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Dan Bernstein
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Matt Battacona
Can I make my site firmer?
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Dave Kerner
Unfiltered Unfiltered on 312 sports
Dan Bernstein
Happy Friday it is Dan Bernstein Unfiltered on 312 sports brought to you in partnership with my bookie. And you know what Fridays are. On this particular program we have Friday Feedback. Friday we have our special top 10 list on which I was working all afternoon yesterday, but we're going to do something a little different today. And Maddie, remind me, this started with a request that you put out on social media to help us note an anniversary.
Matt Battacona
Yeah, so it really started with the documentary that we both watched in the last few weeks, the Miracle the boys of 80, which I know you watched and enjoyed. I loved it. I enjoyed it and I thought, you know what, the anniversary for the USA Russia game is actually the 22nd, which is Sunday So I thought it'd be fun to see if we could find someone that was actually at the game in the building, witnessed that with their own eyes. And, you know, I put it out there on social media and lo and behold, Dan, someone responded. And not only is it just someone who responded, but it's someone that we actually know and worked with for years at the score.
Dan Bernstein
Somebody we know and worked with who had a personal experience with the USA Russia game in 1980.
Matt Battacona
Yes, he was physically in the building and saw it happen with his own eyes. He didn't watch it on TV like we did.
Dan Bernstein
Wow.
Matt Battacona
He was a dedicated USA Hockey fan. He was there at the game. Not like you, me watching at home in the comfort of our living rooms. He was there, got the smell of the ice and got to see it firsthand.
Dan Bernstein
Who was it? Tell me it's this guy right here. Hey, Dave Kerner, our longtime colleague at the SCORE and at wbbm. Now, enjoying retirement, are you? Are you. Have you left for Florida at this point?
Dave Kerner
No, no, I'm staying in Gray's Lake, Illinois. You know, you kind of weigh the cost of things, but no, I'm not like everybody going to Tennessee, Texas or Florida. No,
Matt Battacona
I didn't know that you were in Gray's Lake. Yeah, I'm in Libertyville.
Dave Kerner
I know. I knew you were in Libertyville, Matt. I did. I don't know exactly where. Yeah, I've been here 28 years.
Matt Battacona
Oh, we're gonna have to connect for some coffee.
Dave Kerner
Yes.
Matt Battacona
That's awesome. Well, thanks for coming on today. So, yeah, so we tell the story and I put it out there on social media. I'm like, hey, if you know someone or if you were there at that game. And I thought, you know what? I'm going to take a shot at it and see if anybody responds. And then I get an email, Dan, from Dave Kerner. He was like, I was there. I was at the game. And I'm like, well, this is even better than just getting a random person on social media. Let's connect with our guy, Dave Kerner. So, Dave, why. Why were you there at that game, first of all?
Dave Kerner
Well, here's why. Went to syracuse. It's a three hour drive from Lake Placid. And one day in 1979, working at Waer FM, somebody comes up with a bright idea. Let's apply for credentials for Placid. And we all kind of laugh. Yeah, right. You know that's going to happen. So we did, and we did hear back from, you know, whatever media screening committee there Was. And they basically said, we can give you all kinds of credentials, but we cannot provide any accommodations for you. We can't like, you know, block out any hotel rooms or anything because, you know, Lake placid, it's like 3,000 people. Well, we had a solution. One of the staff members, in fact, his name is Bob Licht, he actually went on to do play by play for both the Charlotte Hornets and then moved with them to New Orleans on radio. He was from Saranac Lake, which is like 10 miles from placid. So when we told the media committee, hey, we've, we've got an accommodation, they gave us a zillion press passes for the Lake Placid Olympics. Wow. So what we did was, you know, because we had such a large sports staff, for the two weeks of the Games, we actually shuttled like four or five of us up to Saranac Lake. We'd stay at Bob's place, we'd grab a bus shuttle to Placid, and we'd cover the events. And at the time, I'm the outgoing sports director at aer, so I got at least a bit of a say into like, what events I. I got to cover. And obviously the, the Soviet US game comes up and it's like, I'm going to be there. So I was there as like a third wheel. You know, we had like two principal reporters and I was literally standing in like a corner of the press box taking it all in and doing like a couple of little, you know, fan sidebar type pieces for the game. But it was the greatest sporting event I've ever covered, and it was before I even got into radio on a professional basis. So pretty wild.
Dan Bernstein
Well, I'm curious too about what your expectations were, because we know after that Madison Square Garden disaster in that tune up game where they were just toyed with and they ended up losing, what, 10 to 3, I think was the final. And a lot of people don't realize how recently they had been thoroughly embarrassed by the, by the Soviet team to make it look like they didn't even. Didn't belong to the same building.
Dave Kerner
Right.
Dan Bernstein
And the expectations kept growing slowly as the game went on. What. What did it feel like? And when. Was there a point, sort of cinematically when people were sharing the. Is this a game?
Dave Kerner
Yeah. I'll tell you what it was that point that you talk about, Dan. It was with one second left in the first period when the U.S. tied the game and you beat Vladislav Trechiak, the greatest goalie in the world, to tie the Game with a second left, and Victor Tikonov, the Russian coach, decides, I'm going to pull my number one goalie in all the world and put in some guy that nobody's ever heard of.
Dan Bernstein
Last year, it was Mushkin they put in.
Dave Kerner
He came in when he came out and he went into the net to start the second period. We're, like, looking at each other in the press box, we're saying, indeed, you know what? This is a game. The Russians are more than a little concerned to make a move like that, you know, to pull your number one world goalie. I mean, the guy who, who had played against the best NHL players, you know, eight years previous, and you pull him for this, this situation, it was, it was rather stunning. And, yeah, that, that brought home not only how important that game was, but actually brought the, the tension and the fact that, you know what? The US Is not just showing up for this game. They're going to do more than that.
Dan Bernstein
What?
Matt Battacona
Was there any. Any follow? I don't know. Dan. Dan, even if, you know, because I haven't heard or read of anything or seen anything in any documentary about why he made that decision.
