Chicago Bulls: Think Big or Stay Irrelevant

Summary

Podcast Summary

Dan Bernstein Unfiltered, 312 Sports

EPISODE: Chicago Bulls: Think Big or Stay Irrelevant

Date: April 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered fixes its sharpest lens on the Chicago Bulls and their ongoing search for a new executive leader—emphasizing the urgent need for a bolder, more ambitious approach to rebuilding the franchise. Dan Bernstein, joined by his longtime producer and conversational foil, takes listeners through the Bulls’ chronic underachievement, contrasts with other NBA organizations, and sounds the alarm: unless the Bulls break old patterns and “think big,” their global brand risks remaining permanently disconnected from on-court relevance. The episode also ranges into related Chicago sports and some lighter pop culture banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Bulls' Front Office Search: Mindset and Stakes

• [01:12] Dan sets the table: Bulls’ executive search has begun; titles and specific candidates aside, the outcome—and attitude behind the hiring—matter most.
• [02:00-03:55] The need for a bold undertaking from Michael Reinsdorf. Personal loyalty to Artūras Karnišovas is understandable, but “business is business”—winning must trump comfort.
• [04:02] “Watching the Eastern playoffs is making me crazy with how much time and effort the Bulls have wasted being bad and stupid and mediocre. It can't be that hard to make this team better.” (Dan Bernstein)
• Comparisons drawn to other improving or recently improved Eastern Conference teams (Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks)—the Bulls have “no excuse” given resources and brand.

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2. What Winning Teams Have—and the Bulls Lack

• [05:52] Dan breaks down the NBA’s “homogenized” modern strategies. The blueprint isn’t mysterious: “Everybody is going to play some kind of basic three-man pick and roll into a five-out offensive set... It’s not that hard.” (Dan Bernstein)
• Rim protection, length, talent depth, and adaptability are cited as key gaps for the Bulls. “How have the Bulls gone this far without actually caring about defending the basket? … That is making me crazy.” ([06:30])

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3. Culture and Process Problems: Legacy of Reinsdorf Ownership

• [08:07-13:28] Critique expands to Bulls’ consistency in process failures and why Bulls’ ownership style under Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf hasn’t kept up with NBA evolution.
• “His dad doesn’t care about basketball.” (Dan, [10:49])
• “The difference between baseball and basketball is the global nature of the game… you have a literal world of talent out there. And you’ve got to be better about beating people to the punch when it comes to identifying what you need.” (Dan, [11:28])
• Nods to pioneering global scouting—once a Bulls strength under Jerry Krause with the Tony Kukoc era—but now a missed opportunity. [12:25-12:45]

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4. The Need for Scale, Transparency, and Talent

• [08:07-10:07] Dan argues for spending both ambition and money—if it takes “five people” to run the front office right, so be it. “Change the way you do business. Change it.” (Dan)
• [14:07-15:39] Importance of a broad, modern basketball operation: scouting, analytics, cap expertise. “Don’t compound mistakes by sticking with them.”
• [16:15-16:42] On assessing young Bulls talents: caution against overrating one good night (“where’s my poster machine? And there’s Modest dunking. I don’t know if he’s any good… Is he a star? We don’t know.”)

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5. The Critical Importance of the Next Moves

• [19:27-20:09] “The Bulls can’t make mistakes this year… If you fuck up this draft, you’re setting yourself back… now you’re asking where are we going to be in five years.” (Matt)
• [20:09] The franchise’s global power vs. local mediocrity: “[It’s] a crime that they remain this irrelevant.” (Dan)
• The NBA’s shifting draft structure means teams can’t just “be bad until you get lucky”—the need for smart, aggressive talent acquisition is urgent.

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6. Organizational Lessons and Ownership Blindspots

• [13:28-14:15] Bulls’ loyalty culture—good for employees, “a great place to be a high-level bureaucrat”—is contrasted with more ruthless, effective organizations.
• Example: Knicks’ ownership (James Dolan) is toxic, but “they hired Leon Rose and put together a really good team.”
• [19:27] Risks of blowing coming draft picks: the rebuilding timeline can stretch indefinitely.

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7. Building a Modern NBA Front Office

• [17:23] Any new leader must have power, resources, and the latitude to bring in their people—ideally blending scouting, analytics, and cap/contract savvy.
• “You can have a math nerd, bring one in, and have a basketball person or two right next to that guy who just… can walk into a gym and say, ‘like that guy.’ That’s still an art form.” (Dan, [22:36])

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8. The Disconnect: A Global Brand, Local Irrelevance

• [21:45-22:00] Story about the Bulls’ global popularity and the embarrassment of their competitive status:
  • “Every single person [abroad] said 'Bulls or Michael Jordan.' There is no excuse for the Bulls with their economic strength, with how well known they are, with the business they can run, consistently being this irrelevant.” (Dan)
• [22:52] “Watch these NBA playoffs... It’s not this hard right now. Michael Reinsdorf: go big.”

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9. Scouting: The Art and Science

• [22:36-23:50] Dan makes the case for blending analytics and intuition: “You need the science, you need the art… You gotta have both of it. How can you lack so much of it for so long?”
• [24:00] Nostalgic sidebar: Bernstein’s tales of sneaking glances at practices under Jerry Krause’s curtain at the Berto Center.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the current urgency:
  • “Don't screw it up this time. Go big. If you have to hire five people after all these interviews, you've got the money. Don't let money stand in the way.” (Dan, [09:07])
• On culture and learning from mistakes:
  • “It’s a great place to work… but are these teams consistently playing the same game as their competitors?” (Dan, [18:55])
• On long-term risk:
  • “If you fuck up this draft, you’re setting yourself back another season or two.” (Matt, [19:56])
• On global brand vs. on-court reality:
  • “If we had a fan graphs for what you've done to the actual quality of the sport you play relative to the power of your global brand, the Bulls have to have the biggest gap in that.” (Dan, [22:08])

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10. Other Topics & Sidebars

• Brief dips into White Sox attendance, cheap tickets, and why Chicagoans should still enjoy affordable MLB baseball. ([37:34–39:35])
• Mild lament about modern baseball broadcasts and annoying graphics ([40:59])
• Pop culture digressions: “The Devil Wears Prada 2” ([51:51]), “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” sequel ([55:58]), and celebrity-commercial “Iraq poing” critiques (notably, Tim Howard’s awkward Jim Beam ad) ([59:01]).
• Running jokes about podcast merch, awkward hugs for listeners, and life as a Chicago sports fan.

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Important Timestamps

• Bulls executive search, context, and Dan’s main thesis: [01:12]–[04:00]
• NBA modern strategies and Bulls’ roster-building failures: [05:52]–[08:06]
• Historical and current Bulls organizational malaise / ownership style: [08:07]–[13:28]
• Front office structure and risk of mistakes in player evaluation: [16:15]–[22:36]
• Global brand/local failure, critical draft, and required urgency: [21:45]–[22:52]
• The importance of blending art and science in scouting: [22:36]–[23:50]

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Tone & Style

The conversation is classic Dan Bernstein—direct, impatient with excuses, laced with biting humor, and dense with specifics but not wonkiness. There’s a mix of world-weary affection and growing hope, as Bernstein roots for the Bulls to rediscover their old ambition, warnings of irrelevance at a time of NBA transformation. The presence of a co-host softens some edges with personal anecdotes and a touch of levity.

