A (3:57)

But I'm going to say that just based on what you said there, that the Bears are eliminated first. But go ahead, let's see what this.

B (4:05)

It's a good guess on your part, not taking that away from you, but the very first thing that he does here are the NFC contenders that are listed in no particular order. Eagles, Cowboys, Packers, Bears, Lions, Vikings, Buccaneers, Panthers, Rams, Seahawks, Niners. Okay, so that's, that's a generous liberal look.

A (4:26)

Yeah.

B (4:26)

So the first criterion, he says only one team has ever won a Super bowl with a negative point differential in the regular season. Only one. And I don't think I could have named it.

A (4:45)

Yeah, that's. I mean, how many have been there? Almost 70.

B (4:48)

I don't even know. It was the 2011 Giants. Giants.

A (4:51)

Okay.

B (4:52)

The 2011 Giants are the only team that's ever won a Super bowl with a negative point differential in the regular season. Okay, so he said that history eliminates nine teams. And this is, this is AFC and nfc. I'm just focusing on the nfc. He says Dolphins, Steelers, Vikings, Bengals, Buccaneers and Panthers. He said it's a no brainer. There are teams on this list that just don't belong. We're weeding them out. I don't think anybody's going to miss them. He then says Ravens. Baltimore might have a beef for getting booted, but they just lost to a slumping Steelers team, controversy or not, costly loss. He then says Cowboys, says Dallas has come on lately, but reminded us that Quinn and Williams can't save a defense. That gives the offense little margin for error. So Ravens, Cowboys out. Next out. The Bears. And these are not my words. So you can direct your anger@cbssports.com at Douglas Clausen. Don't be mad at me. If you're mad, and I hope you're not mad. I hope you're just taking this as information and one person's analysis. But I know the way things are. The reactions now are just all or nothing. Either you are a hater or a ride or die. Bears. Chicago has a chance to be this year's Cinderella, and it's only been outscored by one point. The Bears just pushed the packers at Lambeau and Ben Johnson brings juice, shirtless celebrations and all. Well, what did I tell you? What did I tell you that this was gonna. This was gonna have it. Excuse me. It's gonna have an impact on. Anytime you mention him, he's now shirtless guy.

A (6:34)

Yeah. And if you don't win. That's. That's right. It's gonna. Yeah, that's what it's gonna be.

B (6:37)

I know. And it's fun. He. It's okay. He made a decision to be shirtless guy, but that's what he is now. He says the resume still doesn't hold up. This defense isn't good enough to win a title. They've played the easiest schedule in the nfc. They've tied an NFL record with five wins when trailing in the final two minutes and leave the league in takeaways. It's a lot of regression signs. It's hard to trust a 9 and 4 team that's been outscored on the year. Goodbye, Chicago. So that was fast. That. That's in the very. That's the very first criterion knocks out the Bears.

A (7:15)

And this is, again, this is just knocking contenders out for super bowl consideration. That's all that is.

B (7:21)

Yep. Just this year's Super Bowl. And. But this is all using numbers. So there's. There's just. So you know, the other criteria that are used. I don't want to stop right there until I give the Bears a fair shot. When. When we go through the other trends that define super bowl winners.

A (7:37)

Okay.

B (7:38)

Must be elite on one side of the ball. 56 of the last 59 Super bowl champs finished in the top seven in scoring offense or scoring defense or both.

A (7:55)

Okay, well, the Bears aren't scoring offense.

B (7:57)

He says you can survive a dreadful offense if your defense is historic. You can survive a soft defense if your offense is electric. Okay, so the Bears do have one of the top scoring offenses, right?

A (8:10)

Yes.

B (8:11)

Okay. So he then sidelines a bunch of other teams and goes through the same process. The next one win close games.

A (8:21)

Well, that's Bears.

B (8:22)

The last 14 and 23 of the last 25 Super bowl champions were 500 or better one score games during the regular season. Right. So still pretty good there. Like had. This is all about the order in which these were chosen and what the.

A (8:40)

Bears are what, six and two now in one score games?

B (8:43)

I believe that's right.

A (8:44)

Yeah.

B (8:45)

Okay.

A (8:46)

So five and two, six and two.

B (8:48)

Now the next one is trenches. 21 of the last 23 Super bowl champions had a positive sack differential. Meaning you have more sacks than you.

A (9:03)

Yeah, the Bears are about even right now. I think they're, I think they're a little more on maybe one or two more sacks than they have.

B (9:10)

Is that. I think it's, it's close to being a wash. And after this.

A (9:13)

Yeah, it's almost a wash. And after.

B (9:15)

This week it's probably not going to be.

A (9:17)

Probably not would be my worry.

B (9:19)

So he says that he, he calls that his final category to eliminate a contender is not quarterback play. It's the guys who get overlooked. It's the dudes in the trenches. So who do you think ends up as by these criteria in this order? His super bowl matchup.

A (9:37)

His super bowl matchup is the Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions.

B (9:43)

It's the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks.

A (9:46)

On the Seattle Seahawks.

B (9:47)

Okay. It's. It's a Broncos Seahawks super bowl by these guidelines, which I found very interesting. And I'm not, I'm not mad at Douglas clausen and cbs sports.com and I don't think you should be either. I just do think it is a level headed sober look at where the Bears stand based on the actual numbers right now over a larger sample size and the actual trends now it certainly injuries are going to be a big part of this of who are the Bears when we say the Bears. Because it's not just the C on the side of the helmet, it's who's out there. And a lot of these are contingent on getting some players back. And that's what brings me to the next point here today.

