Dan on His Journey to 312 Sports, What He’s Missed & the Road Ahead for the Chicago Bears

Summary

Dan Bernstein Unfiltered – Episode 1: Dan on His Journey to 312 Sports, What He’s Missed & the Road Ahead for the Chicago Bears

Podcast: Dan Bernstein Unfiltered
Host: 312 Sports
Date: August 25, 2025

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Episode Overview

The highly-anticipated debut episode of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered marks Dan’s unfiltered return to Chicago sports media after five months away, accompanied by longtime friend and producer Matt Abbatacola. The episode is an honest, raw exploration of Dan’s personal reckoning following his departure from radio, his battles with mental health, and a preview of what’s ahead for Chicago sports fans, especially Bears supporters. The duo blend deep vulnerability, old-school banter, plenty of laughs, and their unfiltered takes on what’s happened in Chicago sports during Dan’s absence.

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1. Dan’s Account of His Hiatus: Owning Up and Healing

Timestamps: [00:38], [12:03], [14:54]

• Dan opens up about the events leading to his hiatus:

  • He addresses his actions ("I went psycho on a Twitter troll… it's my fault entirely.")
  • Stresses the value of honesty with himself and the audience, refusing to offer excuses.
  • Shares the difficult process of acknowledging personal shortcomings, shame, and loneliness:

    "Everything that happened to me, I earned...Explanations are not excuses." ([01:12])

• Mental Health & Therapy:

  • Details intensive therapy, not just “anger management,” to unpack root issues.
  • Discusses a prior hospitalization and diagnosis of acute anxiety, OCD spectrum behaviors, and the role of medication.
  • Recognizes his crisis as largely untreated until now, realizing its deeper origins.
  • Emphasizes recovery as an ongoing journey:

    "There’s no mission accomplished sign… I'm never done." ([06:09])

• Impact of Social Media:

  • Twitter specifically exacerbated impulsivity and mental health through what he calls the "dopamine outrage cycle."

    "Twitter specifically rewired my brain for the worse." ([09:00])

  • Pledges to avoid Twitter except for promotional purposes. Moves to Blue Sky for news and less toxic interaction.

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2. True Friends, Life Changes & Gratitude

Timestamps: [12:02], [14:54], [16:37], [18:05]

• Reflection on support and clarity:

  • Dan realizes the importance of real friendship and thanks those who supported him in crisis.

    “You learn who your friends are… and you know the opposite.” ([12:03])

• Gratitude for the new opportunity and old friends:

  • Expresses deep love and appreciation for Matt Abbatacola, the producers, and Hubbard Broadcasting for their faith in him:

    "Matty, I want to thank you. I love you… sitting here, it’s mind blowing." ([14:53])

  • Touching story about getting recognized by fishing enthusiasts—being missed on the air, even by those not fond of his style.

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3. Matt’s Journey: Parallels and Personal Growth

Timestamps: [17:51], [19:08], [20:45]

• Matt shares his own story:
  • Left The Score radio in 2017 in a moment of crisis, needing to rediscover himself outside radio.
  • Admits to outgrowing his ego and losing track of his own values.
  • Spent time raising his blended family, working in sales, and focusing on coaching and fatherhood.

    “I didn’t even know the guy anymore… I needed to get out because I was not going to get on my own journey and still do radio.” ([19:08])

  • Also credits therapy and sobriety (19 months alcohol-free) as crucial to his growth.

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4. The Podcast: Purpose, Tone & Promise

Timestamps: [27:02], [31:06]

• Dan and Matt outline their dual podcast venture:
  • Dan Bernstein Unfiltered: Raw, honest, wide-ranging Chicago sports talk (with “brains and guts and zero pretense,” in Dan's words). Not just sports; includes pop culture, politics, and whatever else matters.

    “There is no stick to sports because sports is part of everything… we’re not gonna shy away from tough topics.” ([32:05])

  • Forward Progress: Bears-focused, launching tomorrow, featuring twice-weekly (and eventually daily) episodes.

    “We are going to dive deep into Bears stuff...yes to everything [guests, experts, etc.], but not forced bits.” ([30:57])

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5. Catching Up on Chicago Sports

Timestamps: [36:02], [39:10], [44:12], [48:50], [50:00]

Chicago Bears ([39:10])

• Ben Johnson hired as head coach; cautious optimism from Dan.
• Ryan Poles extended as GM—Dan’s reaction: “Fine. He hasn’t won anything... he also signed off on the retention of Matt Eberflus, which is nearly unforgivable.” ([39:18])
• On the new stadium talk: Dan always believed Arlington Heights was the end goal, dismisses other locations as leverage plays.
• Dan's bottom line for 2025 season: "I have no idea [if Bears are good], but there is some accountability for the first time. That might look ugly to start, but I will retain a level of optimism." ([42:32])

Chicago Cubs ([44:12])

• Disappointment with the deadline moves: “I wanted them to overpay if they had to… sometimes, flags fly forever.” ([46:30])
• Praises Pete Crow-Armstrong as a standout both in skill and personality.
• Worries about whether the Cubs' season might collapse under Brewers’ pressure.

Chicago Bulls ([48:50])

• Lukewarm: “Absolute ongoing meh… the Lonzo Ball trade for a core meh…I don’t know what they’re trying to do.”
• Observes possible opportunities given the weak Eastern Conference but isn’t optimistic.

Personal Highlight: Pope Bob

• Dan describes the surreal moment of a South Side Chicagoan, Sox fan, named Bob, being elected Pope—one of the few times he truly missed being on air:

  "All I could think was my head is exploding..." ([50:28])

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6. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Everything that happened to me, I earned. And that's okay. And acknowledging that…is immensely important in rebuilding and healing from it.” ([01:50])
• "Twitter specifically rewired my brain for the worse….Bottom line, Twitter's bad for me." ([09:00])
• "You learn who your friends are… you know when people were abusing the idea of friendship." ([12:03])
• "This shock to the system…after five months, I'm gonna look back on this as one of the best things to happen to me." ([14:35])
• "There is no stick to sports... Sports is part of culture, it's part of politics, it's in everything." ([32:05])
• “If you are a superstar, you bounce back [from pitcher adjustments]…and I think [Pete Crow-Armstrong] can do it.” ([48:13])
• “All I could think was my head is exploding…wait a sec, he’s from Chicago. Then it was, his name is Bob. And then it was, he’s from the south side...and there is video of him at the World Series with a Sox hat on. And he’s the Pope." ([50:28])

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7. Life After Radio: Family, Healing, and Simple Joys

Timestamps: [55:12], [56:10], [59:43]

• Dan cherishes a summer at home with grown kids:

  • “Having my son home for three months was helpful... having the same kind of transparency and openness and stuff with family was really good.” ([56:10])
  • Details his son’s journey transferring to Tulane, now mentoring other transfer students, and hosting friends for Lollapalooza.

• Dan and his wife’s spontaneous trip to London—described as a second honeymoon—was a highlight, especially the culinary adventures:

  “We went to the Curry Mile...the Royal Mahal. I want it so hot my ass exploded.” ([61:08])

• Ice cream escapades—Dean’s Peppermint Ice Cream—and tales of multiple post-show dinners, camaraderie, and the small pleasures that carried him through these months.

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8. Looking Ahead

Timestamps: [68:40], [69:05]

• Dan Bernstein Unfiltered will drop new episodes daily, promising relentless honesty and unfiltered takes on sports and more.
• Forward Progress launches tomorrow, jumping head-first into the Chicago Bears’ journey.

“Brains and guts and zero pretense… I hope it’s going to be everything you think it’s going to be and even more.” ([69:05])

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9. Segments Teased for the Future

Timestamps: [36:27]

• “In Memoriam” sports segment—remembering recently lost figures in sports and culture.
• Opening up further to listener feedback via YouTube comments and potential show email.