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For New Listeners / Bulls Fans

This episode is a must-listen for any Chicago sports fan frustrated with the status quo—the “inside job” at the Bulls and the futility of decades-long mediocrity. Bernstein offers not only catharsis but also concrete ideas for organizational change. Expect blunt talk, sharp analogies, and a healthy dose of skepticism about both ownership and quick fixes. The show blends basketball intelligence with fan emotion—and is never afraid to call bullshit on inertia.

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Key Takeaways

• The Bulls’ current moment is a pivot point—settling for incremental change is unacceptable given global expectations and the NBA’s shifting talent landscape.
• Ownership must “change the way you do business,” investing fully in a modern, multilayered basketball operation.
• True improvement requires bold hiring (potentially multiple high-level execs), a blend of analytics and scouting, and the will to admit and quickly move on from mistakes.
• The pain of the Bulls’ irrelevance is heightened by the contrast between what the brand means globally and what the franchise delivers locally.
• Chicago’s sports landscape is full of lessons—both mistakes to avoid and (rare) successes to emulate. Local fans deserve more.

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Memorable Closing Thought:

• “I'm venting today… It just, it kind of built to the point where it started to piss me off that a team that's still really important to me... shouldn't be bad, they should be good at the very least. And I think it's possible to get them there—if there's somebody who can walk in and start knocking things over in those offices.” (Dan Bernstein, [24:00])

Transcript

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[Dan Bernstein]

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[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Dan Bernstein Unfiltered Unfiltered on 312 Sports

[Dan Bernstein]

DBU on 312 brought to you in partnership with my bookie and today also by Aura Frames A u r a frames.com promo code db you the bulls are advancing with their search for a brain trust. Their search for a whatever we want to call it, the executive VP of Basketball Ops. I don't know if they're going to call it a basketball president. I think they're going to have to figure out the titles here when it comes to the people that they're deciding to interview. But I do know the first round is done and the names aren't going to mean that much to you at this point because we know that these are executives who are part of winning organizations who are interviewing, which they should be. But the I keep thinking that the mission statement for Michael Reinsdorf and the Bulls right now, and we discussed this a little bit here and a little bit also on owc if you want to check out the newest edition there of that just came out yesterday. But to me, what matters is the size of this effort. I want Michael Reinsdorf, as difficult as it was for him to get to this point and we had to keep reading and hearing about from everybody close to him, publicly and privately. I should add too about well, this was just so hard for him because of how much he likes Arturis Karnashovas and just likes him personally. Great. Whatever. That's fine. I don't need to hear any of That a business decision is a business decision and your, your personal friendships can be unrelated to that. Whatever it takes to get this team on track to winning a title is what I'm interested in. Especially watching these NBA playoffs. And it's making it worse for me. It's making it harder for me to know how far away the Bulls are. When I watch these teams battle each other, teams that aren't even going to win the title, I don't think the Cavaliers are going to win the title. But watching the way that they were playing, watching star players that they've acquired and star players that they've drafted, watching them dial up their defense, seeing what is going on with the Magic and the Pistons and just watching these teams in the Eastern Conference, I don't even have to look out at. I mean, I know you're not going to get Wemby, you're not going to get Cooper flag right now. You're not going to look at what some of the, you know, you're not going to get LeBron James and Luca. But just looking in the east about reasonable these, the fact that you've been outstripped by the Magic. Come on. Like that shouldn't happen.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

They look at the Hawks even too

[Dan Bernstein]

well as, as, as Jason brought up in OWC yesterday. Getting rid of Trey Young is always a good move in my world. I've never, ever, ever liked his game. It's always pained my ass. And the Bulls, actually, that's one thing they did really well, was generally do a pretty good job and it was mostly an IO Dasumu thing, but it did well against Trey Young. But you all of a sudden just get better at basketball because defense can matter and because it changes the way you switch screens and you don't have the, the total empty calories of a player. They're just stuffing the individual stat sheet. But watching the Eastern playoffs is making me crazy with how much time and effort the Bulls have wasted being bad and stupid and mediocre. It can't be that hard to make this team bad better. It can't be that hard to realize what other teams are doing. There really isn't a secret here. Everybody's running the same offense. That's the other thing that's crazy. There are little tweaks here and there. Obviously there are things that, that some teams do a little differently with matchups, and that's clear. But for the most part, as you watch these NBA games, the homogenization of actual in game strategy is remarkable. And it's, it's One thing that where if you can watch college and people love that styles make fights and in the NCAA tournament you can have a team trying to slow it down and try to dump it into their big guy.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

They have.

[Dan Bernstein]

There are some with more isolation or more passing. So some zone defense and man defense. In the NBA right now, at the playoff level that we're at right now, just the first round, but with how good all of these teams are doing similar things generally, almost everybody is going to play some kind of basic three man pick and roll into a five out offensive set with movement, trying to get those corner jumpers, trying to get those corner threes, penetrating pitch, rotate, reverse corner three, three pointers, dunks. Sure Oklahoma City's a little bit different, but everybody, everybody's got the same basic stuff. It's not that hard. You don't have to reinvent anything to be a really good NBA team. You got to have a depth of talent, you've got to have length, you've got to have some interchangeability. And my God, you got to have rim protection. I don't know how the Bulls have gone this far with just not caring about actually defending the basket. Well, even when the Bulls were good under the Karnashova's rebuild, they didn't care about protecting the rim. That's one thing that is making me crazy. And it doesn't have to be spectacular. I'm not talking about just the number of times last night Jared Allen went over and was wiping away shots at the last second, but just the idea of dissuading some of these attempts. The idea that if somebody breaks past that first level of perimeter defense, it isn't a cakewalk where right to the lip of the rim. I'm not going to go all Norm Van Leer and hard fouls and tell you what, knock guys out of the air, I don't mind a little bit of that, but just have a people there who care about guarding the rim. So as Michael Reinsdorf is pursuing this. Go big. I don't want to come out of this. It was so hard for you.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I.