A (10:38)

Let me real quick. Let me just let you know that the, the Bears are actually a plus four in sacks. They have 24 sacks on defense. They've given up 20, so they're a plus four right now.

B (10:47)

Okay. All right. Well good. Let the rest.

A (10:49)

You know and I'm not upset about actually I like, I like when people put statistical work and some analytics into what they do in looking at teams more than just opinion. And this obviously is an opinion as well too. And based on the order which you do that. But I've said this all along. I think the Bears are a team that will make the playoffs, can actually win a playoff game, but they're not winning a Super bowl this year. So this isn't saying anything that, you know, I guess I just don't like anybody talking shit about my team. But I don't disagree. Right. I can, I can say all I want about my team, but I don't have any issue with the bottom line of where this guy came because I feel the same way. I'm just, you know, I'm just doing it in a, in a different manner. That's.

B (11:31)

It's interesting because my conclusion was. I was nearly identical. My conclusion was. Okay, yeah, that. That makes sense. That makes sense that it sort of felt like they were. Their record maybe wasn't exactly indicative of where they were and that that that brief fleeting time when they were at the top of the NFC felt like. And I think I said it. Celebrate it while you can because it.

A (11:56)

Was there for a week.

B (11:56)

Yeah. But, but we did, you know, and I hope you did enjoy those things when you can because you don't know where, where any of this is going and we don't know what quarterbacks are going to get hurt and, and what is going to happen in these, these remaining handful of games. You know.

A (12:11)

And it's also interesting too looking at the, the good fortune the Bears have had at this at this year during this year at times. One of those good fortunes being the release of CJ Gardner Johnson and the fact that Kyler Gordon probably isn't playing the rest of this year. You have a guy that is more than capable to replace Kyler Gordon. Now I think Kyler Gordon is a better player overall, yes. But he is a much more, much more suitable replacement than an average guy on the practice squad or that was on the roster before he was. He was brought in.

B (12:44)

There's no question he's one of probably the best street free agent mid season signings that we're going to. We'll reference that the CJ GJ is going to be a guy who we think about later on. I remember it was what Jason Peters, who was the Bears sort of stalwart left tackle for. For a lost season when he was out on his, on his fishing boat. That was before the season, you know, and somebody probably would have signed him at some point. But. Or was that one game in. I think it was. I think it was actually may have.

A (13:15)

Been one game in or before. Yeah.

B (13:16)

But. But to Be close to the middle of the year and be like, hey, there's this guy. What do you think? He's out of work. Let's bring him in. That's pretty special.

A (13:25)

It is special. And depending on how this season ends, that'll be a higher degree of specialty or not. So wait, we'll see. We'll see where it goes. But that's one of the, one of the things that we can look at this year and say, that was a good fortunate bounce for the Bears.

B (13:39)

Something else that I'm noticing this year, that coming from the Bears as we start looking at the injuries here and what they're going to do this week is how good the Ben Johnson regime is. The Ben Johnson administration is really good at withholding injury news. If you think about it just sort of. It just. It may be my feeling this year, but it just seems like usually you would hear something and then it would leak or the player would say something because the player themselves is not bound by HIPAA regulations. Right.

A (14:14)

They can talk about themselves all they want.

B (14:15)

The patient can say whatever they want according to those laws. And usually you'd find something out. Yeah, I tweaked this or. Yeah, it's going to probably be a couple weeks. This thing's on lockdown, man. That we don't find out anything. And that's why we were. Go ahead.

A (14:30)

No, no. I was gonna say, do you think that it has part to do with the fact that the injury report is so lengthy and has been for so long now that they're. They're just putting guys on there that are getting rest or guys that maybe just, you know, are tweaked. Have tweaked something but are fine and they could actually go like, it seems lengthier this year. We talked about this earlier in the year. Like, does it seem like the injury reports are longer and lengthier than they have been in previous years?

B (14:54)

It may be. But my. The. The cynic in me would think that that is a function of legalized gambling, that that's really. That's really all that is. And I don't know if that also has to do with the, the quality of the. The embargoing of injury news, just how. How well they've put up some of those shields. But the fact that. How long has Roma Dunze had a stress fracture in his foot?

A (15:23)

I mean, at least two or three weeks before we knew that he did. Right?

B (15:26)

Minimum. Yeah, minimum. Minimum. And then it causes us. The trade off that you make is you get speculation. We have to read Every comment and the tone of every comment from everyone involved for portent. And so yesterday. So when Ben Johnson yesterday talks about Kyler Gordon and says, yeah, no update after the game, it didn't look good. And you're like, oh, boy, that's. There's. There's all kinds of. Of adjectives we can use. You know, that there's. Whether it's. You want to say that it's chilling or ominous or dark, whatever you want to say. And then you look at it. It didn't sound like Kyler Gordon is going to be counted on to be a part of this team.

A (16:16)

Yeah, it doesn't sound like that at all.

B (16:17)

And I don't think they're hiding information from Ben. I think Matt Johnson knows. I think he knows everything. I think he knows everything the moment anybody else knows it. Unless, you know, Gordon was actually in an MRI tube and they were waiting for the results when he was talking, which is possible. That happens, but I certainly didn't like the sound of it. And when it comes to a Dunes A, say what you want about his drop off in production and whether or not it was injury related to they. They need him on the field. Their passing offense is not the same without what. And their run game isn't the same without him because of what he does. He missing him is a. Is a really big deal.

