that even grudgingly, when it came to Caleb Williams and watched him running around and making all these different throws, that finally, at least now, at the very least, are giving him the benefit of the doubt at Least now we're saying, all right, we know that there's a certain percentage of throws that are completely batshit that he's gonna complete.

[Dan Bernstein]

Here, let me play one cut for you from Cole Comet. So this was in the locker room after the game last night. And what we've talked about, how each season is exclusive in and of itself. And I think Colt has worded this really, really well.

[Cole Comet]

You know, look, the fact of the matter is, like, this is a, you know, a week to week, year to year league, and the locker room's going to look a lot different next year. That's just how the NFL works. And there's going to be coaches that leave for other opportunities or there's going to be players that leave either due to contract, due to. Or whatever might happen. But this was just a really special team to be part of. And I think we all felt like, you know, this could be a team that, you know, we could go win a Super Bowl. Yeah, I understand, but like, the work we put in is for this year, not for next year. Next year. I mean, when we take our time off here and you reset and, and the team of what it's going to be next year settles in for itself, it starts all over again and it's O and O and it's going to be twice as hard to get to this point, you know, and you can't take for granted the opportunities you get in this league to get to this chance and to have an opportunity to go to the NFC Championship game and then who knows from there? But yeah, to just think that it's just going to happen again, that's very wishful thinking. Very wishful. And you know, we play in a tough division and I know we won the division, but we also went to and four in the division this year and those teams are going to come back hungry and it's just that much harder. And so that's why it hurts when you have the opportunity now and, you know, you just come up a little short. It stinks because there's just. There's a lot of work that has to be done to get to this point.

[Mattie]

Well said, Wise.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I love when I hear Cole talk. He needs to talk more and it's really interesting. And I was, when I was listening to him all the audio in the locker room, it's amazing that the, the addition of a guy at his position that took away snaps and yards and touchdowns and balls made Cole Comet a better player this year, which is. It's just. It's just crazy. And that's how it all fits into the coaching and the scheme and the bigger picture. And it's all about team. But he had. Cole had one hell of a season. And it wasn't about catching balls and catching touchdowns and getting yards. It was everything that he was asked to do and did it at such an excellent high level. And it just really shows that not only what a great football player is, but what a great teammate that he is. That you bring in Colt, you bring in Colson, Loveland, and it's like, all right, this guy's going to take stuff away from you in your position. But it's, it's, it's embraced. And not only embraced, but it makes the offense better.

[Mattie]

Yeah. These aren't the Eagles. Right, Right. These are not the Eagles.

[Dan Bernstein]

Correct.

[Mattie]

There's not some zero sum aspect of importance here and say, well, this is my turn for this and my turn for that, at least for now. And maybe that comes after championships and Super Bowls.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Mattie]

And maybe those are good, good problems to have later. It's sort of end stage, good team or end stage, great team.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. You know what else is really great about this season and this team is there was a little blip and a minor little. Not even an obstacle, but like a little speed bump. Not even a big speed bump where you can kind of go over it at 35 miles an hour. But you know, you just hit something. And it was the Roma Dunes father thing, that issue. For a team to have this much success with such little controversy or issues at all.

[Mattie]

Yeah. No drama.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is really, really remarkable. And again, I think that speaks to the coaching. It speaks to the organization as a whole.

[Mattie]

I forgot that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Mattie]

You remember that. It's like his dad got all mad.

[Dan Bernstein]

He's not getting enough targets, he's not getting enough balls.

[Mattie]

And Rome just laughed it off.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Mattie]

Like, yeah, this is my dad. He says stuff.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Mattie]

Interesting. Yeah, that's. That's always the good feeling when you're driving on. In a Chicago street. But you know, it's not the bad speed bumps.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. Again, they're the ones you can still take at 35. You're not going to ruin your life.

[Mattie]

Oh, my God. The one on Grace just east of Western. Oh my God. That you talk about the Widowmaker speed bump. It's right by the 7 11. Right by the 711 on Grace, just by Western and most of the other speed bumps around there are fine.

[Cole Comet]

Yeah.