[Dan Bernstein]

My best friend and I love all these people and my God, this tortured soul that was so. Didn't want to fire anybody. Well, you did. Now what? Now what? I actually think that hiring two people last time around sounded really cool. The fact that, oh, they got Arturis Karnishovas and Mark Eversley. All right, well, these are two people with track records and then they just didn't work. I don't know what anybody did. They Never talked. There was no transparency. They. They went behind the curtain and like the great and powerful Oz, and there they were. And all we could do pretty much was judge results and no one said anything. And Arturis would do an interview here and there where he would say the same things and, you know, admit that there were certain basketball things that were important to him that they were working on. But it was continuity and competition and continuity and competition until everybody kind of ran by you, literally and figuratively. Don't. Don't screw it up this time. Don't screw it up. Go big. If you have to hire five people after all these interviews, you've got the money. Don't let money stand in the way of what you want. And when we start to hear that the Bulls are interviewing, of course, they interviewed Matt Lloyd. Everyone loves Matt Lloyd. Matt Lloyd, smart guy. GM of the Timberwolves. But the president of the Timberwolves apparently is interviewing with the Mavericks. That's Tim Connolly. That's Matt Lloyd's current boss. How is he interviewing for Nico Harrison's former job? And the Bulls are interviewing the guy underneath him. Like, I want you to target people, and if somebody in your meeting or this search firm, Turnkey, dkq, whatever it is, and then they say, well, you can't get that guy or you're going to have to offer him a bigger title, then do it. Well, that's not the way we do business. Then change the way you do business. Change it.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I'm wondering why you think it's gonna be different this time around.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I. The point is, last time around, they didn't do it the wrong way. They went completely outside the organization. They did hire two people who had experience and track records with better organizations, and nothing really came of it.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Right. And I think that the. The pattern of how Michael Reinsdorf has learned through his father, we saw that on display with his last regime. And I. And I think there's. There's a history and a pattern to that. We've seen it in baseball. Well, and we've seen it play out a little bit here in the Bulls.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, his dad doesn't care about basketball. That's the thing. And his.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

But, but, but, but the pattern of what he's learned how to run it is what he's learned.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I'll tell you how to run it is you've got to invest in it. You have to invest in what other teams are doing. Analytically. You've got to increase your overall bandwidth in those offices, and you may have to Completely revamp your scouting.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Right, Dan? And we talked about that within the White Sox and within the Bulls. And we saw that what happened within the Cubs and what happened when they brought Theo in and what feels his first steps when he walked in and said, hey, it's not 1980 any longer.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, how do we do business? And the difference between baseball and basketball is the global nature of the game. There are other countries that play baseball, but every country plays basketball. And you've just got to get better. You've got it. You have a literal world of talent out there. And you've got to be better about beating people to the punch when it comes to identifying what you need, how you need it, from where are these people coming? When are you beginning to scout them? And it's funny because it was the Bulls that pioneered worldwide scouting. Jerry Krause started doing this when he, he, when Tony Ku coach was a secret. Think of that. Think of the idea of somebody that good playing overseas. That, that good could be essentially a secret. And we would watch grainy film. Ooh, look at this. This is coming to us via satellite link up from the other side of the planet in Hugo Plastica and this, Yugoslavian this and this, Czechoslovakian that and the countries that don't even exist anymore. And now these kids are wearing Derrick Rose T shirts when they're four and you can't find them.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Right?

[Dan Bernstein]

Like, come on, man, you know, this is you. You've got to be better at everything. And it's going to be expensive, it's going to cost money to get yourself where other people are. But it's, it's not that difficult. And they're not as far away as they seem. And the Bulls make it out like this is just. It's like pulling teeth to get to this phase and this stage and this. Look at the current playoffs when every squad out there has got shooters at every position. Everybody is 69 and can run and they can defend the basket and they can switch screens and they can play defense like the, like the, the Seattle Seahawks.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Right? But when you have a guy who doesn't know basketball making basketball decisions, that's a problem. When you have a guy who's learned a pattern and history of being too loyal and making poor decisions within the self evaluation of your team itself. That's just a pattern that I think will continue. Look at the Bears. And I'm not saying that the reinsdors need to sell, then reindors need to get out of it. But you know, people of years old, McCaskeys need to go. The Bears will never do anything until McCaskeys go. No, but you have a guy in Ben Johnson who's in charge. Let other people be in charge. Like, you can't not know the sport and then be the guy to make the decisions.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, they did that, though. That. That they just picked the wrong guy. In Carnage Showvis what I don't know.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

That's the thing.

[Dan Bernstein]

But what I don't. Well, he was. He was. But I just don't know how limited he was as far as resources go. I don't know how limited he was with. With the. The actual rubber meeting the road of what information is he working with. Where other teams have more or better information because their information gathering is better and they have more people doing it. And they have more people who know how to maximize the net that you can cast globally to have control over the entire talent pool in a way that. That understands how to evaluate talent, how to develop talent and. And more importantly, how to economically husband your assets to have more shots at acquiring that talent. Like all of this has to be looked over here. And it's just making me damn crazy watching other Eastern Conference teams get better, faster. And there's no secrets in the NBA in large part. Keep taking shots, keep getting high draft picks don't compound mistakes by sticking with them. I'll take the blame in large part on Patrick Williams. I'll take the blame. Bad pick. Wrong guy. Should have cut bait sooner, Dan.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

They extended him.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it's. They should have cut bait sooner. And that's. It's also why I am holding in abeyance my opinions on these players. And this was very clear. This is. In. I'm not. We have a tendency as Bulls fans, and this is part of the problem, too, is just loving who's good that day or who's good that night. And everybody comes out like, yay, Modest. Hooray. We get so excited. And where's my poster machine? And there's Modest Duncan. I don't know if he's any good with.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

When it.

[Dan Bernstein]

And. And they don't know if he's any good. They thought he was. Maybe he is. He's from here. He tries hard. He's a decent player. Is he a star? We don't know.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Is he a superstar? But here's the thing.

[Dan Bernstein]

How long.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

How long do you need to.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like what.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

How long is the Runway to determine if a guy's a superstar? Yeah. In today's NBA, you know, or he's not.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. This is a You, you know that

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

this is a franchise changing superstar. When you see the guy play, well, he's. Right now.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, he's, he's not. And he's unlikely to be. And Josh Giddy, Josh Giddy's really, really good, but is unlikely to be that as well. So as you're talking to these people and as you're finally getting some honest outside answers, maybe you need three guys out of this process and not one. Maybe you need three people and maybe you need to create three job titles.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I would start with the right one guy and let him decide.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's fine.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Get the right guy in here and then get the fuck out of the way and let him do his job.

[Dan Bernstein]

But if that guy tells you that, if that guy says, hey, I got people I'm going to need with me, you're not just hiring me that great.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

How many offices do you need exactly?

[Dan Bernstein]

And you can look at it from the names that they're talking to. If you're, if you're going to bring in Dave Lewin from the Celtics, that's fine. Okay. And he's a cap guy. He's an, he's an economist. He's an NBA economist. You gotta have that. But you also need scouting side people. You gotta have, if you're gonna, if your main guy, you gotta counterbalance this. You've gotta put together a front office that's got all of it. You definitely need scouting side, you definitely need analytics side. And, and somebody who can look at a cap and, and whatever the rules are and know the contracts and know the cap and know where your flexibility is and you don't lock in. And if you, if you make a mistake on somebody, that's fine. You're going to make mistakes. You're going to make mistakes with signings, you're going to make mistakes with draft picks. But being able to say, yep, we screwed this up and we got to move on from it, we got to do that. And it's some of the hardest things to do. And the, generally the loyalties, and we've talked about this, the loyalties have been a blessing and a curse for Reinsdorf owned teams. And it's a great place to work. It's a great place to be a high level bureaucrat or, you know, whatever your, your 30 year career in the marketing department, you can, working for the Reinsdorfs, you can have a nice big house and put your kids through college. But are these teams consistently playing the same game as their competitors in the Knicks went and put an agent in charge of everything. That's James Dolan, that's the Knicks. That's toxic ownership. Everybody hates James Dolan. James Dolan is a meddling, annoying, vindictive, thin skinned weirdo. But he hired Leon Rose and they put together a really good team and their best player was a second round pick, right?