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Conclusion

Dan Bernstein Unfiltered is back—bringing vulnerability, sharp analysis, and legendary Chicago wit. This debut episode is both cathartic and exciting, offering something much deeper than recap or hot takes. Dan’s journey, coupled with Matt’s, sets the tone for a new, unfiltered era of Chicago sports talk, ready to tackle everything from Bears headlines to the best local ice cream—with “brains and guts, and zero pretense.”

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Listen to future episodes or join the conversation:

• Website: 312sports.com
• YouTube: Search “Dan Bernstein Unfiltered” for episode alerts
• Podcast apps: Subscribe for both “Dan Bernstein Unfiltered” and “Forward Progress” for Bears coverage

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Transcript

[A]

Dan Bernstein unfiltered Unfiltered on 312 Sports.

[B]

Welcome to episode one of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered, a 312 Sports Podcast Network podcast. Well, how did we get here? Matt Abaticola is sitting with me. He is the senior producer of this and the host of others under the 312 sports umbrel. Matty.

[A]

Hey, buddy.

[B]

Hey.

[A]

Here we are.

[B]

We're here. We're here.

[A]

It's crazy.

[B]

How did we get here?

[A]

How did we get here?

[B]

How did we get here? Well, we got here primarily because I went psycho on a Twitter troll. That's why. And I think it's really important as we get started, as I've thought about this, and I can't tell you how many times I've written down notes about what I was going to do and what I was going to say and the number of times I crumpled it up and said, this sounds stupid or this doesn't sound like me. And eventually that's kind of what I decided to do, was see this red light and look you in the eye and look you, the longtime listener, in the eye and just talk. And I think that's probably the best thing we can do. And you need to hear this from me. You do, because you've been with me a long time. You need to hear everything that happened since it first started into the bloodstream and this whole thing started rolling the way it did is my fault entirely. Everything that was coming to me, I have earned, I am facing, still facing the consequences of my actions. It's because of what I chose to do. There's nobody ganged up against me. There's no vast conspiracy here. It's my fault because of my shortcomings. And I've learned a lot about those shortcomings. And none of what I'm gonna tell you about what I've learned is meant to sound like an excuse in any way. Let me say that explicitly. Explanations are not excuses. Everything that happened to me, I earned, and that's okay. And acknowledging that and understanding that is immensely important in rebuilding and healing from it, which is what I've been doing. What has it been, five months? Right? Five months on that start of March. And I immediately tried to figure out like everybody else did. And people ask me, what was that? What happened? Why'd you do that? And I was ashamed, scared. I felt alone, I was lonely. And I felt like I didn't know who I was at that point. And it turns out there were reasons for that, that this had been building for a While. And not just externally, not just talking about you, the longtime listener, or publicly or everything, that. That was social media. We'll get into that, too. It was with my own family. And when you have your kids look at you like, what the hell, dad? What are you doing? This is our house. This is our college education, our livelihood. What are you putting at risk here? A wife of 26 years looking at you like that. And the loneliness, the fear and the shame was a real thing that I brought on myself and that I had to deal with, I had to figure out. So I started in to do that with professional help with my therapist, who I trust implicitly. And so we started out with an intensive. I know there's a. The easy phrase is anger management, but that's not what this was. It's much more nuanced and much deeper and more complicated than just that sort of. The. The retail level thing would be. Would referred to as anger management by impulse control, et cetera. But this was. While it could fall under that category, we were in intensive psychotherapy treatment, not inpatient, but just meeting every day and working through this hour by hour and day by day to figure out what happened, why it happened, what was going wrong. And sometimes, with the benefit of hindsight, over an extended period of time, you learn a lot more than you expected to learn. You remember, and I know you remember when I was hospitalized a couple of years ago, and I talked about this on the air, I talked about on the Score, about when I was diagnosed with acute anxiety and. And being on the OCD spectrum somewhere with some compulsive behaviors. It wasn't true ocd, but it fell under that realm. And that's how they figured out some medications and said, look, take a low dose of Escitalopram. Low dose of. The brand name is Lexapro. I take the generic Escitalopram. And that would be the appropriate way to deal with some of this stuff. I said, okay, fine. And remember, that was about my blood pressure, and I was freaking out about what my blood pressure numbers were, and then that was making it worse, and I was getting into a negative feedback loop where the worry would make the blood pressure bad and the blood pressure would increase the worry. And it ended up mimicking a heart event and sent me to the hospital because they thought I was having a heart attack. And they did an angiogram. They go through and everything. They said, your heart looks pristine. They said, everything looks. There's no clogs, there's no anything. You're fine. This was all anxiety, it was all mental. And we said, okay. So we thought that's what it was. It was just that what we've learned in this ensuing time, what we're learning. I should use the present tense because there's no mission accomplished sign. This is not like you do this and it's over and congratulations, here's your ribbon. You're done. I'm never done. And I'm going to be open and honest with you about that. As this goes on, I'm going to share. The mental health journey is an. I don't have to tell you, Matt, the mental health journey is an ongoing thing. It's part of my life and I've learned that it has been and it's been untreated for God knows how many years and now is being treated. But we know now, I know now that the stuff with the fish, maybe some other stuff leading up to that perhaps was the culmination of a slow rolling mental health crisis that was never really properly addressed because we never got into the actual root causes of it. And it's not necessarily cinematic. You don't get these goodwill hunting moments of breakthroughs where you say, wow, that was it. And now I found these things. It's grad. It's much more like the way the ocean inexorably erodes rock and polishes stones that sometimes you have to see over time and take a snapshot and say, wow, look how far this has come, or look how different this looks now, or how this feels compared to how it was. But we've learned a lot and we've done a ton of work and it has been some stuff going back to early childhood and it's been some much more mundane stuff in large part about, believe it or not, social media. And I've learned that the way for me, Twitter specifically rewired my brain for the worse. And a lot of shitty things that have happened in my career and bad decisions that I've made have been related to Twitter. And you know them, you know they're public and we talked a lot about it in therapy. Why? Why? What has been happening and what was getting worse? Why was it getting worse? Why did it end up like it did? Why did I respond like I did in that moment? And what I've learned is about what clinicians refer to as the dopamine outrage cycle and what happens with the way social media, specifically Twitter, has found a way into that mechanism of the dopamine outrage cycle of little hits here and there and feeding an actual chemical addiction There are ways that your brain starts to crave these things. And when you're on your phone before bed and when you wake up and you grab a tap, tap, tap, tap, or how many like, sir, it is a real thing. And to incite outrage on purpose, insidiously, even for those of us who think we're smarter, those who say, I'm not going to fall for that. I'm smarter than that. You can't get me with your little psychological tricks bullshit. Because there are ways where you don't know what's happening to you. You don't know until you do something crazy that it has been happening to you and that things have gotten in there. Bottom line, Twitter's bad for me. I don't think I need to tell you that. Twitter. Twitter is unhealthy for me. So. Hey, Bernstein, I just saw your tweet. I did. And I'm gonna keep the account. I'm not gonna flush 70,000 followers down the toilet. Cause that'd be stupid from a marketing perspective. So just so you know, sort of where we stand here, I'll do my best to respond to dms because it's people I know and people I follow. I do like to lurk a little on Blue Sky. Blue Sky's become a really good place to get news. There's a lot of smart people. It's a lot of liberal doom saying, and a lot of that. Because sometimes it just makes me tired. And also, I think Blue sky has trouble taking a joke. I wish it were funnier. There's some very, very funny people on Blue sky, but they don't seem to really lean in enough to wanting to be funny. So it's not as entertaining. But it's a good place to get news. And I like being on there. And I think that. That the environment there is certainly less toxic than Twitter because obviously I don't even tell you how much Twitter has made itself worse on purpose. And it's tried to be worse on purpose. And congratulations, it is. So I am going to post stuff there for marketing reasons. Shows and everything that, you know, we're doing things I might want you to know about what we're doing. But I'm not on Twitter. It's not my show, but I'm on that show. I'm going to. I'll put stuff up there, but I'm not gonna respond. I'm not gonna react. I don't read my notifications because it's bad for me. I have a clinical doctor's order not to. So it's been helpful. That's made me feel better, frankly. Not being on Twitter has been really important to me and that's a big part of the ongoing process. Gotta see my notes here.