A (16:56)

No, I agree. And I think it was weird when Kyler Gordon was in the MRI tube that Brian D. Was in there with him. I thought that was strange. He was just laying on top of him and I, I thought that's weird. That's an interesting approach to it. Yeah.

B (17:09)

Like, you're fine.

A (17:12)

What are you doing in here? Get out of the tomb.

B (17:15)

What are you doing in here? Don't worry about that. I like it in here.

A (17:20)

And then Cam Scatterboo pops in.

B (17:22)

Hey, dudes, what's up? It's whether or not he's been playing with a stress fracture. I don't know how you can play on one. I don't know how a doctor can determine he's not going to hurt it any worse by playing. And it's just a pain thing.

A (17:44)

Unless I would imagine an insert, you know, in the shoe, something to help, a little extra protection. And, you know, again, we discussed this and I said that it was not a relief that he has it, but a relief to learn there was something there because his production has dropped off in the passing game. So it was like, all right, well, let's get this taken care of while. And I would have preferred honestly with the stretch of games as it laid out that he was back and playing these final five games. You know what I mean? That would have made, that would have made me a little more comfortable as a Bears fan.

B (18:16)

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A (20:32)

You should save over $200 a week.

B (20:34)

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A (21:25)

I think, I think overall then I think we're. We're definitely in the. I think we're us. Yeah.

B (21:29)

I would say. And we could do it. We could go back and find out. I think we're probably up.

A (21:34)

Yeah.

B (21:35)

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A (22:40)

But he's no, I don't have it. I wasn't able to get it downloaded.

B (22:44)

He said that his words were sit and wait.

A (22:48)

Yep.

B (22:49)

That what you do to a guy like Sanders is make it difficult for him to decide where to go with the ball. You don't necessarily want him out and on the move and clutter his field of vision, force him to in real time with a front four rush to throw it into coverage. So it goes against the general rule of NFL defense, which is with rookie quarterbacks, come get them, heat them up, heat them up, heat them up and make them nervous, make them drop their eyes. And yet I was looking at his performance against the blitz and it's. It's bad. He's got like a 44 rating against the blitz and he always finds himself ending up with a pressured throw against the blitz. But what also has to be factored in is the fact that over the last game, that last game, couple games, the more he's played, the better he's gotten against the blitz. So the question is then, is, do you, do you bet that he's at an inflection point where he is just getting better at it, that he's recognizing things better and he's understanding his hot reads? Or they've simplified things or the, you know, Kevin Stefanski has been able to say, look, this is what we're doing here. Don't get crazy. Here's where they come from. And you run into him with a strategy against a rookie at just the time he's starting to figure it out. Or do you think, no, no, it's, it's too small a sample size. He's still a rookie. It's just a couple of games. The that that old rule is of thumb is always going to hold true here. Blitz a rookie, make him miserable. The conditions are going to be bad out there. Go get him. And I'm not sure the answer because if you're missing Kyler Gordon, you don't really have your best blitzer. Your best blitzer now might be C.J.

A (24:57)

Gardner, Johnson, it might be. And the Browns have given up 35 sacks on the year. So we mentioned a few minutes ago the Bears have given up 20. So we can kind of put that in relation to your brain, what that looks like. So 35 sacks, almost twice what the Bears have done. Dan, this would be an opportune time for the Bears front four to have a game. And I know that Montez Sweat has had a sack in the last six, six games at least. I know he stepped up just a bit. This would be a really good time for the bears to get 3, 4 sacks in a game to really put a lot of pressure. And even if it's not getting sacks, it's creating those hurries making him uncomfortable. We heard from Matt Miller yesterday, talk about Shador Sanders has gotten better in timing and rhythm of what Stefanski wants to do in his offense. They do a lot of similar things where he has a lot of motion, they do a lot of play action. And if he is getting more comfortable in the timing and rhythm, it would be a really good time for the Bears to get there with four. That would be really helpful if you can get there with four and then have your defensive back sit in those pockets and still wait for maybe one of those flutter throws or pressured throws or tips or tip throws and create some damage that way. With a turnover, that would be significant. If they. If, like, if there's a game to have a game, let's step up, have a game. That or this weekend at Soldier Field.

B (26:16)

Well, look. Yeah, that's always ideal.

A (26:18)

Yeah, I know. Of course. Of course it is. Of course it is.

B (26:20)

You. You always want your. Your front four to handle your business, and then you can cover everybody. It's like having an, you know, extra guys on the right, but they just.

A (26:27)

Haven'T been able to do that. Like, let's have one game. Like, if we're gonna do it, let's do. Can we do it one time, Please. Can we have a game where the front four is, like, making a huge difference in a game?

B (26:36)

Well, especially because they're still licking their wounds from some bad blitzing last week.

A (26:43)

I mean, that's, that's, that's. That's a. That's a different character you're talking about.

B (26:47)

But I know it is. You're talking about a veteran and you're talking about somebody who is accurate and is also. Jordan Love is. I'm trying to see who the comp is about the. Some of those backpedaling throws.

A (27:01)

Yeah.

B (27:01)

That he's really able to get. He does not have to have his feet set and perfect mechanics. He made a few where he was kind of falling away, but is still able to get it to his guy. Hell, Jake Hutler did that a lot, actually.