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

And you talk about, you know that you're going to make mistakes on signings, you're going to make mistakes on draft picks. But here's the thing and why this is so vital right now is the Bears or the Bears, the Bulls can't make mistakes this year. It's, it's because all it does now, Dan, is it set you back another year, another year and a half. This is the process to start right now where you can look and say, all right, where are we going to be three years from now? And if you it up right now, if you fuck up this draft, two of the top 15. Am I correct?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

If you this up, you're setting yourself back another season or two. And so you're not looking down the road three years and saying, where are we going to be in three years? Now you're saying, where are we going to be in five years? If you this up, yeah, you're it.

[Dan Bernstein]

It might be. This is what sucks, is because you waited this long and because you're still chasing the ghosts of a team that was good for half a season that they got just enough vindication, just enough for that first half of 22 when the DeRozan was healthy and ball and booch and the whole thing. And what did it, it got you nothing. But it was just enough to say, hey, they're competitive and they' and we as Bulls fans, we get stupid and we go crazy. And it's our fault too, because our standards have been so damn low with the way we react to mediocre basketball. And a lot of it is the fact that every night the tourists that fill that building and the number of people that are coming in from again all over the world, the irony, the irony of the Chicago Bulls being a powerful, valuable worldwide brand. The number of people that visit this city from other countries that can't wait to go to the Jordan statue or come to games and watch Benny the Bullet. Everything that they do, drawing people here from all over the world after Jerry Krause was at the, at the vanguard of international scouting. And you let it, you let it die on the vine, Dan.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

At the end of March, you're letting it all. At the end of March, I'm in Turks and Caicos. And I told you I had dozens of people when I said where I'm from, dozens of people. Every single one of them either said Michael Jordan or the Bulls.

[Dan Bernstein]

I.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

And you look, one person said the Bears. Not one person said the Cubs. Not one person said Ryan Sandberg.

[Dan Bernstein]

Because people don't play. People don't play football in other countries. No one has any idea. Ryan Sandberg is another country.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Chicago Bulls. Every single person said, Bulls are Michael Jordan.

[Dan Bernstein]

They are a powerful global brand. Still, that has. If we had a fan graphs for what you've done to the actual quality of the sport that you play relative to the power of your global brand, I would say the Bulls have to have the biggest gap in that. And you can put whatever teams you want to add soccer teams in there or anybody else. There is no excuse for the Bulls with their economic strength, with how well known they are, with the business that they can run consistently being this irrelevant. It's a crime that they remain this irrelevant. Watch these NBA Eastern Conference playoffs and somebody explain if. And I'm. I'm not a brilliant basketball mind. I'm really not. And if I saw. If I look there, I'm not going to tell you, go get Victor Wembanyama. That's not going to. I'm not an idiot. I mean, an idiot. But when every team's running the same stuff, players, half the league gets traded, every deadline, half the league, they're all moving around. Everybody's optimizing their teams for the playoffs because they've identified their needs. They know how they play. They know their matchups. They know who they have to stop and how they have to stop them. It's not this hard right now. Michael Reinsdorf, go big and ask those questions. Why aren't we the Magic? Why aren't we the Hawks? Why aren't we the Knicks? Why aren't we the Pistons? Ask these questions and in front of these smart people that are running other teams, because that's really it. You wait around, you wait around, you wait around. It's ultimately your turn. Well, that's. That's going out the window. The way they're redoing the draft system. You got to be smart right now. You're not going to be able to just bad your way into pick after pick after pick after pick. Find talent, develop talent. Bring in the people who are going to develop talent and who are going to do this pursuant to an ever changing economic landscape. You want to bring in a math nerd, Bring one in and have a basketball person or two basketball people right next to that guy who just can, can, can walk into a gym and stand there and say, like that guy. That's still an art form. And I know that sounds weird coming from me, but I believe in it. I do think there are some people who are better at scouting than others. Who can pick their nose out of a spreadsheet and watch a 17 year old move and go to that 17 year old's house and meet the parents and learn about the makeup of the kid and find out about how hard this person is going to work. Get an understanding of what other people in their family have done athletically that may help you predict how they're going to succeed. All this stuff matters in scouting. You gotta have both of it. You need the science, you need the art. How can you be. How can you lack in so much of it for so long? This. And I'm just, I'm venting today. You caught me on a day when I was, I was just watching a lot of basketball yesterday and it just, it kind of built to the point where it started to piss me off that a team that's still really important to me, that is. And I've kind of gotten back my fandom a little bit when it, when it comes to it. I'm still gonna, gonna, you know, cover the shit out of them and make sure I give you the most honest opinion I possibly can about everything that they do. But it's, it's fun when the Bulls are good and they shouldn't be bad, they should be good at the very least. And I think it's possible to get them there if, if there's somebody who can walk in and start knocking things over in those offices, take those trophies out of your, out of the case for a little while or put some. Like when you remember when Jerry Krause and I. How many times and how, how sort of infantilizing it was to sit in that press room at the Berto center and when they had, we would be there at our little cubicles and there was a. This powered curtain the Jerry Krause would drop down to keep you from watching practice. Then it would. Sometimes they would drop it down and they'd leave an inch at the bottom and I'd be lying down on the ground watching practice. And I did. I watched practice sideways and every once in a while they wouldn't lower it enough. And I knew the player's shoes and I knew who was who and I knew I could tell you which action of the triple post offense they were practicing based on whose shoes were where.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

You know, it's funny, when I was at. At Moody, they. The visiting NBA teams would use our facilities for practice. So if you're playing the Bulls, you came and you practice at Moody. It was a great. It was a brand new facility.

[Dan Bernstein]

When I got there, I bet you could sneak in through a back door and.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Oh, dude. Oh, I. I knew the ad, so I got to go in and watch a lot of stuff. He was. He was cool with us.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's great.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

The only. There was. There was one team, one coach that would not allow anyone near the practice facility and would close it, would close the windows off.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was a Pat Riley.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

It was Pat Riley.

[Dan Bernstein]

Of course it was.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

He would not let anyone. And we're. I mean, I was a freshman in college. You can't watch. And so they'd cover the windows, wouldn't let anyone in the building.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

They had to be approved to get into the building. And this was our athletic facility where. Yes, the running track and bad. You know, and racquetball courts were, you know, so if I wanted to go work out, you couldn't do it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Didn't take me long to guess that one, did it? No, yeah, yeah.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I didn't even finish the sentence. And you guys.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, no, of course it's Pat Riley. Yeah, yeah, because it meant. Because they might have been putting in something brand new for that game. They. They could have said, all right, we're gonna off of made baskets. We're gonna show them escort pressure up until the third quarter, and then it's gonna be full blown. So I want you. And then we're gonna. We're gonna drop into a one three one or whatever. Like, they don't want you to know that. You can call somebody. You can tell, hey, they're practicing out there today.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

But. But yeah, who was I gonna call? Isn't it called Phil Jackson?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Phil, it's Matt from Moody. Hi, Matt.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm at.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

How are you?