[A]

Granddad.

[B]

Yeah, well, you know the other thing I've really experienced throughout this. Am experiencing throughout this. Remind me to stay in the present tense. You learn who your friends are. You learn what it means to be a friend. You learn what it means to know that someone is a friend and you know the opposite. You know when people were abusing the idea of friendship, where people were wanted to be friends on their terms or have your friendship mean something to them for selfish reasons? Or when you're a commodity to people, when you're there to help other people make money and you think that you've got people who are actual friends, but you've been convenient for them more than when it comes time to be there for someone else. The smallest things, but I know, I know who was there to say, how are you? Are you okay? The answer was no. No, I'm dealing with the culmination of a mental health crisis. Is the answer to that? No, I'm not. I'm not okay. But I am now. I'm getting there. I'm working on it every day. Every day I'm trying to make sure I'm okay. And I am. I don't want to paint this as I'm not in crisis, but thanks to everybody who has been genuinely friendly, who has been there, who just said, look, I know this is bad, I hope you're okay. Is there anything I can do? Little check ins, little things, you know, and you learn who your friends are. And that's been really valuable to me. This whole process has been really valuable in cleaning a whole bunch of things out. I was working at the same place for 30 years and I was very set in my ways and very comfortable. And I do think that also contributed to the insularity of my own thinking and this shock to the system. After five months, I'm going to look back on this as one of the best things to happen to me. I know it's cheesy, it's trite, but in my case, you know, I wouldn't be saying it if I didn't think it were true. And I. There's people I need to thank. This is an endless list. Matty, I want to thank you. I love you.

[A]

I love you too, pal.

[B]

And I didn't know you'd matter this much. I really didn't. I didn't know that you did matter this much. And to be sitting here, it's mind blowing to me from where we started, from that first phone call, to be here in a custom designed studio back in Prudential Plaza, of all places. Thank you.

[A]

Yeah, of course, man.

[B]

Thank you. This is gonna be great. You know this is gonna be great, right?

[A]

Yeah. Absolutely. No doubts. That's why I'm here.

[B]

Thanks to the brilliant John Goforth, the wise and patient Keith Lawless, and the wonderful Jenny Hubbard for taking this chance, for meeting us halfway on this, for being as proactive and deliberate and careful and thoughtful as they've been here at Hubbard Broadcasting International. Going to the very, very, very top. And I can see why people love this company and love this organization. I really can. So thanks. Just thanks to everybody. Anybody who. Whether it's been an Instagram note or whether it's been coming up to me in the grocery store and just saying, hey, I miss you on the air. The number of people. Are you gonna start a podcast? Love to hear a podcast. Love to hear a podcast. Can you start a podcast? My favorite one. And I've been doing a ton of fishing because I needed to get. That's what I've been doing. Really. I've been having like eight hour fishing days.

[A]

That's not exaggeration. No shit at all.

[B]

I have probably between March and now. I was trying to add up. I'm probably at over 100 smallmouth bass, 12, maybe 200 rock bass. At least 12 or 13 million salmon drum. No, one salmon.

[A]

One salmon.

[B]

I caught one coho.

[A]

Yeah. Because when we talk, when I call you, you call. You're either on the way home from fishing, going fishing, or actually fishing.

[B]

And the number of people that come up to me while fishing, the best comment I got, guys like you, Bernstein. Yeah. He said, man, I have never liked you, but I sure miss listening to you. And I said, what's your name? He told me, and I said, that is the best thing I've ever heard. Yeah. I said, you have no idea how much that makes my day. And I said, if I did a podcast, would you listen? He kind of was like, yes, I probably would. Okay, that's all I need to hear. And you're here, too, after how long out of the business.

[A]

So it's been eight years. Eight years that I left the score. And, you know, I think if people had to put a wager on, like, all right, Bernstein's gonna start a podcast. Who's gonna do it with him? No one would have picked me.

[B]

I tried that with people Close to me. You were all people. Nobody even thought of you. You were so far off the radar.

[A]

Off the radar because I think we go back 20, 24 years now, which is insane to think that I started interning on the show. I was 28 and it's just, it's insane.

[B]

Which is late for an intern.

[A]

Oh, I got it. I was the oldest intern ever.

[B]

No, the guy McNeil hired. Remember McNeil hired his bartender. Seriously, remember like 56 year old guy who smacked their cutting paper, like, who are you? And he was like, I'm Al. Like, what? He lasted like three days and they finally asked like, who's this guy?

[A]

I don't know. So, yeah, we started together 24 years ago. It's just, it's insane. Was the EP for the show for almost 15 years. Yeah, I left in May of 2017. So our show ended in January of 17.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I was there for a few more months and then I just left. I left on my own. You know, I look back on it and I regret the way that I did it because I just, I walk, I walked into, I walked in the office and I just, I quit on the spot. And I said, you know, when this update shift ends, I'm done. I'm not coming back. Had nothing lined up, didn't have anything in radio, didn't have a job lined up. I just, I needed to be done. I'd gotten to a point in my own life where my ego had gotten so out of control. Just bad decisions, personal, professional. I got to a point where I, you know, people, people talk about looking in the mirror, not liking the guy that you see staring back at you. For me, it wasn't even that. It wasn't even not liking him. I didn't even know the guy anymore. Like, I didn't know who I had become, who, who I was. Because I knew deep down inside that my core values and beliefs, that was not the guy that I was seeing every day. That was not it. And I just, I needed to get out because I was not going to get on this own, my own journey that I've been on the last seven years and still do radio. It just, it wasn't going to happen, you know? Do I regret the way I did it? Absolutely. Do I wish maybe I'd stuck around and tried to work through things? Yeah, maybe. But in the end, this was, that was the best decision for me to get where I am today in life. I sit here today as the best version of myself that I've ever been. And I work to get a little better each day. That's all there is, you know, and the gaps between days aren't as. Aren't as significant anymore, which is great. You know, the gaps were huge at certain points early on. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. But I have the happiest life I could ever imagine having. I have an incredible wife. I have a great blended family of five total kids. My daughter, my two boys, and then two stepsons. And the boys are almost 13, 12 and a half. 11 and nine and a half. And it's just a lot of sports and a lot of coaching and a lot of fun things that we get to do. I just, I couldn't be happier in my life. I'd always missed radio. I'd always missed doing what we did. I think part of, part of what I went through at the end of it was the loss of the show, you know, that was. That was my everyday for 15 years.

[B]

Yeah, you mourn that like a death almost.

[A]

Yeah. And I never really thought of that. Never even worked through it or. And it was just kind of like it was just gone one day and my role changed from, you know, executive producer, a senior producer at the place, to just doing updates. And that was, that was a big. It was a jarring move to have happen and I get why it was done and I appreciate the incentive behind it, but I never, I never realized that, yeah, I needed the. To really mourn that, like you said. So I walked away. And what I have been doing the last eight years was I got in sales and I've been doing sales for some really great companies. I worked at adp, I worked at Wolters Kluwer, Worked for a great firm out of Boston called Keystone Partners. Have dear friends I made there that I will have the rest of my life. And then worked for a firm down downtown here called Access1. Just really good people. But I'd always missed the opportunity to do radio. So when we had this opportunity and, you know, the stars aligned in the right way, so many things happen. Obviously, your departure and my. I, So I actually, I reached out to John, John Goforth, who we knew from the score and I knew he was launching a podcast network and he was looking for people with ideas. I did not and you did not. And I saw the message and I said, you know what? I'm going to reach out to him. Maybe, maybe he'll remember me. Hopefully he does. And obviously he remembered me and we got together and we. Through the course of that conversation, we learned we lived in Libertyville. We're both in the same town, so it's like, well, shoot, this is crazy, so let's get together. I had pitched an idea to him. He had said, hey, are you still close with Bernstein? So, yeah, of course we still talk.