A (27:14)

He did. No, he did, for sure. Yeah. And I think with Sanders and what we heard from Matt Miller yesterday, I know that he's gotten better in the rhythm and the timing, but he's also not a quarterback that can drift backwards. He doesn't have the strongest arm. And if you get him drifting backwards, get him uncomfortable and dent that pocket, you can create some havoc there. And whether that's through blitzing an extra guy, sending one extra guy, or through, you know, a miracle of a significant game by your front four, that mean they really can do a lot if they get after him. So we'll just. Again, it's gonna be a great time for the. For the front four to make a difference in a game. Yeah.

B (27:50)

And this is one you just, you gotta have. I, I don't want to get too cute with anything that they do. This. The strategy for this game, and somebody could argue it is for every game, but this is one where there's no style points. It's gonna be zero degrees. You know, what is it? Negative 10 they're saying now.

A (28:12)

Yeah, for sure.

B (28:13)

So whatever you gotta do to just finish that 60 minutes with more points in this one, you can get on to dreaming your bigger dreams and having another big Packer week and all that after the fact. But I don't care if it's ugly. I don't care what you got to do. I'm, I'm not, I promise on Sunday when, when we're sitting here doing forward progress and I'm sitting right here and, and we're talking about, boy, the, you know, the, the Bears, you know, we're able to check that one off their schedule, have it not be a loss. Basically, I'm looking for loss avoidance. Yeah, I hear you more than anything this week.

A (28:48)

And The Browns are 29th or 30th in the league in yards per carry from the rushing game at 3.8. So you know, the Bears can have a game on defense in this weather. You know, they can go out, they can, they can make something happen with that defensive line. And also to keep in mind that earlier in the year, Green Bay traveled to Cleveland, lost this game. That was a pretty ugly game, pretty brutal game. You talk about, you know, check one off your list and nothing spectacular. That's exactly what that, that game looked like. That was a really, I remember watching that game. It was, it was bad, bad football to watch.

B (29:19)

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A (32:42)

And one thing that should help the Bears this weekend too, Dan, is the special teams play for the Cleveland Browns, which is one of the, one of the weaker units in the, in the NFL giving up yards as far as the net average on punts, on kickoffs. It's a, it's a great opportunity for a Bear special teams unit to have an impact on field position for this game when it's going to be an ugly cold weather game.

B (33:08)

Can we talk some college football or.

A (33:10)

Yeah, I would love to. As long as we're going to talk about Notre Dame and Michigan.

B (33:13)

Well, let's start with Michigan. So this news Crosses late yesterday that Michigan head coach Sharon Moore was fired for cause because of an inappropriate relationship with a staffer. And immediately we start with the memes and the jokes and the comparisons. I don't know. Did you see the. The stepbrothers meme that had them in. In the Mel Tucker and Sharon Moore in the pose.

A (33:44)

Yeah.

B (33:45)

Of stepbrothers, you know. Oh, boy. And then we hear that there was a situation and there. It's still very sketchy right now is all we know is he is currently in jail, that Sharon Moore was arrested outside of Ann Arbor there. And we don't even know exactly what the charge is right now.

A (34:13)

I haven't seen anything.

B (34:14)

And what I found interesting was initially the report said detained, and then it said detained and jailed, and then it said arrested. Now, what I heard from a source, the wording was that in the immediate aftermath of the firing, what I have from a source here, and I gotta find it the way it was worded directly, it says threatening to harm himself and others was the phrase that I heard used. And obviously something escalated from there because there's a difference between a confinement, hospitalization or institutionalization for one's own good, for one's own protection than there is to actually be behind bars, to be sought by police, picked up by police. And there was multiple police jurisdictions that were involved here that ended up finding him. So the details are really sketchy at this point. But what I do know is this went from, like, rolling your eyes, what's wrong with these coaches, and making the jokes about it and not being able to keep it in their pants and everything. Thing, you know, we went through here with the Bears assistant coaches under Matt Eber Fluss, where he kept losing guys for being perverts. And then what happened with Mel Tucker, and now you're, well, here we go again. But it's clearly worse than that. There's clearly something else going on right here. And what got very strange, if you missed it this morning, help me out with this. Adam Schefter went on ESPN earlier and said, we haven't heard from Sharon Moore. We haven't heard his side of the story yet. And Schefter said Moore or people close to Moore were telling him that Moore thought that Michigan, quote, had it in for him, unquote, and was, quote, out to get him, unquote. And then he said he used had it in for him. Again, I have no idea what that could possibly mean relative to the facts that we know.

A (36:34)

Yeah. And I don't want to. I don't want to speculate on anything until there's more, More stuff that comes out. But if he was fired for cause, for violating school policy with having an inappropriate relationship with another member of the staff, that, that there's nothing there. There's nothing, there's nothing gray about that that says, well, they're out to get me, or, you know, they've always had it in for me. There's nothing there that speaks to that.

B (36:58)

Right. That's what I was wondering. That. That makes no sense to me.

A (37:01)

Yeah.

B (37:01)

Unless. Unless someone would be accusing you of staging some sort of complicated entrapment that involved sending some secret agent disguised as a staffer to lure you into being caught in flagrante delicto just so they could fire you for cause and get out from under your contract because you lost to Ohio State. I mean, let's. Come on, man.