[Mattie]

I don't know what they did to that one. And if you walk there and you look at it and you see on either side, like the carve outs from the bottom outs. Oh, that occur there, like the number. The actual asphalt is just scarred.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is there a number of cars and people just sitting there?

[Mattie]

That's the thing. Like dead bodies lined up around there. There's explosions. I've never seen anything like that particular speed bump. It terrifies me. Like I get a feeling in the pit of my stomach and even, like, even if you go slowly, you're like, jeez, this is a steep one. You know, like up and then down on it. So, yeah, I get it. Hey, why bet the playoffs anywhere else when my bookie gives you everything you need to get paid? NFL playoffs, they're going on. There's all kinds of opportunities there. College football tonight. This is it. We're going to get to that later. I've got a strong thought of what I think is going to happen. I might be wildly wrong, but I don't care. The super bowl is coming. It's peak betting season. My bookie is built for it. We also got NBA, college basketball, you name it. Same account, same wallet. Sports casino reloads live bets. Everything you need in one place. Go to MyBookie AG now use our promo code, DBU. Those are the letters of Dan Bernstein unfiltered. And get your first bet covered up to 500 bucks. So if it doesn't hit what you have then is called a bet back bonus token. And you apply the bet back bonus token and you run it back. It's like it didn't happen. So build a bankroll in January. Ride it through the Super Bowl. Bet anything, anytime, anywhere. Only at my bookie we have a lot more football stuff that's going to come your way on forward progress. We're going to get into the news that Eric B. Enemy of the Bears running backs coach is being interviewed by the Chiefs potentially to be their offensive coordinator. So we'll, we'll get used to that. We'll see what coaches may get poached here because the firings are fast and furious. Like a quarter of the league has got new coaches and there's going to be new TV booths. And it always affects the league on multiple levels when you get to the. The rounds of firings that occur after the season and well into the playoffs. But I wanted to remember the the life and career of former White Sox hurler didn't really hurl. He more he was kind of flicked more than he hurled. Wilbur Wood. Wilbur Wood just died at age 84. And I'll be damned if I didn't think Wilbur Wood, first of all was long dead, I thought. And second of all, I thought he would have been 106 because he, I.

[Dan Bernstein]

Thought he was 84 when he was pitching.

[Mattie]

He was old when he pitched and he looked old when he pitched and he pitched like an old guy. But when he was making all star teams, his first all star team as a White Sox pitcher, he was only 29.

[Dan Bernstein]

Seriously?

[Mattie]

Yes. I don't know how that happened. And the dude in 1971, his B war was 11.7. In 1972, as a 30 year old White Sox All Star, his B war was 10.7. And I am, believe it or not, I'm not old enough to really remember him. When he was good his last all star season, I was five years old when he was 19, in 74. But I do remember when he was older and bad in 76, 77, 78. And it was then when I do remember something about when he. Because I'd always frightened me about the idea of a shattered kneecap because the first time I ever heard that phrase it sounded terrifying. And it was a line drive off the bat of Ron LaFleur that did that to him. And he was never the same.

[Dan Bernstein]

Matt LaFleur's brother.

[Mattie]

No, Ron. And Ron, then Ron LaFleur later joined the White Sox. And even when he joined the White Sox, like isn't that the guy that ended Wilbur woods effectiveness? As good a player as he was. But it was just astounding that Wilbur Wood, who learned the knuckleball from Hoyt Wilhelm was he, he pitched all the time. He never, every time you turned on a White Sox game, Wilbur Wood would be pitching. Because at one point I think Johnny Sane of Spawn Insane and Pray for Rain. Johnny Sane was the White Sox pitching coach who said look, a knuckleball isn't hard on your arm. Instead of four days rest or three days rest, back in the day, we're gonna go with two days rest, Wilbur. Imagine that. Now imagine going to a pitcher and saying you're gonna pitch the entire season on two days rest. And he said okay. He did so starting in 1971, in 71 he started 42 games. His starts in the next seasons, 49, 48, 42 and 43. In 1972 he pitched 376⅔ innings. That's like today 300. He had 20 complete games. He, he had, I mean he would have. These are the complete games instead of 22, 20, 21, 22. But that year, 376⅔ innings. He had eight shutouts and he had an ERA of 2.51. His record was 24 and 17. If you look at these records, you have 22 and 13, 24, 17, 24 and 20, 20 and 19, 16 and 20. His one loss record. They're all football scores. He faced. You know how many batters he faced in 1973?