[B]

We hadn't talked in years.

[A]

Years, though. But I mean, we would text. I would text into the show here and there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it was no phone calls, no conversations about life. It was just texting about things. And he was like, well, would you mind reaching out to him? I'd love to get Dan and get you and Dan together. So, yeah, I'll throw it out to him. I never thought in a million years you'd want to do a podcast. I just didn't. So that day I meet with John, I go home, I'm on the couch, I'm watching tv. The phone rings. I look over and it says Dan Bernstein. And I'm like, what? No, I mean, you hadn't called me since probably 2016.

[B]

I was up in Libertyville, near Libertyville. I don't want to give away one of my favorite fishing spots, but there is a. I've got a little hidden place up there in an unincorporated area of Lake county where I'll bass fish. And I'm like, oh, okay, I'm up here. Maddie lives up here. And that was in. That was early.

[A]

That was early.

[B]

I was still.

[A]

A week, maybe.

[B]

Yes. I was still really in confusion and mourning mode and intense. Same day. I just finished a two hour therapy session.

[A]

Yeah. Maybe went out maybe two weeks maybe.

[B]

But like I say, the fishing and being in both the literal and figurative wilderness was a big part of my therapy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Actually needing to get outside and stand near water. And it's been immensely important to me in ways I didn't even understand. So I'm driving back, I'm like, oh, yeah, let me give Maddie a call and just talk.

[A]

Yeah. So the phone rings. It's Bernstein. I couldn't believe it. I answer the phone, we start talking. What are you doing? Oh, I'm fishing. I'm up, you know, in your. Your neck of the woods. And I'm heading back home. And I said, oh, it's good to talk to you. How are you? What's going on? Anything new happened lately? You know, let's. Let's catch up. And then, and then Dan says, have you ever, you know, he's. I'm thinking about maybe, maybe sometime down the road getting into like a podcasting situation. Would you ever want to be involved in a podcast? And I'm like, what? I'm like, well, yeah, of course I would. And I go, yeah, you know, let me circle back with you. I might have an opportunity for us to maybe do something.

[B]

But I'm thinking, like, what? What's he talking about, opportunity?

[A]

So we hang up, and first thing I did is I tell my wife and I said, you'll never believe Dan Bernstein just called me. So then I text John and I was like, hey, you're never gonna believe this, but Dan just called me and we like broached the topic of a podcast and then we had a meeting. Within a week, within a week, the four of us got together, me, you, John and Keith.

[B]

And things got very, very real, very quickly.

[A]

Very quickly. Yeah. It was John's vision from the get go to do this together, for us to be together and do this. So that's all that. And now, five months later, here we are doing the first episode of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered.

[B]

It's amazing. As I've explained, it's tested my cynicism, my skepticism about anybody says, oh, you know, things happen for a reason. They don't. That's not true.

[A]

But it's hard to argue that things.

[B]

Happen because they happen.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

We have free will in whatever this constantly shaking snow globe is of our universe. That's all it is. Nothing happens for a reason. There are no reasons. You make your own reasons. We have free will.

[A]

No, you're right.

[B]

But I'm saying. But the circumstances here have tested my skepticism. Yeah, that's as far as I'll go.

[A]

Okay, and we'll. And I'll accept that and I'll take.

[B]

That, which is a big step for me.

[A]

Yes. Hearing me say that.

[B]

Yes, that's as far as I'm going to go. So the question is, what are we doing now? And everybody's like, okay, great, we heard your stories. What is this? What is Dan Bernstein unfiltered? And what's the other pod we're going to be doing?

[A]

So we're co hosting a pod together called Forward Progress, and it's a Chicago Bears podcast. And yeah, I mean, I am so excited about getting to talk about the Bears with you.

[B]

I am, too.

[A]

And the Bears fan out there who is going to consume this podcast to hear our takes on the Bears, our thoughts on the Bears, to watch the season together and react together.

[B]

That's going to start tomorrow.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And it's going to, at the moment, be on a twice a week schedule. We think Mondays, Thursdays, and we're going to do post game.

[A]

We will do we will do post.

[B]

Games we are going to record, and some games we're probably going to be able to start recording before the clock hits zeros, I hope for good reason. And not bad, right? The answer is I don't, I don't know. But we're going to have it up as soon as we can after games.

[A]

So the important thing to know 312 sports podcast network Dan Bernstein Unfiltered Forward Progress A Chicago Bears podcast. You need to subscribe, get into it wherever you listen to your favorite podcast, whatever your favorite platform is, we'll be on YouTube as well. Go there and subscribe on YouTube so that you can get alerts and updates and be a part of it whenever new episodes drop. As Dan mentioned, we will eventually, I mean, we will eventually go every day with, with bears. And I think that's probably going to happen sooner rather than later because I'm already excited to talk more bears. But, you know, we have a lot going on to get this thing all up and running and going. So, you know, and I did want to mention one, one thing real quick too, is that early on in my journey, I did counseling as well, too, because it was, it was really valuable to help me understand the deficiencies that I had in my own character about what I needed to understand why those things were there. Like, you can recognize what you're lacking in your own life, but understanding why they're there is the important thing to bridging that gap, to make sure that you can correct those and change those and make a course correction. That's what I did. So I know if you talk about therapy and I don't want people to have, you know, negative people can have any reaction they want. But it's just, it's valuable, it's invaluable to be able to go out to someone who can help guide you through, as you say, the wilderness. For me, it's like a course correction in life. I've also decided in my own journey, and it's been 19 months now. I quit drinking and only just for health reasons. You know, over the last several years, I've learned some things about myself on a health standpoint, too. I have some cardio stuff that I need to take care of. You know, I want to, you know, be a hundred. I want to live for a long time and see my kids grow up and have kids and do all that stuff. And I just realized that I'm just not going to drink it. It's just not good for me. It's just not healthy so I've decided 19 months without drinking, which is counter to what my first 10 years.

[B]

Yeah. The first incarnation with everyone's mental schem is of where you fit in the world.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Well, I just. I'm excited to hear you excited about the Bears.

[A]

Yes. No, I'm so excited about the Bears. And you know, I love my Cubs, but the Bears have always been. Regardless of the quarterback or the coach or how bad they are or how good they are, they have always been appointment TV for me my entire life. And no other team can claim that from me. Michael Jordan could. The Chicago Bears can. The Cubs when they're good. Bulls in the playoffs, Blackhawks in the playoffs, White Sox in the playoffs.

[B]

In order. Yes, got it.

[A]

But the Bears are number one. And I cannot wait. I cannot wait to launch forward progress.

[B]

Forward progress is going to be a blast. And we are going to dive deep into Bears stuff. When people are asking, are you going to have guests, are you going to have experts? The answer is, first of all, yes to everything. As far as Dan Bernstein Unfiltered goes, our decision was we're not gonna force stuff on you just to have a bit. We're not gonna say this is time for this segment or this is time for this. We're gonna just let it roll and we are going to be as honest about everything as we can, which is really limitless now. And not that we weren't able to be honest before, I shouldn't paint it that way, but we just have. Without the FCC looming over us, we can do it in a little different way too. We just got a lot more flexibility with time. We're not breaking for commercials. We're not necessarily gonna be following the radio clock in the same way. And there's a lot of stuff I gotta unlearn about radio. And that's gonna be an ongoing thing of things that I'm used to about identify the station and make sure checks or whatever it is. All the stuff that we grew up with, I don't have to do anywhere, which is cool. But the, the goal is to talk Chicago sports primarily with brains and guts and zero pretense. And that's. That's my promise to you. Brains and guts and zero pretense when it comes to downbursting unfiltered. And it will be more than sports. It will be. I, I promise you that too. Because sports is connected to everything. There is no stick to sports. There is no stick to sports because sports is part of culture, it's part of politics. It's in everything. And even if there's something that isn't necessarily connected to sports, you've known any number of bits that we've done in the last 30 years about strange news or silly things or important news or a movie review or something or a restaurant that I find that you might find interesting. It's all of that and more. All of that and more. And we're not gonna shy away from tough topics as we are gonna talk about our world's on fire right now. And there's a lot of stuff that sucks about our world right now. A lot. And I've got some ways of dealing with that. I hope I can help you because I've figured out a prism through which to see the inexorable rise of fascism. And the answer is in the Marx Brothers. The answer is in satire. The answer is in understanding how stupid and silly a lot of this is. As dangerous as it is, as dangerous as it can seem, I will never stop making fun of it. I will never, ever, ever stop using the best weapons at my disposal of real satire. So don't worry. Do not worry about that.