Dave Kerner
Oh, I think it was. It was maybe to shake his own team up. It's like, what are you doing? You know, you're the professionals. These are a bunch of collegians. And yeah, never mind that it's their home rink. It shouldn't be two, two after a period. So I think he was trying to shake them up, but apparently Tikonoff later said it was the worst mistake he ever made as a coach.
Matt Battacona
Yeah, I would think so.
Dan Bernstein
If I remember from the document of the 30 for 30 that was done where they. It was from the Soviet side, which is just fascinating about how they felt about everything and where. Because these, these were grizzled professional players at this point. Correct. And they all said it sent shockwaves through the. The team. They said, well, where's. Where's Trach? Is he hurt? Is he hurt? Is he hurt? When they saw Mushkin come out there between the pipes, and they said that if anything, they questioned themselves and they started thinking, wow, if the coach is doing this, what is he so worried about right now?
Dave Kerner
Right? That is a good question. I, you know, maybe Tikonov was under some kind of outside pressure, because think about it, right? You got the Soviets at Lake Placid. They know that in all likelihood the US Is not going to Moscow for the summer games, and we've got. It's got to be nothing less than A gold medal here. We've got to show that, you know, our system always will reign supreme, even if it's on their ice in front of what's obviously a partisan crowd. And I think Tikonov probably had to think of those things when he made that move. And it's interesting, too, that, you know, near the end of the game, obviously the standard procedure now, two minutes or so left, you're behind a goal, what do you do? You pull the goalie. Extra attacker. Russians didn't do that. The Soviets didn't do that. And the basic reason why they didn't do that is because, like, in practice situations, they never had to do that.
Dan Bernstein
Right.
Dave Kerner
Win all their games. There's no need to pull the goalie and come up with an extra attacker and try to set yourself up that way. So it all added up. It was like the perfect storm, obviously, for the US To. To. To win that game and then go on to. To play for the gold medal two days later.
Matt Battacona
Yeah. So obviously, the motivation to shake his own team up kind of backfired because it. I think it has really fueled from the documentaries I've seen and hearing from the players firsthand, it fueled their confidence and their ability to say, hey, not only can we hang with these guys, we're scaring them.
Dave Kerner
Yeah, you can't. Yeah. Matt, you can't tell me that. That US bench didn't look at the start of the second period and see Mushkin and goal and realize we've got the. We've got some mind game stuff going here on the Soviets, which is, like, unheard of because, you know, they were always. The reputation, right. Was they're just a bunch of robots. They work the puck around, they don't have to play physical. Their skill gets them through all that, and all that gets shoved aside when you see something like that goaltender move. And now it looks more like a free for all for 40 minutes.
Dan Bernstein
What I found immensely interesting, too, was the idea that when it was over, when all of a sudden. Do you believe in miracles? Yes. And the party begins and. Well, obviously people tend to, with all of the years that have piled up, not realize that that wasn't the gold medal game, that they still had to beat Finland to win the gold medal. But instead of a sea of phones, instead of nothing but people holding up black rectangles and hiding behind their phones, the amount of humanity, the connection that appeared to spill out into the streets of people almost dazed. What did I just see? What did that feel like? All I could do is imagine what it would feel like to say, like, what was I just a part of?
Dave Kerner
It felt like a huge party outside. I mean, that's what it was, right? And those guys came out later and people are touching them, you know, like it's the Beatles or something rolling through. I mean, it's that kind of euphoria. And you're right, Dan. It's very different from what we do today. Right? We hold up our phone because we got to record that moment. But in terms of actually, like, being a part of it and experiencing it, that's what you got. Right after the game, when, you know, the couple of bars were filled, when the streets were filled, those guys partied. And it's like, hold on, you gotta practice the next day. And you know that Brooks is gonna work their asses off.
Dan Bernstein
He did.
Dave Kerner
And then you play for a gold medal. And that was, by the way, that was like an early afternoon gold medal game. So essentially they had like a day and a half to recover and try to play for a gold medal. It was surreal.
Matt Battacona
You bring up Herb Brooks. I want to ask you, did you have any interaction with him while you got.
Dave Kerner
There was. There was like one or two, you know, news conferences.
Dan Bernstein
The.
Dave Kerner
The actual gang bang, one on one stuff was pretty much out the window when it came to those Olympic Games. It was the interview room. I don't. Honestly, I don't remember any funny, silly questions like that. You know, it was all business. Brooks was all business. I mean, he even admitted later, I couldn't get really close to these guys because I was trying to drive them to a goal. And the way to do it was not to be buddy, buddy with any of them. Even the guys that played for him at the University of Minnesota. The Steve Janicek thing is kind of amusing. Right? Here's the guy. Brooks coaches Minnesota to a national championship in 1979. Janicek is the goalie. He thinks, yeah, I'm gonna be the number one goalie for the Olympic Games. And it's, no, I kind of like that guy Jim Craig instead. I mean, that's. That's like, focus on the goal at hand as opposed to, you know what? I need these guys to like me. And maybe if that happens, we're gonna win some games.
Dan Bernstein
But it was Janezak who said that he ended up with something even better than the gold medal.
Matt Battacona
His wife.
Dan Bernstein
Yes. He met the woman there who had become his wife. It's an incredible story. You know, there's something you said that resonated with me when you were talking about the Soviets Saying that they had to prove our system will reign supreme. And they did have a system. And to hear. To hear them talk about was the opposite of what, for the example that was used was Bobby Hull and the Blackhawks. And what they would. They would. The four would watch the one, and that Bobby hall would skate around and around and around and around, and he would. He would go see what he could do, and people would do everything they could do to try to support his individual effort. They looked at it from the opposite perspective. How can everybody do small things that add up into a large thing and work as where the entire team on the ice is working as an entity, as an organism almost. And, you know, you know, who runs that system now in hockey? Everyone. That. That. That is what we now just call hockey.
Dave Kerner
Yeah.