A (37:30)

Yeah. And if it was, let's say it was some big ruse and some big scam and they were just setting him up and it wasn't true or accurate, you don't end up being arrested later that day. No.

B (37:40)

Unless the cops are involved.

A (37:42)

Right.

B (37:42)

I mean, so, you know, and I'm, and I'm more. I'm more confused by Schefter's reporting.

A (37:48)

Yeah.

B (37:48)

Really was. The point that I'm making was to go out and say that. To say, hey, you know, we haven't heard his, his side of what. What?

A (37:57)

Well, I have. What I would have asked Schefter. Then why do you. Why haven't we heard his side of the story? Oh, that's right. Because he was arrested.

B (38:05)

I. It's, it's very, very strange to me and, and, and upsetting that if. I don't know if that's one phone call from an agent, and his, the agent for Sharon Moore is a guy named Thayer Evans who's based out of Austin. So this is not one of these. It's not Jimmy Sexton, it's not Trace Armstrong, it's not one of the names that we know, but it's. It's a guy who works for coaches rep. Yeah, that's, That's a new one for me.

A (38:37)

I mean, I haven't been involved in it for the last several years, but yeah, it's a new one for me.

B (38:40)

Yeah. Thayer Evans. They're a married couple, a husband and wife team that represent coaches and administrators.

A (38:49)

Okay. You know, and then as I step back from the whole situation and kind of processed it a little bit and a little bit of what I read last night, shroud Moore is only 39 years old and he has a wife and I think at least three daughters, if I remember reading correctly. Three kids at home.

B (39:05)

Three. And one relatively new.

A (39:07)

Yeah, like dudes got a whole lot of life ahead of him, you know. So I hope that whatever. What I'm not, I'm not excusing any of his behavior at all and I'm not wishing for any less consequences to happen to him because I think he deserves every negative, difficult consequence he has to face based on his own decisions and behavior now. But he's only 39 and dudes got a lot of life ahead of him. And you know, outside of what he did, I hope he isn't involved in anything criminal because this life stuff that you've destroyed and the people you've hurt, you can recover from as a person. You can recover and grow. You're a 39 year old man. There's a lot of life ahead for you. And again, and I don't want to diminish or take away any of the consequences that he deserves, because he deserves them all this is his own doing if all this stuff is accurate and true. But he's 39 and has got a lot of life ahead and hopefully he gets to a point where he can say, man, I fucked up and I need to start fixing things, starting with myself. And he's got, he's got three daughters, he's got a, he's got to repair relationships with is if his wife never wants to see him again, God bless her, you know, that's, I, you know, if she wants to forgive him and whatever, whatever might, might take place there in their relationship, that's, that's all on her. And if she never wants to see it, it makes it harder for him to be, you know, a father again. He deserves that. Those were his actions, his choice. But you know, outside, more than just the football stuff, man, he's got a life that he can, he can still live at 39 years old. There's, there's, there's a lot of life ahead for him and I hope that he can get himself in the right direction and I hope he has good people with him that are, that are there to say, you fucked up. It doesn't mean I'm not gonna be by your side. And I hope he doesn't have just people there going, well, they were out to get you. And you know, this is unfair what Michigan's doing. I hope he, I hope he has the other side of that too in his life.

B (41:05)

Yeah. And I also say That I feel terrible. There are a lot of people at the coaching industry who are watching something like this, especially in the. After what happened with Mel Tucker, so near geographically.

A (41:22)

Right.

B (41:22)

That it's. It's. I don't want this. And it basically. Because I know it will be though. And everybody knows that it will be a setback for black coaches.

A (41:33)

Yeah.

B (41:34)

And it sucks that the actions of an individual end up being broadened to affect people's judgment in the future, but it shouldn't happen. But I think realists out there know that when things like this happen, it's bad for everybody who's rooting for more representation and more equality when it becomes reflective of your player base and your culture and your larger community. To have something like this happen is a. It's a setback in. In some larger ways as well to more than just the Michigan program. And, you know, and I'm already seeing people like, who's going to coach Michigan? The new coaching derby is on. And we're already seeing some of these names. I'm not there yet.

A (42:25)

No one should be there yet.

B (42:26)

It's.

A (42:26)

It's story's not even a day old and we don't even know all the details.

B (42:29)

We don't know what's happened. We don't. And we don't know, especially when there's. When there is a possible, you know, there. Well, there we can say there is obviously a criminal aspect to this. He's been arrested. Right. And there's a law enforcement aspect to this. And we don't know when some of this stuff started. Was there any kind of criminal investigation that had anything to do with this before the firing or was it just his reaction to the firing or conflict after the firing that created the initial involvement? We do not know. And nobody is saying anything right now. So.

A (43:09)

Yeah. And you know, to your point there, it's just. It's too bad that. But it's. It's also not surprising if that's a reaction about. About black coaches in college football or in sports in general. Because it just shows. As far as we've come from a race perspective in this country, we haven't come far enough.

B (43:27)

Oh, no.

A (43:27)

Because you still have setback.

B (43:29)

Yeah.

A (43:29)

You. It still keeps getting set back and.

B (43:31)

Yeah.

A (43:32)

Current, you know, current things happening. It still gets set back. It still is being set back. But you can have white coaches involved in sexual assault scandals and, and abusing and hurting and sexually abusing children, and it just. It just. It's not the same type of impact where this has and it just.