[Dan Bernstein]

How many?

[Mattie]

15, 31. He was always pitching and he never looked like a professional athlete. Six feet tall, kind of pot bellied. Weird.

[Dan Bernstein]

I threw a picture up on the screen just now. Okay, he doesn't look like he's very fit.

[Mattie]

No, he never did. And look at how he's holding the ball there. And that was every pitch. There's every single pitch was that knuckleball. And he, he had a weird pickoff move. I remember too. He had a very deceptive but slow pickoff move. And he'd occasionally get guys because he kicked that big right leg up in the air and half lean over. And because, and because he only flicked the ball, he didn't really need to sort of rear back. And it was easy for him to come over and make that throw to first base. So he would pick guys off occasionally. I just can't believe he was 84 and it was. We'll never see the likes of that again. Never ever, ever, ever, ever. No one will ever approach. I think it is still the all time record for innings pitched in the modern era. Like since it was, what is it? Tungsten? Armo Doyle. The stuff who's in all the Shohei Ohtani memes that people make up, that somebody back in the 1800s who threw every inning that 1972, 376⅔ innings and you know, by all accounts a nice guy. He was just sort of a regular Bostonian. And because he was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a high school star in the Boston area. But that was the connection between Hoyt Wilhelm to Wilbur Wood. Going all the way for that distance in White Sox history all the way through 1978. So hell of a career. It must be a hell of a life for Wilbur Wood. And then he worked a bunch of different jobs. I think after baseball he just. What did he do? I don't know. He like was in sales and marketing and did things like it wasn't nobody made enough money to retire on. I don't think back then you went back into the world and you. And you did stuff. If you need windows, you got to call Russ Armstrong and you got to call him soon because it's winter right now and we want to keep the heat inside and keep the cold outside. And then very soon we're going to be at the point where we're keeping the cold inside and the heat outside. See how that works in Chicago? And it's going to happen in one day. It's going to be like one day in May. All of a sudden that's going to change. But you know what? If you have the right windows, it doesn't matter because you're set because the Chicago window guys are going to come out. And Russ himself will say, all right, here's what you got. What kind of windows do you want? And if you're like me, you say, I don't know, I trust you. A good windows ones, I can see through whatever you got. And he kind of rolls his eyes like, don't worry about it. We're gonna go make the windows. I said, what do you mean you make the windows? He said, well, we custom make them at our factory here in Chicago. Great. So then his people come out and his crew there. No subcontracted labor at Chicago window guys. They all work for Russ. And the same people that have installed my windows are going to install yours. He's got a price match guarantee, so you don't fall for any of these silly gimmicks that big window offers you of. Buy one, get one free and all that. Call 847-302-9171. Check out his five star reviews at ChicagoNowdownGuys.com when you're getting quotes like ask about they say who's installing my windows. These other places won't know. Russ can tell you the names of the people who are installing your windows. So make sure you call 847-302-9171 and check out his five star reviews at Chicago window window guys.com and just to.

[Dan Bernstein]

Put it in perspective for you to scubal on Detroit this past season, 195 innings pitched a lot.

[Mattie]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

But not the 340. Whatever that Wolverwood. And he faced 748 batters you said would face 1500.

[Mattie]

Yeah. What the f. So he was pitching. Basically. Wilbur Wood was pitching two seasons in every one.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. Two seasons worth in today's standards.

[Mattie]

But judging from the best, like judging from the guy who was the Cy young winner.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Mattie]

He pitched two of that guy's seasons. That's why he was. He was an 11 war pitcher.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's insane.

[Mattie]

Yes. Yeah. I mean it's. I don't know. It seems Like a different game in some ways. And now we have guys now who go five or six innings and like, you know, quality start.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, it certainly. It certainly is a different game.