[A]

Yeah. And as things go along, as we get up and running and going and what we've shown over, you know, 15 years together and 30 years in your. In your career, we can spot when things develop organically and what to lean into and what to work. And that will, too.

[B]

That will come and you will. And we'll get feedback. We'll get feedback in YouTube comments, we'll get feedback elsewhere. And we might set up an email at some point, because if I don't have email, how can I get Bear's thoughts from Stonecutter?

[A]

Right. Because we can't go without hearing from Stonecutter.

[B]

How can I get the Joe Sheehan newsletter? I have to make sure.

[A]

Ding.

[B]

Right, There it is. First one. First Joe Sheehan mention. Yes.

[A]

First of millions.

[B]

You know that's going to happen. He reached out, by the way.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

Yeah, very good. Again, you know who your friends are. So football season is upon us. You're in a fantasy league. So what do you get for winning your fantasy league? You get bragging rights or you get to enjoy the loser of your league doing something stupid like getting an inadvisable tattoo. Well, how about cash? My bookie pays cash. So this year you can do it, right? Whether you're betting the spreads, live lines, or you like the moonshot parlays. My bookie is your one stop sportsbook and casino in one. It's one account. It's One wallet. You can bet football all weekend. You can hit the slots whenever you want. There's no switching apps, there's no jumping platforms. It's just action at your fingertips. And if you are new to my bookie, you can use my code. And your first bet, up to $500 is fully covered. Make your play. If it doesn't hit, you get it right back with the bet back bonus. It's that easy. It's just a one time rollover on the return bet. You're free to reload and keep firing. It's at MyBookie AG. MyBookie AG. With the code DBU for Dan Bernstein, unfiltered the code DBU claim your bet back bonus. And then the football season can be one where the bragging rights also come with a bankroll. My bookie is where betters win together. Bragging's good, but cashing is better.

[A]

All right, so you've been away in the wilderness for five months and a lot has happened. Okay, so what, I'm talking sports now, right? In sports. Okay, Sports, sports, sports. So what I want to do is I want to. I want to catch up your audience with your thoughts on things that have happened over the last, you know, five months. Obviously, there's been a lot. We can't do all of it in one one episode.

[B]

Of course.

[A]

I will, I will. I will tease one thing. Maybe, maybe it's tomorrow. Maybe it's the next day. We are going to do a special in memoriam segment.

[B]

Oh, yeah. So like the. Just a death roll call.

[A]

A death roll call over the last five months.

[B]

There are so many.

[A]

There are. There are the list I have, which I've started.

[B]

You're not going to show me.

[A]

Not going to show you. I'm just going to. I'm going to throw them out to you and then for commentary.

[B]

Are we doing this tomorrow?

[A]

We can do it tomorrow or split it up maybe. Yeah, we'll see.

[B]

I have a feeling that this is going to be more than one episode of the death roll.

[A]

It's definitely going to be within this week. We will. We will get it in.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

We'll get it in our first week.

[B]

We should do it in chronological order.

[A]

Too, because there is. There's. There's one that I'm so excited about, though.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I just.

[B]

Don't tell me.

[A]

I'm not. I. But I'm so excited about it.

[B]

Good.

[A]

I'm so excited.

[B]

So it'll basically be like an in memoriam on the Oscars, but stopping them for commentary.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Like Like. Like Beth and I would do anyway.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Where we'd pause it and be like, wait, how do we know that person?

[A]

And I'm hoping to see. I want to see. Of the names that I have. It's a pretty lengthy list. Like, how many you didn't know were dead.

[B]

Bring out your dead. We will be bringing out our dead.

[A]

Cause I'm going through the list, and I was like, well, he died.

[B]

Wait, are you. Now, do me a favor. Promise me you're not gonna put in people who aren't dead, just as, like, poison pills and say, I gotcha.

[A]

I promise.

[B]

Oh, he's alive.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

We don't need anyone angry, you knucklehead. Right. We can't be killing people.

[A]

This isn't, like, a dead pool. So.

[B]

Okay. All right.

[A]

We're not doing that. Only people that have died.

[B]

Okay. But. So for today, though.

[A]

So if you have died, there's a possibility you could be on the show.

[B]

Yes. And send us an email to confirm, please, that you've died.

[A]

All right, so. But I want to talk about things that have happened in sports.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Since you've been gone in the wilderness. Since you've been gone in the wilderness. We'll do that.

[B]

I can be.

[A]

For the first time, I'm just gonna let you go at it. Let's start.

[B]

Why do I sound like Murphy? Moving on. Hey. Oh, boy. I sound like that jive music all of a sudden.

[A]

Let's start with football. Let's start there.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Football with football, please.

[B]

Takes us one. One show shakes. Oh, no, no, Freddy. Okay, what's your beef?

[A]

All right, let's start with football.

[B]

Football.

[A]

Now I'm in a dark place.

[B]

Sorry about that.

[A]

Yeah. Physical. All right. I don't know if you knew this because you've been gone. The Bears made a hire at head coach.

[B]

Yes, I was aware. The Ben Johnson thing. We did.

[A]

Okay, so you're good. Okay. I don't know if you knew that.

[B]

They extended Ryan polls.

[A]

Ryan polls.

[B]

And they said, okay, Ryan polls, extension. And my response was, fine, fine. I get it. I understand the reasons for the extension. He hasn't won anything. All they've done is lose a ton of games.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

He also signed off on the retention of Matt Eberfluous, which is nearly unforgivable. It's a massive, massive boner. And I don't know if we could do the post hoc ergo propter hawk here and say that had they not retained Eber Fluss, they wouldn't have Ben Johnson right now. If you can Tell me that that horrible mistake allowed them to get Ben Johnson and would I live through the pointlessness and nihilism of that Eber flu season or half season, most of season, to get Ben Johnson? Let me answer that later. But if Ben Johnson wasn't going to take a job and if they had no, they would have had some other schmuck here instead of Ben Johnson. And keeping Eber flutes allowed them to get this guy who I in whom I believe for now, then I'll listen to that argument. But in general, I don't know what to think about polls. I think like this draft. The Bears had a draft and the headline is Bears have a draft. They didn't use the draft as much as let it come to them. It was a typically fatalistic, well, this was our pick and we used this pick and this is what was on the board. There are other GMs who will grab it by the throat and make the draft theirs by moving things around, whatever the circumstances were. Maybe they wanted their new coaching staff to get a look at what they already had because they weren't sure the other coaching staff was so bad that maybe they screwed a bunch of people up and maybe the development curves were not what they thought. So I can understand why he might have wanted to take a more passive approach to this year's draft. But okay, so he's extended. Their response was fine. The other story is that Kevin Warren, who has gained some capital in my mind because of the Ben Johnson hire, he helped pull that off. And I told you they were going to Arlington Heights. Yes, I told you this from Jump. As soon as they bought that property in Arlington Heights, all the other stuff was absolutely paper thin leverage ploy.

[A]

Well, it was only because they did it in the wrong order.

[B]

Of course.