[Dan Bernstein]

You know, whenever the stakes are high, my bookie is where you turn bets into bankroll. There's always a big matchup on the schedule. Everybody's watching, everybody's got to take. And no matter the sport, the props can be just as fun as the final score. And that's why my bookie is for you. The My bookie prop board is deep and fun to play. Player performances, game milestones, everything in between. The kind of action that keeps things interesting all game long. So if you ever want to get in get in. Like I say, if you've been, you know, watching all the basketball that I've been watching, one account, one wallet, all at MyBookie AG, everything's there. So if you want to bet the spread, parlays, money lines, live betting during the action, there's some real opportunities in there when you start to see. And I was, you know, I like watching these lines move, especially when Cleveland looked absolutely moribund at halftime last night, and it looked like then. And then they're like, they kind of started to hit a couple of threes, and then the defense picked up, and then you realized, oh, gee, Ingram is hurt and out, and Scotty Barnes is not himself. And if you realize these things before the numbers start to move, that's called opportunity. So go to MyBookie AG, use the code DBU. And then your first bet is covered up to 500 bucks. If it doesn't hit, use your bet back, bonus token and run it right back. So don't just watch the action. You can make it pay with my bookie. Speaking of watching basketball last night, something really cool happened on espn. As much as I was. I've been ripping ESPN yesterday for not talking about the variable Rossini thing, and they're still not, by the way. And there's. I. I still think that that story is gonna. It's gonna be here a while. There's a. There is more to be uncovered on that story. That is my belief. I don't know how many people are trying to do it, because I don't know who has got the resources to go actually do a lot of the legwork on this one. But if people are motivated, I think there's. There's stuff you can learn. And the usual radio team of Mark Kester and PJ Carlissimo did TV last night. I was in heaven. They're so good. And I haven't listened to a lot of games on radio.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

PJ is very good.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's not. Kester sure is the closest thing. Vocally, he sounds like Jim Durham, after whom I. You know, that was my first real idol. And when I wanted to do basketball, play by play, when I started doing it at Duke, and then when I did it for. For multiple teams, it was because of Jim Durham. Like, he made me love play by play, helped me understand basketball was my template for basketball play by play, I just. Just so good at his job, and he's missed. I also love the fact when he would do simulcast radio and tv, and it's hard to make that transition. It's Hard because you're used to describing everything and doing tv. You're not. You're adding to the picture that's already there. It's a very different job. I've done both. And Mark Kastischer's wonderful has a great sound. Just to me, really good basketbally sound. And when you pair that with the east coast scratchy basketball. PJ Carlissimo, who has a. He's got a bit of an old school sense of the game rhythm of feeling when a possession means more than another possession. And it's not metric based. He's not throwing a ton of numbers at you, but when he does, he's a fire hose with, with statistical information and he'll, he'll bombard you with it in bursts. But he's got a great sense of matchups and spacing and noticing players. He's a great noticer of stuff, which served him well as a coach. But his, his particular style and sound. That whole broadcast last night was just comfort food for me. That, that to me was like the. Just like a red hot ranch double cheeseburger and, and two orders of fries. Basketball comfort. Listening to those guys do a game and you can learn so much getting a, getting a good team. When, when you, when you. Who are these guys?

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Who.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh. And I was like, oh, all right. It's P.J. one of the best P.J. carlissimo broadcasts that I happened to listen to before I went back and watched. He was doing Westwood One for the Illinois Loyola tournament game. That game when, when Brad Underwood got his ass handed to him by Porter Moser. It was PJ who was doing that game. He was sensational. And then you watch it and. But you're informed with some of the stuff he was saying about what could have been done and why it wasn't done in this matchup, in that matchup. So I just, I, I've. I've really been enjoying watching playoff basketball, but that was a particular treat last night. So more of that I would rather more than, than screaming and yelling and, and posing and goofing. There's a time and a place for that. But in the playoffs, I love the hardcore stuff. I love the fact that PJ isn't there for the play play. He's there to talk basketball. It's never too early to think about Mother's Day and what you're going to be doing for your mom, for your wife, for your partner, because you have to get your wife a gift from the kids. And what better gift than pictures of the kids or special Moments with the kids for their mother. What you can do is buy an Aura frame. All you do is you go to auraframes.com and with the promo code DBU, you'll get $25 off the best selling Carver Mat frame. And then you can preload this fantastic digital frame with whatever photos you want. It could be all photos of the kids. It could be silly moments, it could be milestone moments. You can personalize it. The gift box is included. Every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box. No price tag. And then you can share photos and videos effortlessly. All you do is download the Aura app. You can text photos straight to the frame, preload before it ships. Free unlimited storage. This is the app that reached number one on the App Store Christmas Day in 2025. Because so many people love this gift, also named number one by Wirecutter. Save on the gifts moms love right now by visiting auraframes.com and for a little while, just because you're here right now, here's $25 off the best selling Carver mat frame. The code DBU A U R A frames.com promo code DBU. You can support the show also by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. It's a great time to go to a White Sox game too. And I'm not just talking about because they're good. If you're looking at these nights where it's, you know, might be 50 degrees, there's nobody there. This, it's a major league baseball game. I was thinking about this, that don't take this for granted. Don't take for the idea that you can on the secondary market, get a ticket for less than 10 bucks. Go look at what it costs, especially up until game time or whatever it is where you can get on your phone and bing, bing, bing, you're in there and you can walk around or find a seat and go and eat forever in a day. Even if you want to stay for five innings and go home, it's still worth it to get on the train. You go, you walk over there, you go in and it's major league baseball here. There's Mike Trout is on the field, for Christ's sakes. Mike. Damn Trout. And he's having an unbelievable season. Mike Trout's got like an OPS plus like 190. I think he's leading all of baseball and walks right now. So this is.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I think, yeah, I think you're right.

[Dan Bernstein]

If you, if you can go see some, one of the greatest players who's ever lived in 16 years 3, 6, 9, 10, 11 All Star teams. 89.3 career wins above replacement. A career OPS plus of 169. A career OPS of.977. Playing some of the best baseball of his career right now. He's got 10 homers in 31 games. He's got a WAR of almost two. He had one yesterday.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

And you, you can get in there for five dollars. And Tuesday nights it's five dollar concessions for everything. Like I. There's no excuse. I don't.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I don't.

[Dan Bernstein]

Even if you're not a White Sox fan, absolutely empty. What are you doing?

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah, and take advantage of the division being bad because I don't know if I would say they're a good baseball team like you said. But there's. I mean, the division's terrible. They're a game.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I don't think the White Sox are good. I think the White Sox will probably, you know, lose 90 games. But so what? So what? It just. I hope we're not ignoring the fact that there is inexpensive major league base. It costs more to go to some minor league games. It probably.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I mean, you want.