Dan Bernstein
Everything you learn from the earliest levels, every team, every youth team, every high school team, is all based on what that Soviet team did to change the way the game was played.
Dave Kerner
And it's interesting, Dan, because that style evolved kind of slowly. You know, it's not like all of a sudden the NHL in 1981 and 82 became that kind of game. I was lucky enough, you know, that I got to Buffalo. So I saw tons of hockey starting in 1982. And I'm telling you, it was small rink, very physical play. You had to have a couple of goons on each roster. I mean, the game was stop, start. It was slow and plotting. But it has since evolved in that Soviet style. And it's actually really refreshing. I think it's. It's lifted the play of everybody. I mean, look at this Olympic tournament that's happening now. If you've watched any of these games, all these countries, I mean, even, you know, even like the likes of Switzerland and Germany.
Dan Bernstein
Germany, yeah,
Dave Kerner
they can skate. They don't have to run you out of the rink. They don't have to intimidate you. And really, that's what the Soviets had. It took a while again for that style to evolve. But you're right, it really has become like a universal thing now when it comes to the game.
Matt Battacona
So, Dave, you're there with Syracuse. You see all this happen. You see the US Win the gold medal. And when you think back now, all these years later, how has your thought, your memories, changed and evolved about being there from in the moment and experiencing it to being able to reflect and look back on it?
Dave Kerner
Well, the one thing that comes to mind for me is from start to finish, that building was very
Dan Bernstein
easy.
Dave Kerner
8,500. That's all it held but that place was noisy. You know, you go to any sporting event, right? And if you have a knowledgeable audience, it's like, okay, we know when to yell. We know when to sit back. You know, people just have a sense of like, right, what. What's the. What are the key moments in games? That was not the case for this Soviet game. The noise was constant. I mean, you could barely hear the guy next to you in the press box. And that was from start to finish. When play was going on, it's like, when are these people going to settle down? And the USA chants never stopped. I don't know who started that, but they never stopped.
Dan Bernstein
It was.
Dave Kerner
Apparently Even the Soviets had to look around and say, what is going on here in terms of this atmosphere?
Dan Bernstein
According to the documentary, it was actually the mother of Dave Christian, who. It's. It's. This is like a Mrs. O' Leary's cow kind of legend, but apparently she started the very first usa USA chant.
Dave Kerner
Yeah. Well, I don't know. There should be some plaque for her in that arena to this day.
Dan Bernstein
Maybe there is.
Dave Kerner
Dave, it's like something that never ends.
Dan Bernstein
Now, this was really. This is great. This is so cool to find out that you were there, and I'm so glad that you were able to take the time to join us. It's great to see you. And you.
Dave Kerner
You.
Dan Bernstein
It's. At some point, it's not fair that we're aging faster than you are. I don't like that it's bothering.
Matt Battacona
Well, that's what happens when you're a
Dan Bernstein
nice guy, damn it. Well, I wouldn't know.
Matt Battacona
Slower, right?
Dave Kerner
Yeah. Maybe just a little bit to be said for that.
Matt Battacona
I don't know.
Dave Kerner
Good. Good genes. That's about all. Chalk it up to.
Matt Battacona
Hey, Dave, as we let you go again. We really do appreciate your time, and I. I would regret not being able to ask you all your years at the score and, you know, we just recently lost.
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Matt Battacona
Terry would love to hear your thoughts or any story that you want to share before we say goodbye.
Dave Kerner
I'll tell you about Terry, at least my. You know, I interacted with him here and there. Not extensively, but Terry always had my back. I think you know this, Dan, when. When we would do. When I do bear reports and it's you two on the air, you know. What are you talking about? Terry always had my back, and I always loved and respected him for that. That. That probably is vivid. A memory is of Terry as I would have. Just amazingly entertaining. Dan, you were so lucky to sit with him for all those years and all that great stuff.
Dan Bernstein
And I know I was.
Dave Kerner
I mean, that whole experience at the score when I got there in 97 was just. I'm blown away by it even to this day, you know, to have worked with all you guys.
Dan Bernstein
Thanks for joining us, man. This is great. Much appreciated.
Dave Kerner
My pleasure.
Matt Battacona
All right, Dave, we'll talk to you soon, pal.
Dave Kerner
See, you know.
Matt Battacona
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
That is longtime reporter and anchor from the Score from WBBM News Radio, Dave Kerner.
Matt Battacona
How cool is that?
Dan Bernstein
His retirement.
Dave Kerner
How cool.
Matt Battacona
I mean, I was so. I was so when I got the email saying, oh, yeah, I was there, I was like, perfect. Even better. Let's do it.
Dan Bernstein
So march is around the corner. College basketball's heating up. It means it's time to get in on the action with my bookie. Conference races are tightening bubble. Teams are fighting for their lives. Every game matters. Every possession feels bigger. And it's when things start to really get fun. If you have not done this yet, not gotten on my bookie, I'm waiting to hear. Matty was texting me last night with all of his. His various NBA. He's Mr. NBA now.
Matt Battacona
I love it.
Dan Bernstein
Dude, he is. He is the king of the NBA.
Matt Battacona
I wake up now and I check the schedule.
Dan Bernstein
What were you.
Matt Battacona
You were. You were 8 and 2.
Dan Bernstein
What are you now, like 13 and 2 or something?
Matt Battacona
So no, 11. Yeah, there's those three last night. So 11 and 2.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, that's some sort of ridiculous run. And it's not just about picking winners. The prop board is loaded. There's player points, there's team totals, there's futures. There's tournament odds value everywhere when you're paying attention. So jump in. This is the time to do it. It's one account, one wallet. You can bet the spread live, bet the second half, hit the casino between games. Everything is in one place. Everything is at MyBookie AG. So go there now, armed with the code DBU. And your first bet's covered up to 500 bucks. If it doesn't hit, you then have a bet back, bonus token, and you can run it back. It's like it didn't happen. MyBookie AG. Your code DBU for Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered register deposit, and you're in. And then you're not just watching the madness build. You're making it pay. With my bookie.