B (43:49)

You've got people still wearing Joe Paterno buttons. You've got a whole. You have a whole segment of your board of trustees and the powers that be pulling the levers at Penn State University. Did you see that? Terry Smith, the interim who was wearing the 409 button, they made a huge show of announcing that even though they've got Matt Campbell coming in, they're keeping this guy, they're keeping the assistant. And you know why?

A (44:21)

Oh, I read comments from Matt Campbell. I don't know if those are true, genuine comments of his own, you know, volition, or if it's like, hey, you want this job, this guy stays too.

B (44:32)

You know what's going on there?

A (44:33)

And that's not.

B (44:33)

That's their.

A (44:34)

That's not good.

B (44:35)

That's their spy. That's the Joe Bot Spy 100.

A (44:39)

And that's. That's the. That's the Brian Kelly, LSU thing. Like, why would you do that to yourself? Why. Why would you come into a major football program and say, sure, I'll keep some of the old guard around because you guys want to spy on me.

B (44:51)

Those knives have been sharpened, and they're in a drawer right now. Those knives are ready for Matt Campbell, right when the Joe Bots want him out. When the Joe Bots feel he's not Penn State enough and doesn't worship at the altar of Joe Paterno enough, Terry.

A (45:07)

Smith will be there.

B (45:07)

Those knives will come right out of that drawer. But you know what? I'll tell you what will happen. Terry Smith will be involved in getting him fired, but he will not get the head coaching job. They'll give the head coach. You watch how they work. You. You watch how they do it. But just. Just keep an eye on that. I mean, he might for a period of time, but if he won't be.

A (45:29)

The head guy, you just.

B (45:30)

You watch how that works there.

A (45:32)

He'll never have that interim tag. And then we. We've also talked about Pat Fitzgerald and his. His move now at Michigan State. And, you know, we talked about that. Why would you hire Pat Fitzgerald? And it's a culture guy. And yet he had a toxic, destructive culture at Michigan State stay at Northwestern, right?

B (45:49)

And you're still coming over victims.

A (45:51)

Yes, I know. I know, dude. I know.

B (45:54)

And not to mention, when you start really looking at the Harbaugh culture about what was. What Harbaugh fled and what he left there. We know he's a great coach, brilliant coach, but you had the. What was it, the recruiting issues during COVID the sign Stealing the whole sign stealing thing. And then you had the assistant coach who was in. You had to fire because he was in your computer system, like pulling pictures of student athletes. Right. Of women.

A (46:26)

Yeah.

B (46:27)

You had all those things happen under Harbaugh. This guy was a Harbaugh guy. And I'm not saying you can tie anything directly to Jim Harbaugh, but whatever the culture was there, whatever remaining Harbaugh connected culture was there. Not good.

A (46:42)

No, it's not good.

B (46:43)

Yeah.

A (46:44)

Have you been better off?

B (46:44)

This whole Michigan man. Michigan man, starting over act like Bo Schembechler, you might be better off doing a further and more complete fumigation of why some of this stuff was all happening there. And what else you got to clean out before you start over again at Michigan.

A (47:01)

Have you watched that sign stealing documentary about that. That coach? It was really. I think you would enjoy that. So add that one to your list. Yeah, add that to your list.

B (47:09)

It was.

A (47:09)

That was really entertaining.

B (47:11)

Well, the.

A (47:12)

The latest of the things I'm going to give you that you'll never watch.

B (47:14)

No, that's not true. That's not true. The latest info that we have that Sharon Moore remains in police custody.

A (47:22)

Okay.

B (47:22)

As of right now, apparently Dan Wetzel is saying that no decision has been made as to whether Moore is going to face any charges. According to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office, they say the matter involving Mr. Moore remains under active investigation by law enforcement. We do not expect charging decisions or an arraignment today. He remains in custody at the Washtenaw County Jail. Says few details regarding the basis for the detention have been released. He will continue to be incarcerated as the investigation continues. Okay. And it's unclear. This is Mike Florio saying. It's unclear how long it can or will last. At some point, the authorities presumably must decide whether to proceed with charges or to release more or. I would say if they believe he's a danger to himself, it wouldn't. It would be to release him into some kind of protective custody. A protective hospitalization would be. That's. That's my addition to that. So as we were discussing yesterday, all the stuff that's going on with continuing the fallout with the Notre Dame decision to go forward in public with everything that they feel has been done to them as they cry about being wronged. Did you know about this deal that was made?

A (48:55)

But. Yeah, I mean, I've. I've read about it, yes.

B (48:58)

Okay. So I did not know that there was a deal that was cut between Notre Dame and the college Football playoff that assures them. This is according. This was Ross Dellinger at Yahoo. As part of a memorandum of understanding signed by CFP officials last spring. Notre Dame will be assured of making the playoff if it's ranked in the top 12 starting next year. So had that been the case this year, the Fighting Irish would be in the 12 team field. They cut a back room side deal to say that they're automatically in the playoff if they're in the top 12.

A (49:50)

Yeah. That's an absolute joke.

B (49:52)

Can you believe that?

A (49:53)

Absolute joke. Yeah, I can believe it. I mean, titled assholes, but it's, it's an absolute joke.

B (49:58)

So this is from Dan Wolkin of Yahoo. Athletic directors are threatening to freeze Notre Dame out of future schedules because of these reports about Notre Dame's preferential playoff access beginning next season. Athletic directors are growing tired of Notre Dame's special treatment. They don't see much reason to help the independent earn a place in college football's postseason.