[Dan Bernstein]

If the Savannah Bananas float your boat on your banana boat or whatever, I think that's fine. But I'm not saying that you have to be a die hard Sox fan. All you have to do is like baseball and like food and I just remember when I had little kids fighting, just buying yourself a few hours of letting other things be entertaining. You can put them in the seats and you know what? If they throw a fit, you go home. Big deal. You're not out that much. But I can't afford to do this. I can't. Yeah, you can. You can afford that. I know everything is ridiculously expensive and gas is $7 a gallon and a pound of ground beef is 8 bucks.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Holy shit.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is meat expensive? Oh my God. That is. That's wild right now. So I get it. But that's an opportunity there. And Murakami's fun. And if you go to the game, you don't have to listen to the TV play by play broadcaster either. So.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah, it's funny. CBS Sports, who was it? Matt Snyder. He put out a fun article today about the most fun team, like the most fun to watch team in baseball right now.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

And he had Murakami as the first baseman.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Nico Horner is the second baseman and Pete Carl Armstrong is a center fielder. So three. Three Chicago guys. But that, that's why I turned on yesterday. You know, I had a little bit of Time before the Cubs game started, and they were playing the Angels, and I'm like, all right, let's see what's going on in this game. Maybe I can watch more Commie get a single or a walk or a strikeout or, you know, a home run. You can launch one. And it was a tough watch, and it. It made me feel bad that. That a guy that I love and respect in Steve Stone is. Is there doing it on tv. It's bad.

[Dan Bernstein]

Steve is still great that way.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

He's still great.

[Dan Bernstein]

He's still at the top of his game.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I learned baseball from listening to Steve Stone and watching Steve and Harry. And it's just.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

It's rough. It's rough to watch, man.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm not disagreeing with you. It's. It is rough to watch, but it's. It's. Then just go to the game, and then you don't have to watch.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

And you know what bothered me, too, with the broadcast? What is it? Chsn. Is that what it's called? C S H N chsn yeah. They put a pitch clock, counter, and it's like a white graphic in the middle of the screen, like on the pitching mount. And it's the pitching mound. And it's really distracting. Yeah, I don't like. I don't know why it's. And it's like a big circle that goes around and the number, and it's just. It's really distracting. It's. I don't like it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, okay. So registered.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Anyone's listening. Make a note, please.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, okay, so the. It's different graphics from. They didn't standardize anything because it's not like it used to be with all the Comcast stations or.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

No, because, like, I mean, everybody. You see the clock.

[Dan Bernstein]

And ML MLB owns a bunch of the individual broadcast now, too. So there's probably a best practice. There's probably just a way to do that that is considered the least annoying and do whatever.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Like seeing the actual clock is helpful. Instead of the big graphic in the middle of the screen, or they put

[Dan Bernstein]

it sort of on the back of the mound. Have you seen that? Where they have it soft, where it's not faded up completely?

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah, it was just.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's just too.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

It's too much. But anywho.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, so. So noticeable.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

In other words, here's the bottom line. Get your ass to a White Sox game, people. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

While there's nobody there. And you can have the bathrooms to yourself. And there's no lines for anything. And if you go to StubHub or SeatGeek or whatever your secondary market is of choice, you can get. Go look at what tickets cost.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah, we were just talking about going to a game, taking. Taking the boys because, you know, you park next to the building for cheap and go in cheap and.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, good.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

And. Yeah, I'm going to look and see what the schedule is upcoming opponents to see a guy like Mike Trout come through.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Tough times, by the way, for a former White Sox. As excited as we were during the World Baseball Classic to see a 44 year old Alexei Ramirez playing for Cuba.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Oopsie.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. How do I put this? Alexei Ramirez tested positive for. Metan, Dionone, Oxandrolone and Stinazolol, according to the international testing agency. Yep. Metabolites of those four steroids that. This is not. I took the wrong supplements, right? Nope. This is not. Yeah, I had this. I went to this one specialist and he gave me this powder and I. I'm. I'm recovering from injuries and I just thought this would help me. And I. I didn't know what I was putting in my body, which is always anyway, because all these hotlines you have to call before ingesting anything, but

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

man, they give you a list of things.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know how it works for

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

the wbc, but there's a list of things to avoid. Unless the label said, like super steroid pill.

[Dan Bernstein]

This is. Lighten it up is what this is. This is one where it's like whatever chemical reagent they put in there or a testing strip or whatever it might be. You just come near that little test tube and it's going to whoop. Whoop. Yeah. Mandionone, Oxandrolone and Stinazolol. Well, was it worth it? And these are described. They're saying the steroids are prohibited at all times. They cannot be taken in or out of competition. The statement said these are synthetic anabolic androgenic steroids associated with promoting rapid muscle growth, increased strength and enhanced physical performance. All right. Yeah, there's. That's. That's no gray area here. So. Alexei.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yes, well, they went two and two. Cuba did. And they failed to advance past pool play for the first time in tournament history.

[Dan Bernstein]

It wasn't without trying. They. They made their best effort on that one. Okay.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Well, at least your guy Alexei did.

[Dan Bernstein]

I guess he did. I need to celebrate the apparent demise of Liv Golf. Screw these people. And this is delicious. When it's been so bad, the business is such a loser that even the endless Saudi sovereign fund Is like, yeah, we, we can't do this anymore. The Saudi Arabia's public investment fund has said, that's it. We are done with whatever this was at live golf and Greg Norman and the whole effort and throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at all of these players. And I hope the PGA makes them crawl over broken glass to come back and play.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

They're going to for sure.

[Dan Bernstein]

They offered an amnesty, period. And I think only Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed maybe did too. Fuck him. I don't want him anywhere. Get him, I, I, I kick him out of everything. I hate that guy. But the, all of the, and look, you took your money, you made your decision, you're an adult. And people like, hey, what are you gonna do? It's always a number. A hundred million dollars? Yeah, if somebody offered me a hundred million dollars, you know, there's, you don't know what you would do. You like to think you'd be a certain way. And now they're crumbling and I, I hope that you gotta crawl over the, you know, whatever, whatever. Are those the bones of murdered journalists with those band saws buzzing in your ears as you. I hope they put them through the wringer to come back and play on the PGA Tour, even the Champions Tour, whatever they have.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

He's the only one to return to the pga. Patrick Reed is currently serving a suspension before his expected return.

[Dan Bernstein]

And they, there was an amnesty period where they were allowed to come back. They had until February 2nd to decide. And they put out what they called a returning member program, a performance based pathway. Who. And this is for anybody who had either won the players or any of the majors. So Kepka took it and he was going to eat the penalties. Bryson DeChambeau, John Rom, Cam Smith did not. So now they're, they're saying you, not everybody is welcome back. They said, we're interested in having the best players who can help our Tour. Not every player can do that. So Henrik Stenson, Pat Perez have left, but they're going to the Champions Tour. And I like what Brian Rolapp said, who's now the CEO of the PGA Tour, as he told Wall Street Journal that people on the Tour have scar tissue regarding the players who are part of the lawsuit. He expects that factor to be accounted for because there, you know, past performance, whether a player resigned his membership, whether he played on tour had status, whether he was involved in the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, whether you put your name on that suit is going to matter. And it should. Right.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

They should also have to lick Roy McElroy's spikes, like, clean.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's all. And that actually underpins a lot of the reason why people have been rooting for Rory McElroy. Because he was one of the few who took the open stand, very outspoken against Greg Norman and against how. How wrong this entire thing was. It was ridiculous.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

A lot of shit for that, too, as well as a lot of shit. Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

And you're going to hear the usual death throes of, well, they'll live. Is going to try to regroup and find other investors. Why would other if. If the Saudi investment fund that has almost literally unlimited.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Unlimited money? It's not even almost literally.