[A]

They bought the land and hired the guy to build the stadium and didn't give the guy the opportunity to leverage anything. That because they lost all leverage at that point.

[B]

It was over.

[A]

Yes, it was over.

[B]

It's been over. I'm a little surprised that Kevin Warren has now sort of laid down this idea of if they don't pass the state law to allow them to have infrastructure, they can't go forward. I have a feeling he's gonna walk that back. He's gonna have to walk that back. Because then what?

[A]

They're moving to Arlene Heights?

[B]

Of course they are.

[A]

It's that simple.

[B]

Of course they are.

[A]

And anything else is just trying to gain opportunities to spend less money.

[B]

And if in fact there is some government money for infrastructure that's okay. You're not paying for the stadium. You're helping people. You're helping the taxpayer. If you are building off ramps and controlling traffic, I don't mind that. I don't mind them building an exit ramp. I don't mind them there being public money to actually do public things and not private things that are going to benefit the taxpayer. I'm not going to get crazy about that. Are the Bears any good? That's the question I keep getting. I have no idea. I don't know yet. I've gotten some really big concerns that we'll obviously get into in forward progress about where some of the injuries are going. But they're being coached. And bottom line is I trust now for the first time that they don't just use the word accountability as a meaningless catchphrase, that there is some accountability now. And it might look ugly to start, but I will retain a level of optimism. That's where I stand with the Bears.

[A]

And last thing on Ryan polls. If, if them keeping Matt Eberfluss brought a shift within the organization to actually fire a coach in season, great. Then I'll take it.

[B]

If they had to stare bad coaching in the eye and like look into the abyss.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

To actually realize better business.

[A]

To say, hey, for the first time ever, we're going to fire a coach in season, great. Then that's great.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Now and fine. That's all done in the past. Now it's Ryan Poles, Kevin Warren, Ben Johnson. Show me what you got.

[B]

Go get it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Show us. Indeed. Now to the Cubs.

[A]

You want to go Cubs first?

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. They're more important. Yes, absolutely I do.

[A]

That was a joke.

[B]

Oh, no, I haven't. I. Believe me. I'm only starting now to watch the White Sox again because they're. No, I. They were completely off my. I just, I couldn't. I couldn't. I couldn't watch. They finally gave the broadcaster some Quaaludes. Yeah. Whoever's in charge of. Of the pregame. John Striven Quaaludes. Like it just felt somebody. Something chilled him out or they gave him shock treatment or something because at least they, they, they got him from. To sound normal.

[A]

At least a 15 to a 9.

[B]

Whatever. Just take it down, man. So.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Cubs Quailude guy. Cubs. I think they might have screwed up the deadline and there are some times where you got to go for it and they didn't.

[A]

So is it bad to trade for someone and then have them hurt the first time out? Is that they should avoid that or.

[B]

No, the velocity drop was concerning even though his fastball was more effective. You're talking about Soraka. Soroka. I just wanted them to overpay if they had to. But Jed will never overpay. Jed is so hung up on perfect valuation. And I get it as a solver of puzzles, as wanting things to be just right. Sometimes Jed's. That's his thing. He doesn't want to miss on proper valuation of trade assets. But sometimes when you're the best team in baseball at the break and this might be your year, I think there's been too much put on his contract status. He got extended too, right? Fine. I get that he's a great steward of Ricketts money. He's good enough at his job that however you want to define his job, I'm not going to get hung up there, but I just thought this was a time when it's okay to overspend. Flags fly forever. They talk about seasons being precious, about opportunities to win the World Series. Win the World Series. You don't need to get valuation exactly right. You can overpay. It's okay. People won't remember if you're having a parade. People don't care.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So I was disappointed that they didn't try a little harder to get some frontline pitching, which I still think they're going to need. Maybe add another stick. It was just to get utility guy and a couple of veteran bullpen arms and a bottom level rotation guy I thought was just kind of weak sauce.

[A]

Oh, it was very disappointing. I mean, it was extremely disappointing. And the fact that you, you lost your number one guy for the year, your number two guy was down for several months and you were still playing the kind of baseball they were playing and still winning baseball games with that offense. And then to not go all in with an opportunity to win this year.

[B]

Disappointing.

[A]

Very disappointing.

[B]

Story of the Cubs is Pete Crow Armstrong and he is not only a fabulous baseball player, but just a wonderful young man. And it makes him really easy to root for. He is seems smart and nice and funny and enjoys the interaction with the fans. He plays with a degree of joie de vivre and heart on his sleeve that you can't teach. And as much as we loved Javier Baez and his ability to do that, Armstrong is similar in that regard with I think even a little bit more self awareness, a little bit more of that kind of emotional control when he knows he's being kind of swaggy. And I like him. I do think there's Going to be ongoing adjustment with him. We saw the rookie adjustment. We always say, well, the league get around the league once, and now they've got all your film and they've got all your data. When you become a star and a burgeoning superstar, that's all dialed up times 10.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then you. Every single pitch and every decision that's made to you when you're standing there in the box, everything they're going to try to know about you. If you really are a superstar, you. You bounce back from that, too, and you see that play out on a larger scale, and it's something I think he can do. I just. I hope we don't remember this as the culmination of collapsing Cubs. Having a team like the brewers just blowing their doors off right now.

[A]

I just. I cannot believe the way the brewers are playing. It's. It's remarkable what they're doing.

[B]

Bulls, meh. Absolute ongoing meh. Noah Esenge, meh. The Lonzo ball trade for a core meh. I don't know. I know I'm a huge fan. I'm going to follow them probably like nobody else does in this market, correct? Because I do in this room. It's certainly in this room. I can tell you that. But I don't know what they're trying to do. The east is wide open. That's the good thing. Couple injuries here, a couple more injuries there, they could find themselves a seven seed. But, yeah, hey, I don't know where they're going. I don't know what they're doing, but I know I'm definitely going to be watching and enjoying. And I will tell you one more thing before we get into some other stuff. The first time after I got fired that I really missed, had missed having. The only time I woke, I'm like, God damn, do I want a hot mic right now? And I was watching. I don't know why, because I had nothing else to do. I got CNN on, and I'm watching the announcement of a new pope, Pope Bob. And it's like, wait a sec, he's from Chicago. So first it was, he's from Chicago. Like, oh, my God, he's from Chicago. Then it was, his name is Bob. And then it was, he's from the south side. So we start joking, oh, he's probably a Sox fan. Then it turns out not only is he a Sox fan, there is video of him at the World Series with a Sox hat on. And he's the Pope.

[A]

The Pope.

[B]

All I could think was my head Is exploding. Thankfully, all the jokes got made, all the memes are done. There wasn't anything out there that. That I. Cause I'm like, I want to tweet so bad. I want to post so bad. Have you seen anywhere?

[A]

The sports cards? There's actually Pope Bob. Sports cards.

[B]

Pope Bob.

[A]

Yeah. It's unbelievable.

[B]

He's actually Bob from the south side.

[A]

Yeah. Like, the culmination of it, though, was the video of him at the World Series. Yes, that's the Pope of the Catholic Church.

[B]

The one who talks to God.

[A]

Yes, God's man.

[B]

Right. As I understand this outside Bob, as I understand this, he is able to communicate. He's the vessel. He's the conduit to God.

[A]

Yeah, God. He's God's man, period. And he's from the south side, and his name is Bob, and he loves the White Sox.

[B]

Bob, this is God. Hey, God. How you doing, God? Hold on a second. I'll be right back. Oh, hey, Sorry there. God.

[A]

I'm, like, immediately getting, like, the super fans instead of the Last Supper.

[B]

It's beyond that, though. I, of course, first think of all of the number of Bobs that we've dealt with, and then I think of, like, Bob from Niles.

[A]

Yeah, it's the first guy I thought of.

[B]

He comes out with this papal encyclical, Papal bull ranking a certain virtue by pieces of pie.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I liked it. I don't know. Is it the basilica recently out over St. Peter's what do you think about being meek? I don't know. I liked it. Whatever happened to Juan Pizarro? So that's when I came back.