[Mattie]

Yeah, I'm not gonna. And I'm not saying that was a better game either.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Mattie]

I'm not. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying like I was back in my day, but I'm not doing a back in my day thing. I'm just pointing out how much the game has changed. That Wilbur Wood would probably get his ass kicked. I mean, out there now. I really. That's easy to think too, that people just watch the knuckleballs and probably take their walks and everything would be in the dirt and they'd go stand on first base and he'd be out of the game. I don't know if he'd be any good now. But that's not the point. And that's okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Not why he called.

[Mattie]

The Natty is tonight.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, it is.

[Mattie]

And you'll be Maddie watching the Natty.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's correct. With my Natty.

[Mattie]

Where are they? Were they playing this game?

[Dan Bernstein]

Miami.

[Mattie]

Miami, that's right. It is a Miami.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's a home game. Yeah.

[Mattie]

And. Yeah, but they're in real trouble. It might be a home game, but it gonna be real ugly. I think for your friends with the Miami Hurricanes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I just think it's been interesting to hear like the takes on the Indiana roster and how they are older and we've discussed it, but we haven't been like. You haven't been negative about it. Where a lot of people negative about it.

[Mattie]

Why you.

[Dan Bernstein]

You have the right to sign and to pay money to any player you want. If you want to pay all 24 year olds. Good. You don't. You don't have to have any certain roster requirements by age. So if people are gonna be upset that Indiana all men playing against boys 24 against 18. Yeah, great.

[Mattie]

That's.

[Dan Bernstein]

They're not doing anything wrong. But like the negativity behind it is really what's fascinating to me.

[Mattie]

Well, why did. I don't know why that would bother anyone.

[Dan Bernstein]

I. Who knows why things. Did you hear in sports?

[Mattie]

Somebody asked Carson Beck, they said, whoa, how have you been going to class with all that's going on?

[Dan Bernstein]

He's graduated like two years ago.

[Mattie]

Yes. He said, I graduated Georgia two years ago.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Mattie]

What do you mean going to class?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, no, this is for me. See my wife and kids, right?

[Mattie]

This is.

[Dan Bernstein]

My kids go to work and this is my job.

[Mattie]

He gets paid to be the quarterback of Miami. And technically there's eligibility there, but why not? How about, by the way, while we're talking a little bit of college football, how about Dante Moore going back to school rather than go to the jets? Like that. That's the reason. Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

Got no criticism for him.

[Mattie]

I don't either. Can you blame him?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, not at all.

[Mattie]

It's like, look, you can. Why would anybody ever leave college? It's like choosing to come out of the womb.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Like what? Like, what's he, you know, why would you. What's he getting paid like?

[Mattie]

Plenty.

[Dan Bernstein]

Why go to the jets to make less money.

[Mattie]

Well, he wouldn't. He wouldn't make less money. And the reason obviously to go is you start the contract clock. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you're going to be the number two big. You think you're going to be good, you're going to get paid a ton and then you can get into your next deal faster. But I don't know why the jets kept Aaron Glenn. And if I guarantee you that factored in to his decision to stay. Because he wanted to.

[Dan Bernstein]

Correct. Without knowing for sure. Yeah. I would say that's got to be.

[Mattie]

The reason that he probably wanted to take it off the board completely. To just like. No, no, no, no. I'm not going to. I'm not going to mess around with possibly being a Jet.

[Dan Bernstein]

Do you think he'll make himself eligible for the, for the, for the draft after the number two pick?

[Mattie]

Can you do that?

[Dan Bernstein]

I declare this just did. Yeah.

[Mattie]

Wait a second.

[Dan Bernstein]

Made himself the jets pick. So and so. And Dante Moore is now eligible.

[Mattie]

Well, you know, it does raise the point about the draft being essentially unfair and it's a labor control mechanism where ideally everybody's a free agent and anybody can go anywhere they want. It's like it's the. The last business where somebody can tell you where you're going to live, where you might be starting a family, and the fact that you would have to go, look, you're going to live in Jacksonville now. You're going live. There's. There aren't other businesses that take off the table some of that choice the way that sports can do with drafting.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, I have a great. I know you love trivia questions. I saw this.

[Mattie]

Bring it on me.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. This is great. I love this. This was such a great question. Which franchise drafted in the same year. Two hall of Fame quarterbacks. Which franchise which drafted in the same year in the same draft class? Two hall of Fame quarterbacks.