A (50:24)

Yeah, good. I'm glad. Hope they all freeze them out.

B (50:26)

Wow.

A (50:28)

Yeah, you can play all the, all the shitty teams you want and then you can, you can go undefeated and not go anywhere with it because, I mean, it's, it's just, it's not right. It's not fair. You know, they're not the only team that can make an argument being screwed this year. You are not better than any other college football program in this country. Why do you deserve special treatment because you're Notre Dame? Well, I've never liked Notre Dame. Even before being in sports radio, I've never liked Notre Dame. I. And now this stuff is just. It's even worse. Even worse. Like, so, oh, you know, we're going to strike a deal because if we're ranked in the top 12, we deserve to be in. Okay, maybe you do, but you didn't get in. There's other schools that deserve to be in too. Texas. Well, you could have made an argument for it.

B (51:08)

Let the record show they struck this deal before the circumstances of this year.

A (51:14)

That it's still a joke. It's all a joke.

B (51:16)

And if I were Notre Dame, if I were arguing their case, if they hired me to argue their case, what I would say is money that they generate attention, television ratings, they sell tickets because they're Notre Dame. And because there are polarizing feelings that whether it's the way you feel or the way the die hard Notre Dame fans feel, they make it more likely that your game is going to be seen consumed by more people.

A (51:50)

See, so that's A great argument. And I would have agreed with you had this season not happened. Because I thought for sure that they were getting in based on that reason alone. Based on the fact that they draw an audience and that they would have people go and buy tickets and travel to watch wherever they played. I thought for sure they were getting in. I didn't feel they deserved to be in this year. I thought they were getting in because of that reason alone. The fact that they didn't do that really surprised me and it also made me very happy. I like your argument, but I just think if that was really the argument, that would work. That would have worked this year already.

B (52:22)

I think that is a completely reasonable rebuttal. However, I don't think we have heard the last of the Notre Dame crying, nor the reaction to the Notre Dame crying. And man, if in fact, this becomes a scheduling cold war. Yeah, I just want to watch it play out.

A (52:43)

I do, too.

B (52:43)

I would love to, to see. Because you know what, you can always schedule games. Just got to pay for it.

A (52:51)

You got to pay for them, right?

B (52:52)

So if, if Notre Dame says, hey, well, you know, we make all this money for you, and they say, all right, well, great, show us more of it.

A (52:59)

Yeah, I mean, I can't wait to watch Notre Dame play. Yeah. Yeah, let's see Illinois State next year, Western Michigan, maybe East Eastern Illinois. Those are fun matchups. I'm sure Illinois and, you know, all those other schools would be happy to.

B (53:13)

Play Notre Dame or so if there's some of these bigger teams and they start getting desperate for scheduling and they don't want to schedule all of. All of these directionals that they may have to say, all right, well, we will guarantee you a certain payout from this game if you schedule us.

A (53:31)

You know, and I. And we can have this discussion another time, maybe next year during college football. But the whole idea of these early games in early seasons where teams are winning 77 to nothing. I get it. I get how it benefits those small schools and the money and the attention that they get. I understand all of that. I just don't like it. I don't like it. There's absolutely no reason for a school to go into another school and have. And have a team be 45 point favorites. Like, who does that really benefit? What does it help you?

B (54:00)

It used to benefit back before everything was completely interconnected, before transfer portal and nil. It would benefit the smaller schools and the players on the smaller schools, the coaches, to have that kind of exposure.

A (54:13)

Sure, I get it.

B (54:14)

To get a Little bit of attention. And if there is an upset or if you play with them for three quarters, you can say, hey, we hung in with these guys. But you don't need that anymore.

A (54:20)

No, you don't need anymore.

B (54:21)

Nobody's invisible anymore. Nobody. Nobody has to be placed on a, you know, in this environment to say, hey, who was that kid on Appalachian State? Or who was that kid on.

A (54:33)

Yeah, because now that kid can go there and you can pay him all the money he wants. And yeah, it's not needed anymore.

B (54:38)

They know who that kid is. They don't know who that kid is since 8th grade right now. There's no secrets anyway, right? For sure. I know your gift giving pattern. You don't know that I know it. And it's going to scare you how well I know it, but I do. So what you do is you're saying, this year I'm going to be thoughtful. And this year I'm going to look at all these commercials that have all these perfect gifts and have all these emotional reactions. And then you say you're going to do that and you don't. And you know what you do? You buy a gift card and that's it. And you rationalize it and you end up buying a gift card and you're like, all right, well, I got that out of the way. Don't do that. This year. You still have time to actually be thoughtful and it's easy. And we're going to make it easy for you because of the Aura frame. This is a lovely digital picture frame that allows you to find a personal gift for the people to whom you're closest. Because especially if you have these pictures of kids or grandkids or special moments together, maybe people with whom you vacationed and you can show that perfect picture with the ocean behind you, you get to add these pictures on there. You can do this before the gift arrives. You can personalize it, you can add a message, and you can put these pictures on there and maybe you're getting it for yourself. That's cool, too. But anybody getting this can. Pictures can be shared all the time, all year long. It's all through the Aura app, just connected to WI Fi. And every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box with no price tag. You can't really wrap the idea of togetherness or family, but with aura. And you can frame it for a limited time. You can save on this perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off Aura's best selling Carver matte frames. They've Been named number one by Wirecutter. Maybe you've seen them elsewhere. You know, you. If you see it's almost definitely an aura frame. If you see one and said, oh, look at the, look how beautiful that looks. And look at the quality of the photo. Go to auraframes. A U R A frames.com and use the promo code DBU for Dan Bernstein unfiltered. It's just three letters. It's a U R A frames.com promo code DBU. It's exclusive to you for listening frames. Sell out fast. Order yours now to get it in time for the holidays and you can mention us at checkout. That always does well for the show as well. Terms and conditions apply. But once again, a U R A frames.com promo code DBU.