[A]

That's the moment that you were like.

[B]

That was the moment I missed. It was the first time I missed this. That's great. Hey, look who's here. As part of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered. My guy. Russ Armstrong and Chicago Window guys, we are so happy to have them as part of the team. Great to have Russ along. And, you know, I've talked about Russ for years. Chicago Window guys are windows locally made here in Chicago. Russ himself will come to your home to give you the estimate. No subcontracted labor. The crew works for Russ. The same crew that installed my windows will install yours. And you can see this, too. If you're getting quotes. Ask other people who's installing my windows, and they won't be able to answer. And that's because they use subcontracted labor. So there's a price match guarantee, and you don't have to deal with those sales gimmicks. That everybody's throwing at you. Russ offers the best product, best price guaranteed. 847-302-9171. You can check out all the five star [e-mail] It's Russ Armstrong. I have recommended him to friends, to neighbors, to coworkers. And everybody loves the work that the Chicago Window Guys do. 847-302-9171. Chicago Window Guys. When it comes to your sports betting, cash is king. You're not in this for bragging rights. You're in it for real cash. So do it right and stop celebrating like it's 2009 and start betting like it's 2025. And this goes for whether you're playing spreads or chasing lines or trying to get the big payday in a parlay. My bookie is the place to go because my bookie is your one stop sportsbook and casino. And one. That means it's one account. It's one wallet. You can bet football all weekend. You can hit the slots after dark. There's no switching apps around or jumping platforms. It's straight up action. And here's what's cool right now. If you're new to my bookie, I'm going to give you a code right now. It's for this show, Dan Bernstein unfiltered. Those initials, DBU. That's the code, those three letters, DBU. You bet up to $500. That first bet, fully covered, you make your play. If it doesn't hit, you get it right back. They call it the bet back bonus. No stress. It's a one time rollover on the return bet. You're free to reload and then just keep going from there. So sign up. It's MyBookie AG with that code I just gave you, even you can remember it. I know if I can remember it, you can remember it. Dbu, that will claim your bet back bonus. And then your football season is one where any bragging rights also come with a bankroll. My bookies where betters win together. Bragging's good. Cashing in is better.

[A]

All right, so here's what I want to do to wrap up the first episode of Dan Bernstein unfiltered.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

On 312 sports. So you're gone five months.

[B]

Yes. I wasn't really gone. I was. I was here.

[A]

You were here?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You. You were. You were not talking to us for five months.

[B]

Right?

[A]

What were some of the highlights for you over the last five months? What were some of the good things? So you said oh, there's always a ton that this is going to end up being a great thing for you, how it's all happened, where, where you're at today, where you're going forward. Thanks for your transparency telling the story too. Appreciate that.

[B]

It's not gonna stop.

[A]

So what were some of the great things over the last five months?

[B]

Well, outside of the healing and the therapeutic successes, outside of that, it's obviously sort of medically we're the most important.

[A]

Yeah. Because as you mentioned, a wife of 26 years, you still have two kids, you have the summer in Chicago. I mean, you still have a life to live. What were the good things that happened over the last five months?

[B]

Well, having, I think having my son home for three of those months was helpful. He went back two days ago, but having him there and being around a little bit, I mean, he was. I didn't see a ton of him because he had his own, you know, kind of grown up life now. As does Zoe. She's got a full time job downtown.

[A]

It's insane to me. So 24 years ago we met.

[B]

Yeah. Zoe's 23.

[A]

You didn't have kids? My daughter was 4.

[B]

Yeah. No, Zoe was just born. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. And now my daughter's 28, married.

[B]

It's amazing.

[A]

Zoe's out of school.

[B]

Yep. Getting ready.

[A]

Junior year.

[B]

Yep. Junior year, just. And he's. He came home, had to. He had to go to physical therapy for throwing too many sweepers. Oh, boy. First I said, well, you're finally an old pitcher. I said, this happens like. Yeah. Got this weird thing on my shoulder. I said, yeah, you know what it is? It's you're throwing that damn sweeper 75% of the time. Wow. Finally paying the piper. But he's good. Yeah. Having family stuff and having the same kind of transparency and openness and stuff with family was really good. And the therapy we've done together too, has been really good.

[A]

Here, let me ask you, because I want to just real fast. I'm sorry, Real fast.

[B]

No, it's okay. We're not against the clock anymore.

[A]

Because I'm just curious. So you briefly mentioned, and we talked about too, what had happened and how it impacted your family and your relationships there and then how have you guys worked through that? Where are things at now?

[B]

We've rebuilt a lot of trust we've had to understand. Even though, as my great grandmother once said, parenting is a life sentence.

[A]

Did she say it like that?

[B]

Yeah. She would slip into Yiddish without even knowing it. Ida. Yes. Lived into her mid-90s.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Yeah. Parenting is a life sentence that you're always evolving as a parent. And I think understanding my kids as adults and relating to them as adults and knowing how to do that, you had a head start on that. I didn't. And you're younger than I am. But it's been seeing them as adults and seeing how well they're doing and taking pride. Cause Jason had it tough. He transferred out of Bucknell. Cause he hated it there. And he had some bad experiences socially and didn't feel comfortable. And he said, I'm transferring. Okay. And what he's found at Tulane has just been special and remarkable and wonderful and for him to reinvent. And at the moment, he is now a transfer mentor. They're paying him. He went down early, and he is going to help transition other transfer students. He's gonna lead meetings and he's gonna do little seminars and sort of give everybody his phone number to text and say, look, if as a transfer, you need some advice, you need some help. He's now doing that as working for the university and doing that, which is really, really cool.

[A]

That's awesome.

[B]

Yeah. He really wanted to and had to apply to get that. And he's very involved with writing sports, the student paper, and still pitching on the. On the club team. And he's made wonderful friends who all came in for Lollapalooza. I had a basement full of. Oh, my God, I can't. How many 30 packs of Miller High Life can I buy? It was. It was. That was apparently not enough. And meanwhile, when did that become a value beer? Like, when did Miller High Life, like, that's good. Miller High Life is good.

[A]

Delicious. Yeah.

[B]

And you can get in a 30 pack for, like, $17. When did this happen? I don't know. It's pretty awesome. But, yeah, I do think that learning how to relate to these kids as adults. And then what Beth and I did, and this is part of what was one of the great things, we decided to take a week away, just the two of us. Said, look, we know we're starting this new thing. Let's just go away. And we did it on a whim, without planning a lot. She's good at planning, obviously. But look, how many miles do we have? Where can we get a couple of tickets? And we looked around the world, and she's been to London twice. I had never been. So we. Quick. We got an Airbnb in a neighborhood south of the Thames called Elephant and Castle. Found this really nice place.

[A]

Great pub, too.

[B]

Well, it's named after the town. And we just went. We picked up and we went to London for a week and it was like honeymooning again. That's great. We had just such a fabulous. We always travel great together. We didn't over plan. And we went to the Churchill War Rooms and we went to the National Gallery.

[A]

Was he there?

[B]

He was not. Where's Churchill? This sucks. But no. Learned a lot about him. And we did Westminster Abbey. We took a day in Greenwich. We walked to the markets in Notting Hill, and we ate fabulously. We had.

[A]

Oh, I bet.

[B]

Oh, my God, the Indian food. We really did our research and we went to what they call the Curry Mile, which is London's version of Western and Devon, but it's known as the Curry Mile. It's called Curry Mile. That's. Everyone told us to go. The neighborhood is called Tooting. And we took. Yeah, right. And we took the bakerloo line down there. And I found a place called the Royal Mahal. Because there's a lot of fine dining Indian in Soho and West End. But we wanted real, like, Indian Indian. Oh, my God. It was amazing.

[A]

This is the Royal Mahal.