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Dan Bernstein
It is now time for a 312Sports Olympic update. Here's Matt Battacona.
Matt Battacona
Yeah, only fitting that we do our Olympic updates right out of that conversation with with Dave about Olympic hockey because yesterday there was a gold medal earned from the women's ice hockey team and incredibly exciting, awesome game to watch. I don't know how much of it you were able to catch.
Dan Bernstein
I caught, I watched the entire thing in the office. I had it on sitting while I was sitting there at the board in your regular seat while I was doing my top ten list.
Matt Battacona
Awesome. Yeah, I jumped in about four minutes that had passed in the first quarter. Able to watch the entire thing after that. And the U.S. women they, they tie the game with 204 left in the third. Hillary Knight, she becomes the all time leading goal scorer for the USA Women's hockey. So ties it one to one and then in overtime, Megan Keller with the beautiful overtime winner. First of all, the length of ice pass that came from behind the USA goal and extended past center ice to get Megan Keller the puck. And then she makes a beautiful move going from the left side of the ice, moves it from forehand to backhand with a beautiful little backhand flip that gets right underneath the goalie's blocker, between the blocker and like her right leg and slides in for the winner two to one. Was, it was really exciting. It was awesome. It was awesome to see the celebration. So women, they, they win the gold 2 to 1 over Canada. Switzerland won the bronze in a 2 to 1 victory over Sweden. Also in the Olympics yesterday, Alyssa Liu wins the gold. One of the more improbable that was great of this Olympics for women's single figure skating. So she had taken like a 8 or 10 year hiatus from from figure skating and just got back into the sport like a year ago. And now here she is representing her country and winning the gold medal for women's single figure skating. Jordan Stoles gets his third medal. The speed skater from Wisconsin, he finished with the silver in the 1500 meter speed skate. So that's his third medal to gold. So he had gold in the 500, the 1000 and then the silver in the 1500. The skater from China that won that gold medal, he actually set an Olympic record. So today going on in the Olympics, USA and Slovakia, they play at 2:10 in the semifinal game. Canada and Finland. Once you all listen to this podcast, that game will probably be ending or just close to the end. Canada and Finland, the winner of that game will also play in the gold medal game. So we'll see if USA can get the win today against Slovakia. 210. And that gold medal game is Sunday morning on the medal count. Norway's is running away with it. They have 17 gold medals, which is insane, but they have 36. US has then surpassed now has jumped Italy in second with 27. We have nine golds for the USA, one off their record for Winter Olympics. Italy's at 26. Japan has passed Germany, they're at 24. Germany has 22. And now France on the board at 20. So that's your medal count and that'll do it for an Olympic update today.
Dan Bernstein
That has been your Olympic update on 312Sports with Matt Abaticola.
Matt Battacona
You know, I'll tell you this too, Dan, about hockey. I don't know what it is because
Dan Bernstein
it's not like some kind of music faith.
Matt Battacona
Yeah. It's not some kind of extra like patriotic thing. Like I'm not like, oh my God, I gotta cheer for the USA teams. I'll watch international hockey over NHL stuff any day. I mean, it just, it is. I, I've watched more than just USA Games, whatever reason. And it's not just because I'm not like some huge Olympic thing where it's like I just, I look forward to the Olympics and I kind of got to watch the Olympics.
Dan Bernstein
You don't have to excuse it. You don' to sort of like compartmentalize or justify.
Matt Battacona
Yeah, it's great, it's great. It's really, it's really exciting. It's fun to watch.
Dan Bernstein
Man, you got Kenny Albert doing the games. Who you, I mean, this is, you know that you've got a top line broadcast and a lot of knowledge of the people involved. And it's cool to see NHL players and pro players in their various home leagues or from other places across the globe. There isn't a whole lot of stylistic difference anymore in large part because what we were talking about with Dave, like you don't see, you don't see teams really play a lot of highly variant styles. Some obviously will trap in the neutral zone more. Some are going to forecheck more than than others play more offensive or defensive games. But it's, it's pretty high level hockey.
Matt Battacona
You know, it's the jerseys too. Jerseys are awesome. Canadian one, they have the, the black one with the red maple leaf. Yeah, it's really, really cool looking.
Dan Bernstein
It's nice. Time now to begin Friday Feedback Friday. This is when your voices, your emails, everything is compiled here. And I want you to know that I do read everything and I try to reply to everything that comes in. And it's no shade if you don't get something read in this segment because everything is selected to try to give sort of a fair representation of the things that we talk about throughout a week. And sometimes that one responsible stand is representative of much that came in. I did send you a voice message from this week, did I not? You did run it.
Matt Battacona
All right, let me get it. Volume here. Sorry. All right, here we go.
Dave Kerner
Hey Dan and Matt, love your guys show and love your respective su.
Matt Battacona
All that keeps running through my mind today as you guys are talking about
Dan Bernstein
the White Sox latest Black History Month
Dave Kerner
poster is Gene Honda's voice saying, ladies and gentlemen, kindly please stand and remove your hats as the White Sox organization wishes to honor and acknowledge the blackness of number 35, Frank Thomas.
Dan Bernstein
Well done. Y that, that one got a smile out of me. And you say, well, how do you leave a voice message? Well, here's how you see this, this app right here that says 312 sports. You hit that app and then you're in the 312 sports universe and you can just follow all kinds of prompts. You can listen to everything that we have here. You can listen to this podcast forward progress from the 50 organizations win championships. There are all kinds of things that you can win with the, with our special giveaways that we have. And also you can leave the voice message. So it's all there. It's a free app. Get it in the Apple Store or Google Play, wherever you download your apps to your phone. I'm not supposed to say download, but I said it anyway.
Matt Battacona
You gotta get it.