A (57:16)

Hey, if you're enjoying everything we have here in 312 sports, starting with DBU and forward, progress and organizations win championships. Make sure you get the 312Sports app. It's available at the Apple App Store on Google Play as well. You can send us audio messages. You can message into myself or to Dan as well. Lots of great rewards there. We currently have Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, Giordano Smash Burger. The promo code on those is is Bears. B, E, A R S. Bears.

B (57:43)

Bears.

A (57:43)

Just Bears. Get the app, do it now and then register so that we can connect with you as well too. One other area of community I want to share with you is if you're familiar with the app Reddit, the online community of Reddit. One of our longtime listeners and his friends Schmutzy started up a community for us called Bernstein Unfiltered on Reddit. There's about a thousand people that have joined in there now and communicate and hang out with each other. Yeah, I jump in every week so often and share some messages and thoughts. And if you are familiar with Reddit, go ahead and get in there Reddit and check out Bernstein Unfiltered. Actually, you know, you've seen the three one, two T shirts that we have that we, that we both have worn. The actual 312 sports T shirts. I have one of those earmarked for a contest we're doing right now in Reddit. So go to Reddit, be part of the community and then participate in what we're doing. And I'm going to give one of those away next week. So again, if Reddit is something you're familiar with, I was not until this show. It's a very interesting community, but it's just a way to connect and to be with other people that share similar interests as you burn seed unfiltered is the Reddit community that you can find. So go ahead and do that. And one other thing, if you have not checked out our friends at Lucy yet, you know Lucy. We've talked about Lucy for several weeks now. Their products are 100% pure nicotine, always tobacco free. They come in pouches, gum and breakers. Have you checked them out yet? Now their breakers are the pouches that have the burstable flavor capsule inside you can crush anytime for an instant burst of hydration and flavor. Lucy products are available in a variety of flavors like mint, wintergreen, apple ice, mango, berry, citrus espresso, apple cider, cinnamon and pomegranate. There is definitely a flavor there for you. Now if you're looking for a tobacco free product that delivers that kick of nicotine you need for an extra boost in your day or something to help take the edge off, Lucy products has exactly what you need. So let's level up your nicotine routine with Lucy. Go to Lucy Co DBU. Use the promo code DBU to receive 20% off your first order. Lucy has a 30 day refund policy. If you change your mind, you can even set yourself up with a subscription and have Lucy delivered straight to your door. So don't wait. Order your Lucy today. Whether it's gum, pouches or breakers. Use promo code DBU for 20% off your first order. Go to Lucy Co DBU right now. And here comes the fine print. Lucy products are only for adults and of legal age and every order is age verified. Warning. This product contains nicotine and nicotine is an addictive chemical. But go to Lucy Co DBU right now.

B (60:11)

I'd like to wrap up with this. And this was something that I learned today that can be added to the list of examples that the bowl system as we know it is beginning to circle the drainage. And we know that it is because of the playoff system and everything else. And there's a couple of bowls that have decided, as this all spins into irrelevance, to try to embrace the silly. And I give a lot of credit to the Pop Tarts bowl and the Duke's Mayo bowl and the famous Idaho Potato bowl for making it kind of fun and goofy and being able to rescue a little bit of marketing meaning from this whole receding tide of bowl games. Did you know that where Michigan is is slated to play? Do you know in what in what bowl they're headed to this year?

A (61:08)

Isn't it the Cheez its something bowl?

B (61:10)

It's not the cheez it something bowl. It's the cheez its citrus bowl.

A (61:18)

Ooh.

B (61:19)

Yes. That was my response as well. I love Cheez its.

A (61:24)

I do too. And I love citrus.

B (61:25)

Yes, I do too. But that's a. That that's a. That's a weird one that Maybe somebody knows something I don't. But your reaction is exactly. I would say. Wait, I had to read it twice. The. Yeah. Cheez its citrus bowl.

A (61:42)

Yeah.

B (61:43)

The only time I want anything resembling citrus or fruit, like I understand like raspberries or fig jam on a brie that there's a place on a cheese plate for certain fruits. If you start telling about like but citrus and. And sharp cheddar cheese.

A (62:07)

Yeah. Yeah. They might as well just do the ketchup on your hot dog bowl next.

B (62:12)

Oh, no. Gee, now you've done it, Mattie. You've really stirred everyone up with that. You're going to make everyone so angry.

A (62:24)

Angry.

B (62:25)

Yep. Well, let's. Obviously by the time we reconvene tomorrow, we're going to know more about what's going on with the ugly Sherwin Moore situation and maybe more about Bear's injuries as well. But that's going to do it. For today's dbu, Dan Bernstein, Unfiltered as always, brought to you in partnership with my bookie, Dan Bernstein.

A (62:47)

Unfiltered, unfiltered on 312 sports.