[B]

The Royal Mahal. And there's little kids running around and sort of garishly decorated. And if somebody orders the birthday dessert, there's a maitre d that puts on this.

[A]

Yes. Dan's not. He literally said that? Yes, like, literally. That's what he said to.

[B]

Oh, I wanted. I want it so hot. My ass exploded.

[A]

Punching his fist.

[B]

And then they. I don't know what they put in it, but he was. He was dying, so that's what happened to me. It was called a madras curry, which is a British curry. It's not even truly Indian. It's a British Indian thing. You can't get it here. And they brought. And maybe you can. I just haven't seen it. And they brought a lamb madras. And it was like. When they bring the hallucinogenic chili to Homer Simpson, it's like fluorescent green.

[A]

How hot was it?

[B]

Oh, dude. Bad. Great. Beth was taking video and I made her stop. I was like. My eyes got red. I had snot coming out of my nose. Sweating everywhere. I sweat through my pants. It was so bad.

[A]

I just. I don't understand how you like that.

[B]

And then the waiter came over and looked at her. She said, is he okay? And I think I. And I kind of coughed through it. And I asked for the lassi, which is the yogurt drink, and they usually sweeten it. I was like, no, bring me two unsweetened please. And that helped. That helped.

[A]

I just. I don't understand how you enjoy that. I really don't.

[B]

Because you eat.

[A]

You.

[B]

It's the. There's endorphins. It's an actual chemical. Oh, my God. It was amazing. So London was great. That was a highlight for me. A couple other things.

[A]

That's good. I'm glad you guys got away.

[B]

I am too. Yeah. The movie Sinners, I think I'm now on five times. I saw it twice in the theater.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

I saw it once and then four days later went back and saw it again. I liked it better the second time when I could appreciate some things more. But, man, I hope Delroy Lindo wins best supporting actor.

[A]

Oh, he was great.

[B]

He was wonderful. And the music from start to finish is. It's just so compelling visually. And when the music overlays everything. And now that I've done all these deep dives on some of the smaller things they put in and Hailee Steinfeld, they were just fantastic. And how it turns in the middle into something. And I always tell people, go see it, but I don't want to tell you about it. I don't want to ruin it. Absolutely love that movie and I hope it's appreciated. The. The last thing that I've discovered, Dean's brand peppermint ice cream. Dean's brand in the Juuls gotta go to the Juul's because Mariano's has Kemp's brand as their house dairy. Okay.

[A]

They do.

[B]

Dean's is Fruit of Jules. I love peppermint ice cream. And it's hard to find sometimes because everything's like old fashioned actual pieces of peppermint candy. I used to like when I tried it, the Oberweiss brand. But I don't want to give that dipshit any money, so I don't. So I stopped. But this. And you know, I was never like a big ice cream guy.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Oh, my God. This stuff, it's a problem. It comes with a big tub, like the Breyer's tub.

[A]

How many nights does it last?

[B]

I try to make it last three.

[A]

Oh, God.

[B]

In my mind, three. But sometimes you're doing two nights of the big tub. Yeah. Actually that was gonna be the name of the podcast. Two nights in the big tub. He's too late. I'm the big tub.

[A]

You know what's so funny? When we were out in so good, though, when we were out in Minnesota and we. We'd finished dinner and there was that ice cream shop across. So I, for whatever reason so my. My wife loves ice cream. And now I've gotten in. So now ice cream is, like, my.

[B]

Treat at the end of the night, especially after spicy.

[A]

And I just. I love getting, like, going out for ice cream. It seems like my day's not complete ice cream. So we. We finished, and there was. There's. You know, we're all together in Minnesota. There's five or six of us, and we come out of the restaurant, and across the street is that ice cream shop. And in my brain, I'm like, oh, my God, I would love to get some ice cream.

[B]

I was thinking it, too, if I.

[A]

Was gonna say to this group of guys, hey, we should all go get some ice cream. I just envisioned being laughed at.

[B]

I wouldn't have.

[A]

So I was like, all right, I'll forget about it. And then we get back to the hotel and I mention it to you, and I'm like, did you see that ice cream shop? And you're like, I wanted to. God damn it.

[B]

Why didn't I say something? Well, then I ended up getting a pint of ice cream and eating it in bed, which is the greatest thing of all time. And I can only do that when I'm at a hotel. I can't do that at home.

[A]

Do you remember what trip were we on? We were like, we're gonna come meet in my room. We'll go out. And I come in, I get to your room, and you had the latch there. So the door was open. So I just pushed it open. You're sitting on the bed in your underpants, and you had wings. Two big orders of wings. Yeah. And you were using the bath towels as your napkins.

[B]

Yeah, they're napkins.

[A]

So your bath towels are just covered in that bright orange sauce. It's all over your face. It's like on your chest. And you're sitting in your underwear eating in bed.

[B]

Yes. What's your problem?

[A]

And nothing's wrong, I guess.

[B]

I'm sorry. No, that's. Yeah, that's. You got to know me.

[A]

Yeah. And then it was like, are you ready to go out? Yeah, almost, buddy.

[B]

Give me a sec. Finish eating right there with you. Well, that's when we'd go out twice and we'd have, like, three dinners.

[A]

Well, I had to. You didn't. I did. Because Terry ate at 5. You didn't eat till, like, 11. And then sometimes I would have my normal meal at, like, seven. But it was like the five o' clock dinner that you would just sit there.

[B]

That was the night where we Did Waffle House on the way home from Waffle House. Went to the Jack in the Box Drive thru. Yes. For translucent tacos. Yep.

[A]

No multiple dinners because Terry's at five year after. Some drinks were consumed, so yours was late. I would eat in the middle, have my own regular dinner, but I would eat with Terry because I felt bad he ate alone. And then I would eat with you at the end of the night. So I'm pretty. I wasn't £600 at the end of that show.

[B]

That's pretty amazing. We were eating sympathy dinners with everybody.

[A]

I felt so bad. And then there was the one night after Spicy. I had to take you guys for ice cream. No.

[B]

We ended up at a gas station.

[A]

It was like a Circle K. It.

[B]

Was a Circle K. And we got, like, the Heath bars.

[A]

Yeah. Because I couldn't find an ice cream shop open.

[B]

Right. Come on, Matty.

[A]

So I'm like, we're all counting on you. Gas station ice cream. Go for it.

[B]

It was good enough.

[A]

Oh, boy.

[B]

All right, that's episode one.

[A]

Yes. This is Dan Bernstein, unfiltered.

[B]

See, I'm completely unfiltered.

[A]

Yeah, you've never looked more unfiltered.

[B]

I know, right? It suits me. Yeah, suits me.

[A]

So this is every day. Every day. Dan Bernstein, unfiltered.

[B]

Like, we're going to have it for you. Be a part of it. Be this. It's. I hope it's going to be everything you think it's going to be and even more.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. And if you want more info on what we're doing here, 312sports.com that's the website, but like Dan, as Dan said, go to YouTube. Subscribe any place you find your favorite, you know, your favorite platform for podcasts. Go there, find the show. Forward progress that launches tomorrow. All bears, me and Dan. Dan Burton, Unfiltered. Dan and me. Yes.

[B]

No, Dan and I. Actually, it's.

[A]

No, it's me. It's. Oh, it's.

[B]

I'm doing the podcast Dan and I are doing.

[A]

Yeah, you're right.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, I'm right. He's gonna kill me.

[A]

Yeah. I wonder, like, how many episodes you think people think is gonna last before.

[B]

You throw something at me. Over. Under. Not. Not.

[A]

I love you too much. Not gonna happen.

[B]

Yeah, it is.

[A]

All right, well, say goodbye to the people. They missed you.

[B]

No. They'll be back in their ear before you know it.

[A]

Yeah. Say goodbye.

[B]

Hello. Goodbye. Love you.

[A]

Bye. Dan Bernstein, Unfiltered.

[B]

Unfiltered. On three.

[A]

One, two. Sports.