[Mattie]

All right. Well, one would have to be a surprise. I mean, famously, Tom Brady was a sixth round pick. But they wouldn't be that. Ooh, what a great question.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, it's a great question. Which franchise in the. Both class.

[Mattie]

Both selected Both Pro Football hall of Fame, bro.

[Dan Bernstein]

Both, bro. Are Pro Football hall of Fame. Yes.

[Mattie]

Would the year give it away?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know. I don't know if it would. All right, here's the thing. There's one, one tricky element to it, and I'll let you in on it to help you along. I didn't say NFL franchise. Which franchise?

[Mattie]

Oh, did the Yankees.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is not the Yankees.

[Mattie]

That was my guess, though, because they took Elway, right.

[Dan Bernstein]

I said Yankees and it was not the Yankees.

[Mattie]

Because remember, in baseball drafts, there's a lot of. There used to be a lot of silly where they would take like the coach's children and their daughters and, you know, they would do favors for their, you know, like, who was it?

[Dan Bernstein]

1979 Kansas City Royals selected Dan Marino and John Elway.

[Mattie]

Wow. A pitcher and a shortstop.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is that crazy?

[Mattie]

Yeah. And there's probably other aspects of that too. Like there were, I want to say, before I got to the Rockford Lightning, in the CBA draft, they selected Bo Jackson.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, did they really?

[Mattie]

Like, way down in some, you know, silly ninth round. And I've been at those, I've been at those CBA drafts and by the eighth round, everybody's drunk.

[Dan Bernstein]

He would have loved Rockford.

[Mattie]

Nobody, nobody really knows what they're doing.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I heard that question and I, you know, was immediately thinking, that's great franchise. And I thought, all right, My, my first thought, just like you, I was like, all right, so Brady was selected in the sixth round. Who did they. I was like, no. Then I was like, all right, it had to be the Yankees. That's what I thought. I thought, all right, what the Yankees do. Because I knew the Yankees selected Elway. I had no idea. 79. The royals selected Marino and, and John Elway. And that reason, they're higher than Elway.

[Mattie]

But think about it, too. That's Royals heyday.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Mattie]

They won the world series in 80, right.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was 1980.

[Mattie]

Yeah. Wow. Well, the football playoffs are in full swing. My bookie is where you turn bets into Bankroll. Everybody's betting. NFL's in full do or die mode. College football's down to last team. Super Bowl's right around the corner. We got the national championship tonight. If there was ever a time to get in the game, it's right now. And my bookie makes it ridiculously easy to play. It's one account, it's one wallet and whatever you like to bet. Maybe you like live betting. You bet halves or you bet quarters, or you just want to bet the spread. You like money lines during commercials. You can hit the casino. It's all in one place. You have the power. When you go to MyBookie AG now and you use the promo code DBU, your first bet is covered up to 500 bucks. So if it doesn't hit, you've got a bet back bonus token and you apply that and you run it back. So then you don't just watch the playoffs, you make them pay. You can bet anything, anytime, anywhere, only at MyBookie. Which leads us to our DBU picks that are presented by MyBookie. I believe the current line for tonight's national championship is 8 and a half.

[Dan Bernstein]

I just looked at my bookie. 7 and a half.

[Mattie]

7 and a half. 7 one a half. I will give you that. And you can put another three on there if you want. If there's. And there may be a bet on my bookie to extend that, I could be completely wrong here, but I'm just. I'm just going to put it out there and go with my gut. I think Indiana is going to embarrass Miami. I think they are going to stomp them. I think Indiana is a machine. I think this is the culmination tonight, the coronation, culmination and validation of one of the greatest coaching jobs in the history of sports. I don't have a rooting interest one way or the other, but I just think that Indiana is so buttoned up and so well run that just by flipping the switch, just by turning it on, they're going to go out there and mop the floor with Miami.

[Dan Bernstein]

I cannot disagree with you, Dan. And I also am laying the seven and a half. I thought it would be more, but I'm giving the seven and a half and I'm also taking the over 47 and a half. I think both of those are going to hit without even a question. Minus seven and a half for Indiana and taking the over of 47 and a half in this game because Indiana may do that on their own.