Dan Bernstein
I think they understand. Here's this is J in Cortland and Jay says thank you for emphasizing Frank Thomas contribution to the 05 season. Though heartbreaking in hindsight that he couldn't finish the season in what became the World Series, it's important to note the White Sox won that division by six games. Looking at his game log that season, a broken Frank Thomas directly contributed in seven games that they won by three or fewer runs, including one game they won one to nothing and he had the only run batted in. You take away those wins, they miss the playoffs on paper. So I specifically wanted to give Frank Thomas credit and I told Frank that the day after they won the World Series too. So that was. It was extra satisfying to be able to say that to him personally. This was sent in by Josh and Josh said, what really is bothering me about this MLB labor dispute is that MLB needs to establish a salary floor and a ceiling to make the sport more competitive because that'll supposedly level the playing field for all the non competitive teams who can't match with the Dodgers and Mets spend. Why is it always labor that must accept a limit on their salary growth? More importantly, why is it the conversation always centers around the players pay being the fungible piece? If I was advising the players Association, I'd recommend turning the conversation on its head and say if 15 Major League Baseball teams can't match with the Dodgers and Mets spend sounds like they can't afford to own a baseball team. And if the affordability of owning a baseball team isn't really the issue, but rather a convenient subterfuge for greed, that we should construct language in the agreement which states if an owner's unwilling or unable to compete fiscally over the term of 5 to 10 years based on some standard, then their ownership is forfeited. I know it's unrealistic, but I can dream. Thanks, Josh. I like the way you phrase that and I do think, if it makes you feel better, I do think that the players are extremely aware of that, of being able to flip that narrative. Maybe not that exact way Kyle says. Guys, I love the pod and thank you for talking about the Chicago sex Dungeon. I visited their website. I entered the code DBU and let me tell you, thanks. That code unlocked a secret section of the dungeon that included a rousing round of taking the fun out of sex, 60 minutes of constant worrying, all while being whipped by a smallmouth bass. Thanks, Dan.
Matt Battacona
That was funny, that one. I laughed out loud on that one.
Dan Bernstein
I know, it's great.
Matt Battacona
That was great. Hey, I don't know if you saw this one from or if you're planning on including it, but the email that came through from Reese when we were talking about the Norman Rockwell picture and then the one that was redone by the New York Times.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, there were multiple people who sent in pictures of that particular print and there's like LeBron in the background.
Matt Battacona
That's what I wanted to bring up. I didn't. That's what. That's what Reese brings out. I didn't realize. In the crowd right behind where the Cubs dugout is is Tom hanks.
Dan Bernstein
Yep.
Matt Battacona
And LeBron James.
Dan Bernstein
Yep.
Matt Battacona
And like, I guess, you know, unless you're really examining the picture, you're looking more at the Cubs players. Yeah. It's clear as day and you can see Tom Hanks and LeBron James yelling and laughing. So very funny.
Dave Kerner
Good.
Matt Battacona
Good catch on that. Thanks for pointing that out.
Dan Bernstein
This is from Government Fromage, who says your discussion about the dangers of the NBA's potential use of AI to improve or make its product more accessible for fans based on their desires made me think of a conversation back in 2005 about a Gatorade ad. Gatorade released an ad showing Michael Jordan missing The shot on Elo in 1989, along with other famous sports moments altered digitally where the outcomes changed. Dan, I remember at the time you expressed concern that this technology in the wrong hands could allow governments to alter news footage in a different way than what actually happened. That's right. It was 21 years ago, he said. Surprisingly, this hasn't yet happened with this administration. But I digress. Dan, I wonder if using the similar tech as the NBA is toying with you wouldn't have just that Bulls fans are watching their team win over the Spurs. Spurs fans are going to work the next day also celebrating victory. It'd be negated come playoff time with the 82 and oh Bulls face the equally perfect 82 and oh Nets. Someone would have to lose, which would be the red pill moment the NBA would have been putting off. Interesting conversation notwithstanding, I think this is where the AI experiment would fall apart and maybe it would be relegated to just having a these Dems does or a pack the cat play by play. And that's the only way that it gets used. Well, thank you for sharing my worries, Mike. I. I appreciate it because. Yes, and let do let the record show I 20 years ago when I saw that, my first thought was oh yeah.
Matt Battacona
And I think it's a really important note that if you're going to utilize social media at all and you see something and you just think it's oh my God, this is unbelievable. Or unreal. I got to repost it. I got to share it. Just check everything. Seriously, just check everything. I mean, you, you. It doesn't matter. I'm not talking about political sides here or what your beliefs are. Everything. No, you cannot trust or believe anything that you see anything.
Dan Bernstein
I had somebody send me this awesome video the other day, and it was this long monologue of George Will talking about things. I said, wow, this is really. And then I realized this just is fake. Yeah, it just faked like, like completely, completely fake. Whole cloth fake.
Matt Battacona
Yeah. I've seen things with celebrities and well known personalities or individuals, whether they're in entertainment or politics, and it's just a video of them talking. And you can, if you, if you're smart enough to watch it, you'd see it. You say, well, this is AI created. This is not real. And what it can do is very dangerous. So just don't, don't like just click repost immediately. No matter what the, what the platform is, just check everything. You just, if something sounds crazy or unbelievable or unreal, it probably is those things. So check them first.
Dan Bernstein
I'll make mistakes too. I know I will. Yeah, I know, I know I'm going to. But, but you're right, to guard against it is really good advice. Our guy, Dr. J, says, Guys, I know you've both stressed your desire for a domed stadium in the future for the Bears because it's a smart thing to do, and your preference for pristine indoor football. My question is, does this expand to other sports as well? Domed baseball. It got me thinking when we were watching the end of the AT&T tournament at pebble beach. The players were fighting those massive wind gusts and it added a ton of intrigue, surviving the elements portrayed as mandatory for certain types of golf. Does that kind of sentiment roll into football at all for you? I think it's a very fair question to try to find out sort of where the, where the boundaries are here. What I would say is the difference between golf and football in my eyes is easy. You're not playing against other golfers. Other golfers are not trying to block your swing there. You're not trying to run around them. You. Golf is you. Your opponent is the course. Your opponent is everyone's opponent that day. The elements, everybody is individually playing against the golf course. And some days that golf course is defined by its proximity to an ocean. And that's part of what's amazing about the greatest professional golfers is they're not playing in the same stadiums each week. And then the same boundaries. Everything is completely different. Different kinds of grass, different kinds of sand, different cuts to the greens. That, that is the, that is essential to the game because that is your opponent in a football game. You're ostensibly playing against these other people, and it just so happens that the ball gets blown or you're slipping around. And that's where I think it becomes unfair and unsatisfying.