[Dan Bernstein]

They have unlimited money and they're like, this is bad business.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

We can't keep the.

[Dan Bernstein]

We're not. We're not doing this. And we keep doing this. We're not going to have unlimited money anymore.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I, I didn't. I didn't deliberately tune in and check out one second of live.

[Dan Bernstein]

Not a moment. Yeah, not a single moment. But I'm gonna. I'm gonna enjoy this as much as I can. I'm going to try to just absolutely eat this up. And I hope you like money. If you. If you made this move and you said all the stupid things and Phil Mickelson said all the things about the best competition in the world. And that was after Phil's like, these are some dangerous people. We're getting into business with some bad dudes over here. Yeah, they are bad dudes. Would you like their money? That's fine. So this, this would be. I would like to make this comically difficult for people to work their way back. How bad do you want it? How badly do you want back on the PGA Tour? And then maybe there was team names. Oh, don't even.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Come on. Yeah, it was.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was a joke. Yeah, it was a joke. Some of us said it was a joke. And finally the people investing in it are realizing that it was not a good investment because it was a joke. The NBA playoffs are going on, and they are easy money right now at my bookie, if you stop overthinking it. And maybe I'm the wrong guy to tell people to stop overthinking things, because I can kind of have a problem with that. But you don't need crazy parlays or spreadsheets. Find a team you trust. And that's why playoff basketball is just right for my bookie right now. You get that clean board, especially, you know, after this round of the playoffs. Here's the other round. You can look, you can see where the injuries are, and then roll. You like the thunder. You like the Celtics. You like the teams built to win. Well, the playoffs will do the rest. And if you're new to my bookie, if you haven't yet deposited, there's even less reason to sit this one out. Because of our code DBU. Any bet you choose up to $500 then is fully covered. So what does that mean? Well, fully covered means you've got a bet back bonus token. When you use the code dbu, then you make that play. If it doesn't hit, you get it back because you've opted in using that bet back bonus token you got with the code dbu. See? Then you pick your squad. You take the shot. Don't just watch the playoffs. Cash in on them. Only at my bookie. Are you going to see Devil Wears Prada, too?

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yes, as soon as I can see it. Yes, I will see it. You're not going to see.

[Dan Bernstein]

Looks bad. It looks bad. I love the first one. Yeah, the first one was great. Oh, the first one is great. And it's all, you know, beautiful people wearing fabulous clothes, and it just. It was such an unexpected, wonderful little movie.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I watched it, like a week and a half ago, Dan. It was. I was like, early Saturday or Sunday morning. I put it on. I was having coffee. Adrian Grenier, who plays him? Anne Hathaway's boyfriend.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Film.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, he's a real.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

In that movie. Like. Like.

[Dan Bernstein]

But he's right, though.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

What is he right about? What is he right about? About not supporting his girlfriend, but never once having her back. The entire film. Well, he's a whiny little. The entire movie. You missed my birthday party. You know what I mean? Off, man. Like, run the up. I got so angry watching it. I never got so angry before at

[Dan Bernstein]

him, but, like, man, what a turd. I. I do think he was correct in. In trying without being too forceful and helping her identify that she was gradually moving away from her ideals. And that's kind of what the whole movie was about, that she. She was becoming what she beheld, and she was being slowly taken over by. By the idea of fashion and competition and everything else when it wasn't why she wanted initially set out to do what she did.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

He's still a bitch.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. He might have also been a I. And what happened to Adrian Grenier? He had entourage, and then he had that, and then. I don't know what happened. Is he. I don't think he's in this.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Is he no, he shouldn't be, because they. They split up. They went their own separate ways. Yeah, but you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Come on. You know what Top Gun 5 would do? They would find some little thread back there and work all the stars back in and do their fan servicing. I'm just worried.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

50 years old this year.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. Yes. He's old.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

They're all old.

[Dan Bernstein]

They're all old.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Oh, there's a. Yes, there's an Adrian Grenier cameo.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

All right, so he'll be in it.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, how old is Meryl Streep? Isn't she close to 80? She's got to be 77.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Oh, that's right. He did a Netflix series about five years ago called Clickbait, which was. Which was good.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

But, yeah, there's a film called trash fire in 2016, which probably is fitting.

[Dan Bernstein]

Probably aptly named. Yes.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Marauders. Clickbait. Clickbait was good. That was actually a decent series to watch.

[Dan Bernstein]

But. So you are gonna. You are gonna go see it? I just.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I'm go see it, definitely. Yeah, absolutely.

[Dan Bernstein]

I also think.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Well, you know what? I gotta. I gotta gotta. I gotta, like, reevaluate my plans on it, because I thought. I thought we'd go with Natalie. I think she's going with. With Girlfriends.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, that's a good movie for that.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah, a very good movie. And I support that. Encourage that. 100. I just don't think I'm gonna go to the theater alone to see Devil.

[Dan Bernstein]

Why not? Going alone's the best.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Oh, no, I enjoy going to movies. I mean, I haven't done it since Top Gun Maverick came out, but.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I just. This looks like it's going to be kind of a paint by numbers. It's just.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Don't do that. Don't do that to yourself. Just go see it. Don't do that. Don't do that.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm gonna go spend $20 on somebody come out and go, eh, great.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

You know what happens if the bulls can make mistakes in draft picks? You can make mistakes and going to see a movie, for Christ's sake.

[Dan Bernstein]

But I don't like their mistakes and draft picks. You know, the last genuinely bad movie I saw that I almost walked out of was.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

It was a good movie, too.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, it was the. The Naked Gun reboot. Oh, that was.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

That was fine.

[Dan Bernstein]

That was. It was. No, no.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was brutal.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

You're wrong about that. Hey, you know what? I saw Natalie shared a story with me a day or two ago. There's a. One of the great rom coms of all time. How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. They're coming out with a How to Lose a guy in 10 days two electric. So it fast forwards like, you know, 20 years and they're, you know, happily married and so. And I'm sure it's me bad, but I'll see that the second it comes out.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. No, I know there are movies that I will see the second it comes out. I just. As much as I like the first one, I think the 20 year wait. And, and now Stanley Tucci is like a major star. So it's, it's different than sort of the, the size of his stardom then is.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

It's funny. Anne Hathaway was doing an interview for the movie and she was, she was asked who's like the most particular or most like, difficult to. To deal with, but not like in a bad, negative way on, on set. And she said it was Stanley Tucci because of his outfits.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh. Because everything had to be just right. Yes. Which I thought was very, very cute. He's very cute. He's the best.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I like it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Have I said this before? I think when we were talking about Iraq poing that I mentioned that, remember we were decrying why Jersey Mike's decided to keep Eli or decided to have Eli Manning involved in that. Because you had the perfect product or service and endorsement relationship with Danny DeVito. Yeah, Danny DeVito and Jersey my day, like he went to the original Jersey mites. He's from New Jersey. He can do whatever you need and with the self deprecating humor and everything else. But that is one of these perfect marriages of spokesperson, endorser, product or service. I will say Stanley Tucci and San Pellegrino. Perfect.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

You know, he's married to Emily Blunt's sister.