[Mattie]

I was going to say it could be 48 to nothing.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, now that we both guaranteed it, watch Miami win by three touchdowns.

[Mattie]

Oh, you know that'll happen, but I don't care. I don't care. It's rare that I have a strong feeling about a college football game and very often you Know what? My strong feelings are? Bad. Bad and wrong. But it makes it fun because now I have made myself a big fan of the Hoosiers.

[Dan Bernstein]

There you go.

[Mattie]

So what do they say? Bear down. I don't know. What do the Hoosiers say? Go Hoosiers. Hoosiers. Whatever that is. DBU picks and DBU picks are presented by my bookie. That will do it indeed. Also for dbu. Make sure you check out forward progress. And just to answer the question a of people are asking, what's going to happen to forward progress now that Bear season's over? Nothing. Nothing. Forward progress every day, all off season, Bears, NFL, whatever else the hell we want to do. Yes, we love forward progress. And thanks to you, forward progress is doing very well. And it would be a very stupid decision on our behalf to decide to limit something that is doing very well. So we will be joining you. You'll be joining us on forward Progress. As much as we want to do it. And that's a lot. So every day.

[Dan Bernstein]

The 1979 draft of the Royals, they took Marino in the fourth round, and Elway was selected in the 18th round. But Marino, of course.

[Mattie]

Who is their first round pick? You? No. Who was you on Washington? No. Who was it?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know.

[Mattie]

Because. Because they didn't. They. Those teams didn't need a whole lot. They were pretty stacked. Those Royals teams were stacked. I'm telling you. Watch that Willie Wilson inside the park home run sometime. Go. Go to YouTube. Look up Willie Wilson inside the park home run. And you're gonna be like, there's no way that man went from. From the batter's box all the way around the bases that fast.

[Dan Bernstein]

Their number one pick, 21 overall, was Atlee Hammaker.

[Mattie]

Atlee Hammaker. He made an all star team. He was on the White Sox, briefly.

[Dan Bernstein]

He did. And then John skinner was their second round pick. Pat Sheridan, third.

[Mattie]

Good player.

[Dan Bernstein]

Dan Marino in 99th overall in the fourth round.

[Mattie]

Wow.

[Dan Bernstein]

Mickey Palmer. Kenneth Poor Craig Lefferts was there.

[Mattie]

Major leaguer.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, he was a major leaguer. He was the seventh round pick.

[Mattie]

Yep. Boy, I thought he was drafted earlier than that. Anyway, I'm trying to move along with what we're doing here, and you're giving me Royals draft trivia. Not that I don't, man.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's right in your wheelhouse.

[Mattie]

I know it is, isn't it? 1979, Atley Hammocker.

[Dan Bernstein]

A great name, too.

[Mattie]

Yeah. And then I ran into his niece at one point in college.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hope she was okay.

[Mattie]

No, we were. We were getting. We were drinking together. I forgot it was at some party.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, you mean, like, you saw her somewhere?

[Mattie]

Yeah, and she introduced her. It was so funny. She said, like, she introduced her, and she. Herself. She gave her last name, and she said, Hammer. I'm like, are you related to Atley Hammer? She's like, yeah, that's my uncle, idiot. Yeah, it's like, oh, that's pretty awesome. What a shot. Yeah, cool.

[Dan Bernstein]

You want hams?

[Mattie]

No hams. Are you kidding? That'd be a good night. We were. That was. We were probably drinking. Goble, Joseph Goble.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's like.

[Mattie]

It's. It already tasted like a fraternity, like, couch cushion.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was.

[Mattie]

It was. It was just.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, it was really bad. Yeah, just.

[Mattie]

Yeah, that was a bad slogan. I think she's like a fraternity couch cushion. They need to fire their ad agency, I think. Urine so bad. And now, like, Axe Body Spray.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's actually a flavor of Axe Body spray.

[Mattie]

Fraternity couch cushion might as well be. All right, that's dbu. Goodbye.

[Dan Bernstein]

Bye. Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered.

[Mattie]

Unfiltered. On three.

[Dan Bernstein]

One, two. Sports.