Matt Battacona
Well, not only that too. To a certain extent, golf will stop play based on weather, as will baseball. We all, we all know where football, that generally is not going to happen unless it's something horrific. But you're going to keep playing in the elements. That's just considered part of the game. And I just, I just don't like it where other sports they, they will stop or pause play based on weather.
Dan Bernstein
Jeff says, Dan, you mentioned that you would be technically if the United States had a worrying team, that you would be a medalist in Olympic worrying. Dan, that's an incorrect statement. I cannot in good conscience let stand. I don't blame you for being ignorant of this because you've never met my mother. Regardless of the insignificant worries you allow yourself, you're at best a distant silver behind. Dear Mom, I'm 53. Since I was now 18 or since I was 18, this is Jeff. I have said these two statements regularly about her. There are herbivores. There are carnivores. There are even omnivores. She is the first documented nerve of war. She gets literal sustenance from needless worry. The other thing I say is she can find the cloud in every silver lining. Here are just a couple of examples that I would gladly love to hear you top. In 1999, she filled our back porch steps with at least 100 gallons of water in anticipation of Y2K. For the last 10 years, she and my late father oversaw a corn farm in Indiana. She would stay up at night with a fire bucket filled with sand looking out of the window in case the crops catch fire in that area of Indiana. It had never happened in the 180 years the farm had been in our family. She now lives with me. Four days ago, she called me at work to come back and make sure the door was locked because she didn't want to get kidnapped like Savannah Guthrie's mom. These are a few mild examples.
Matt Battacona
We have a winner, folks. Gold medal.
Dan Bernstein
If you can form an Olympic worrying team, my mother must at least, least be co captain.
Matt Battacona
Oh, no. She knows.
Dan Bernstein
Yes.
Dave Kerner
Coach.
Matt Battacona
Coach. She's coach and gold medalist. Everyone's competing for the silver.
Dan Bernstein
That's. Yeah, that's that. We're probably into the pathology side of things here. Like, like, probably need some therapy and treatment, but I'm just an amateur in that regard. I don't want to have too much fun at her expense. But we'll have a little, because that's what we do good stuff. Yeah, it is. Finally for Friday Feedback Friday I have this from Cam in Bridgeport, so I caught this week's episode on Adam Silver's All Star Weekend Comments about AI revolutionizing Sports Broadcast Dan, when you said his predictions freaked you out a bit, wondered if it was just more AI hype. I'm 28, which means I'm only one generation removed from from my papa and his brother riding their horse named Chooch to school every day in Melrose Park. That wasn't ancient history was basically yesterday in the grand scheme. I suspect when I tell my future grandkids I used to ride my bike to school, they'll look at me the same way I looked at stories about Chooch. Like I'm describing life on another planet. Silver described AI delivering what he called the most significant change in how sports are presented in his lifetime Hyper Personalized experiences. Fans can choose their own announcers, languages, camera angles, even shop mid game watch from a player's point of view. It sounds futuristic and exciting on one level, but sure, there's something unsettling about it, like we're on the cusp of something that could alter or end the shared communal way we've experienced sports. That eerie feeling immediately made me think of Arthur C. Clarke's classic sci fi novel Childhood's End. Without spoiling too much for anyone who hasn't read it, the story involves advanced beings who arrive on Earth and they usher in a utopia. They end war, poverty, disease and strife. Humanity enters a golden age of peace and abundance under their benevolent guidance. But ultimately this help marks the end of humanity's independent phase our childhood, as we evolve into something transcendent and no longer recognizably human. The optimistic pitch for AI feels parallel a powerful, seemingly benevolent technology that promises to perfect our entertainment, solve engagement problems, give us everything we want. But what if it quietly oversees the end of the raw, unpredictable collective experience that makes live sports special? The shared groans, the iconic calls, the water cooler moments. Could hyper personalization isolate us in perfect bubbles and signal childhood's end for traditional sports fandom? The book also explores this tension. They're a group of humans who resist the utopia. They form a colony called New Athens. They deliberately choose to live closer to the old way. They embrace struggle and imperfection and independence in hopes of preserving creativity and preserving human spirit. In our sports context, I can imagine a future where some die hard fans push back and demand the classic shared broadcast, same feed, same announcers, unpredictable chaos that's binding us together. But we can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. This isn't a slow, careful squeeze of the toothpaste. It's exploding everywhere at a speed and scale that's weaving the technology in every corner of our lives. I believe the pendulum will swing back. There will always be room and eventually real demand for those of us who do crave an original communal fan experience.
Matt Battacona
Nice.
Dan Bernstein
I hope you're right, Cam. That's really well written and I appreciate it. And it's. It's ultimately pretty optimistic. And I may. It's been years since I've looked at childhood's end, but that is. It's a good little wreck. I've noticed that too, via the. Our emails. We get so many recommendations. I would. I need a whole other lifetime to really follow up on all of the books, television shows, series. I've never heard of conventions. And it's all for good reason. It's all people really wanting us to experience some of these things. And it's just. It's very cool. I'm really. I'm enjoying this. This new community. It's not that new anymore, but I'm really enjoying it with everybody who becomes a part of it.
Matt Battacona
Yeah. Next Wednesday, six months.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. It's amazing. Mm. Wow.
Matt Battacona
Let's go.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, that's. That's pretty cool. That's great. You know what else is great?
Matt Battacona
My.