[Dan Bernstein]

I did not know that. Yeah, I didn't know that. But. But like his. That when I saw that, when I saw Stanley Tucci and these classy ads for San Pellegrino, it. Perfect.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Perfect.

[Dan Bernstein]

Perfectly worked in that regard.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

But I read a story about Danny DeVito the other day, 1975. Goes in for an audition, walks into a room, all the other actors are there and everyone looks at him because of his. His height.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

And he looks at every single one of the guys and he's like, so I guess you guys are auditioning for the tall guy, huh?

[Dan Bernstein]

Cute.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

And that was it. Yeah. Just kind of, kind of break it off and be like, yeah, all you guys, I'm Danny DeVito.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's right. Step off.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Careful where you step and step off.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

But that's a, that's a. Yeah, that is a good. A good partnership. I I. Stanley Tucci. Yeah. And Pellegrino. Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, by the way, speaking of a brutal Iraq poing. Absolutely. One of.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

One of.

[Dan Bernstein]

Like a new one. A new one.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

A drive by massacre of an Iraq poeing.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Okay. Who was it?

[Dan Bernstein]

Former U.S. men's National Team goalie Tim Howard.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Oh, I didn't. I haven't seen this. What's it for?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know what it's for.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Oh, boy.

[Dan Bernstein]

But there's. They're talking. They're like a backyard barbecue and it's something going on. They're promoting the World cup. And one guy says, you look like US Men's national team goaltender Tim Howard. And he says. He literally says, I am Tim Howard.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Like that.

[Dan Bernstein]

When you need two separate lines, when you need the buildup of this person might be this person you might know. And then the actual person has to say, I am this person you're supposed to know. See if you can find it and tell me that that isn't the most brutal Iraq poing you've ever seen.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

It's not Jim Beam, is it? Is it? There's one here with Jim Beam.

[Dan Bernstein]

Maybe it is. But. But you like that where? I. I mean, I knew it was a familiar face. I knew it was an athlete and it was a familiar face. Where do I know that guy from? And then I kind of like, oh, oh, yeah, okay. I remember that guy. I know. I know who he is. So I needed it. But the way it was done.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah, it's Jim Beam. Soccer legend Tim Howard stars in Jim Beam's World cup effort.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's what it was.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

And I'm looking at a picture. Oh, there's a guy drinking a lemonade. Was. Is he in full goaltender gear, too, with the gloves and everything? And a ball? Because that's the picture that I'm seeing.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

You got your screen up there. You can see.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Is that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, that's it.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Oh, no.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. Oh, they really did them dirty. Yeah, like, that's what I mean. That's the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of Iraq.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yes, it is.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is. They're just like, hey, man, we give you all this money, but nobody has any idea who you are.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Oh, so we're going to put you in a goaltender gear.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Here, put the gloves on, too. Hold a. Hold a soccer ball.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hold a soccer ball. Like he might as well be diving after a penalty Kick as he's talking. Wow, that's bad.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

That.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's really bad. Somebody at the Jim Beam Corporation or whoever owns Jim B. It's just got to say, like, is this money well spent? Really?

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah. Even the. The Saudi people are calling Jim Beam being like, the guy spent a very good money there on that. That was. Oh, boy.

[Dan Bernstein]

Who is it? It's Prince IBN Saad.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I don't know what he wants.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hey, you guys, really, I don't know where you spend your money. If I may, guys. I mean, I love. I love Jim Beam, but if I may on that one, that's. That's a no good. Oh, boy. I don't know if they just make random calls criticizing other people's investment decisions. Anyway, that's not important right now. Uh, what is is if you. This is the last day of April. Is that right?

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yes. April 30th.

[Dan Bernstein]

Last day April. So what that means is your last chance to put in your. Your entries for our prizes on the 312Sports app. The 312Sports app is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play. And when you register your account and then you can use the promo code April. Last chance to put in for RPM Steak in Chicago's river north neighborhood. An updated take in the classic steakhouse. Dinner for two there. Dinner for two at Il Porcellino in the heart of River North. Classic Italian American comfort food. RJ grunts. You know RJ Grunts the very first. Let us entertain you restaurant. Also, there are tickets to see the Wu Tang Clan presents the Final Chamber with Bone thugs in harmony. September 4th at Credit Union One Amphitheater. Just enter the promo code April. We'll announce the winners tomorrow. And we'll have all of the new Reloaded possibilities for you there tomorrow when May begins. But right now, last chance with a promo code April. And I also want to note too, that we have merch flying off the shelves at the pro shop. The 312Sports Pro Shop has got all your 312Sports merch. And we are brainstorming other things, some specialty things, some specialty show apparel for the various pods that we have. But for right now, again, same thing. 312Sports.com. The 312Sports app. Go get your stuff, get your hats, get your T shirts, wear it loud and proud. And I got an email from a guy yesterday who said he bought stuff for his wife. And as I have promised to give you a hug if I see you wearing stuff, he said, he said you

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

don't hug his wife, though.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, he said, let me see if I can find exactly what he wrote.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Even if he says the. If he's encouraging it, I would suggest we don't do that.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I just. Let me. Let me.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Let's. Let's hug. Only the male listeners, please.

[Dan Bernstein]

Wearing three one, two gear. He sent a picture of his wife. Yes. Might get a little weird and even put her name in here, which I'm not going to say, but he said, I have some 312 merch on the way. If you see her out and about in her 312 sports shirt, feel free to give her the biggest, most awkward hug possible. And. And I just said, don't threaten me with a good time. Yeah, don't do that.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Let's not do that.

[Dan Bernstein]

What are you worried about? Are you. Are you worried about me?

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah, I just. Let's not do that. I don't mean to, like, have the show open. Dan Bernstein Unfiltered. Hey, it's Matt about a cola here on Dan Bernstein Unfiltered Filtered.

[Dan Bernstein]

He. Dan was arrested.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah, that's a new show. Dan Bernstein. Officer, can we just do this? Can we just record this one podcast, please? And I'll be right out of the jail.

[Dan Bernstein]

You're coming with me. And you've been remanded to some unknown location. I got the logo holding the bars.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Yeah. 312 jumpsuit.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, that. That's my. That's my prisoner number. It's just three one, two.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

I saw a. I saw a bears something on social media yesterday, and it was Dylan Thieman and Kobe Bryant, and it said that they're going to lock down the three one, two. And I said, hey, fellas, you're not locking down our podcast.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hey, come on now.

[Co-host or Guest (possibly Matt or Jason)]

Unless you want to join it, you can come on the show, but this podcast is not locking us down.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, it's free and available to all, so enjoy it. Yes, it is. And it has been brought to you today by aura [e-mail] promo code DBU for $25 off and in partnership with our friends at my bookie, Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered. Unfiltered on 312Sports.