Dan Bernstein
The new windows all over my house. And this is. I'm finding now that my house has hit 20 years. It's just a matter of how quickly we're replacing some of the original stuff. Like I say, well, I'm here at home today because the water. New water heater is coming. And with the. I was too late to do the window windows. And knowing what I know now, I would have called Russ earlier. I would have done all the windows earlier because of the difference that it makes. Don't wait. Russ is waiting for your call so he can hook you up just like he took care of me. You hear about all these deals, about all of these. Buy one, get one free and buy two, get one or 50% off. He's going to match any price. That's first and foremost. So anything someone else has told you. Russ is going to explain what the real deal is and he'll give you that best deal without a gimmick. It's just the best product at the best price. Call Russ. Call Chicago Window Guys. 847-302-9171. Check out the five star reviews at Chicago Window Guys dot com. Ask when you're getting quotes about who's doing the install because most places won't know. They use subcontracted labor. They use third parties. Russ doesn't. They're all his folks. He knows everybody that's in and around your house. So there's some peace of mind there, too. It's why I recommend Russ to anybody who asks. 847-302-9171 and chicagowindowguys.com this episode is brought
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Matt Battacona
All right, time for our top 10 list this Friday and did something a little, little different where we wanted to tap into some creativity and there was wide parameters of how you could go about this. But we wanted to come up with the top 10 Olympic events, our own creative top 10 Olympic events, like new events, new opportunities for people to participate in the Olympics. And there was a myriad of ways that you could have interpreted this. And the parameters were wide open. The approach that I took and before we do our list, let's share our approach to it. Mine was I have 10 with one honorable mention. And I crafted a list of events that I think I would compete well in and possibly meddle in. That was my approach to it.
Dan Bernstein
Okay. I honestly am not deluded enough to think that there is any single possible event, even if tailored specifically for myself, that there wouldn't be at least maybe 100 people on the planet. They're probably better at it than I am.
Matt Battacona
Sure I can appreciate that, and I probably agree with that. But I looked at my own life and specific skills that I have because I have a certain set of skills. I know you do. And making list is one of them.
Dan Bernstein
Even though always is list making an event.
Matt Battacona
List making is not one of them.
Dan Bernstein
It's right there in front of you.
Matt Battacona
I know it is. I know. I know you have it. It seemed too obvious. So I wanted to find my skills and how can I make these into competitive events. And so here's my list. I'll start.
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
Matt Battacona
First is my honorable mention. And this really isn't. I don't know. I don't know if it's a certain skill or if it's just a willingness to try. It also can branch into a TV show I'd love to host. But my honorable mention is my likelihood and willingness to Try sushi in unlikely places.
Dan Bernstein
Okay. You went in a different direction than I did.
Matt Battacona
I went in a completely different direction.
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
Matt Battacona
And now what I specifically look for, I. I specifically look, no matter where I'm at, if I'm trying to.
Dan Bernstein
Is there sushi?
Matt Battacona
Is there sushi in unlikely places?
Sponsor Announcer
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Dan Bernstein
If you're like at a. At a shoe store and they got sushi, you're in.
Matt Battacona
I'm willing to give it a try. The other half of that is gas station restaurants. And I don't mean like gas stations that sell hot dogs off the rollers
Dan Bernstein
or like in the South.
Matt Battacona
I mean a restaurant inside a gas station. Oh, I look for those, and I want to try those.
Dan Bernstein
Go to rural Louisiana. Go to. Go to southern Alabama. Like I've seen in the south, when there aren't things for miles and you get to that gas station and there's like a buffet steam table of stuff.
Matt Battacona
I'm in. I will try it. So I don't really know how. That's why it's an honorable mention. Didn't make the top 10, but the willingness and the. The desire to find sushi and gas station restaurants. All right, so number 10 for me. And this is. Again, we don't debate how you do it.
Dan Bernstein
This is. Jesus.
Matt Battacona
These are topics, and these are skills. But number 10 for me would be repeat movie watching. If we could turn that into a competition of watching the same movie over and over, I know I could meddle in it. Okay, so repeat movie watching. Number nine. This was a game I played a lot as a kid. And this is what we call it. We called it front porch baseball.
Dan Bernstein
Stoop ball.
Matt Battacona
Stoop ball. We called it front porch baseball. So you have to have cement steps. You have a ball, and whether you played alone or with a competitor would. Would change the type of ball you used. So alone, it was a tennis ball. With a competitor, with a friend. It was a rubber ball. Bounce off of it.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, like the, the spalding. The. The pink rubber spalding would be.
Matt Battacona
Yes. So you. You have a line on the. On the. The sidewalk.
Dan Bernstein
That is your.
Matt Battacona
Your rubber. Your pitching mound. You throw the ball against the. The bottom step, and you want it to reflect or to deflect off the. The steps and. And then create a fly ball. Your competitor would have to catch it or you'd have to catch it. You're playing solo. But front porch baseball, or stoop ball, as more commonly known. Number eight. And this is different names, too. And an actual email came in on this one also. But back in berwyn. When I was a kid, we called it skitching. Skate hitching. So skitching was holding onto a car.
Dan Bernstein
I've never done it.
Matt Battacona
Okay, we've done it. And we used to do it.
Sponsor Announcer
You've done it.
Dan Bernstein
You actually grab, like, a school bus.
Matt Battacona
We do it with buses. We would try to do it with buses.
Dan Bernstein
Yes.
Matt Battacona
Was our favorite thing. But I'm pretty sure when I was a kid.
Dan Bernstein
Oh, yeah.
Matt Battacona
I was completely fearless with it. And. And so skitching would be an Olympic medal event that I would try to compete in.
Dan Bernstein
So I'm just trying to picture Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir criticizing your. Your sketching technique. It's like, oh, he just. He grabbed the bumper just a little bit late right there. Or shoe hit the gravel.
Matt Battacona
Make it more competitive. Where there's potholes, you have to avoid the potholes or jump over them and maybe do some kind of. Yeah. Some kind of movement with your body as you're in the air. So. So sketching. Number eight. Number seven. And we talked about this the other day. Google searching. If you can make Google searching into a competition, I'm pretty sure I could meddle in Google searching.
Dan Bernstein
I think most radio producers or people with radio production experience are probably pretty
Matt Battacona
good at it because you had to do it all the time.
Dave Kerner
Yeah.
Matt Battacona
And that's why I love having the supercomputer in my hand, because I'm always curious. And if. And, you know, Natalie could ask me a question, or the boys could ask me a question, or I'll just think of something, and it's just. It's right there. So I love it. Number seven, Google searching. So have we. Are we completely off the paths, you and I?
Dan Bernstein
Don't worry about it.
Matt Battacona
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Don't even. I don't. I don't want a second thought in your mind. I just want to hear the rest of these.
Matt Battacona
Number six and five kind of go hand in hand, but they're. They're different. Number six for me is mixology. And I know there are mixology competitions, but you make that an Olympic event. You give me a pantry of items and say, go create. Like, you could do it two ways. You could say, hey, go make an Old Fashioned, Go make a Harvey Wallbanger, and go make a Rusty Nail. Or you could say, hey, here's. Here's the ingredients. Make a drink.
Dan Bernstein
Okay. We may have a crossover here.
Matt Battacona
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Number three on my list is chopped.
Matt Battacona
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Number three on my list was if you think of country. So my. I was. What I was wondering was, let's Say Japan is going up against the United States or Japan against Italy. Does the. With the Italian only have a pantry of things that could be found in an Italian kitchen because there's so much crossover now, or does everybody have a shot at everything? I just wonder how this would work with different kinds of cuisines. Either way, you open that basket, there's like, there's a. There's a protein, there's a starch, there's a vegetable, and there's something stupid, and there's something. And then there's a bag of Cheetos or something like dollar mix and cupcakes. Right, right, exactly. And. And you can pick the judges however you want, but. But an international chopped Olympic competition.
Matt Battacona
Well, I think that's what I love, what Guy Fieri does with his Tournament of Champions and that randomizer machine they use where he spins the wheel and it'll, like, randomly pick the proteins. I think that might be a good. A good angle for that international competition. Okay, number five is along those lines as well. But I have the ability and the skill to duplicate a dish without a recipe. So here, serve me something. I can eat it and say, all right. Yep, I can. I can make that. I can copy it. So number five.
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
Matt Battacona
Number four and three kind of go hand in hand as well. Number four is car packing.
Dan Bernstein
Oh, oh, trunk packing.
Matt Battacona
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
I'm pretty good.
Matt Battacona
That.
Dan Bernstein
That's something that kicks in.
Matt Battacona
Trunk packing, but not. We all don't have trunks anymore.
Dan Bernstein
A lot of SUVs, so that's something that kicks in at a certain age. It just happens. That happened to me also with hairpiece recognition.
Matt Battacona
Hairpiece recognition. Oh, being able to spot.
Dan Bernstein
Oh.
Matt Battacona
So are you saying that, like, the age was similar for both those skills?
Dan Bernstein
Like, all of a sudden. All of a sudden, I could look
Matt Battacona
at all of the.
Dan Bernstein
The family baggage, and without trial and error, without saying, I'll put this in, I'll take this out. I'll put this. Yeah, I could be like, okay, this, this, this, this, this done.
Matt Battacona
100, dude. Yep, 100. So when we do, we'll do road trips, and if we go and rent an Airbnb and we take the dogs with us. So now you're bringing extra stuff. And so I like to get it out into the garage or into the driveway, and then I scan it, I look at the car, and I go, all right, I know exactly where it's going, and I get everything to fit perfectly. So car packing, trunk packing. Number three for me is dishwasher loading. An absolute skill. Welcome.
Dan Bernstein
You are looking Live at the dishwasher packing facility that has been built especially
Matt Battacona
here in Los Angeles, right for the Olympics. And you get it. You get a whole stack of things. It's like, all right, you got. Not only is there a clock, but there's competition, and you gotta. You gotta beat everybody to it and get it loaded and started. So I could do.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, but what if you have the, the ceramic dish that had Greek yogurt in it, but the water missed it? So you have dried Greek yogurt. Do you take the time to scrape it out? Do you put it in like there's.
Matt Battacona
There's a competition? I mean, like, as you, as you go on further into the metal, like closer to the metal rounds, they start adding. Instead of just like clean dishes, they add dirty dishes. Rinse first.
Dan Bernstein
Do you.
Matt Battacona
Do you trust your dishwasher and your product that you buy to wash it with?
Dan Bernstein
Yep. How stuck are the Fruity Pebbles?
Matt Battacona
That's all part of it.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, exactly.
Matt Battacona
So dishwasher loading, number three. Number two for me is one of my greatest skills of life is towel folding. I fold towels like a motherfucker, and no one's going to beat me. A towel fucking folding. I'm. I'm a gold medalist in towel folding.
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
Matt Battacona
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
And I like it where it's just the ring, where you put it through the ring. You don't have to fold it.
Matt Battacona
I know. Fold it for the, for the closet where you put the linens and your towels. I like it all folded. I like to open that, that, that, that closet door and to see it like a display case at a, At a store, which. That's also. I like my, like the, the drink fridge full of all the waters and stuff and, and my fridge itself, I like to turn everything out. The labels are out. And I like. Yeah, so. I know. Crazy. I know. So number two was towel folding. And my number one skill that I know I would gold medal in because I'm fearless on it. Driving for distance, low on gas.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, I remember that. By the way, I. We went to. God, where did. We were inside, and you were like, you're fine, you're fine, you're fine. We were taking North Avenue all the way west. Like, you're getting Aurora or something.
Matt Battacona
Keep going.
Dan Bernstein
I said the lights on. Nah, you're good. You're absolutely fine. You'll be good.
Matt Battacona
The light is something that big auto makes just a. With you. That's all it is.
Dan Bernstein
Okay. That's what you said.
Matt Battacona
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
It's like an expiration date.
Matt Battacona
So driving for Distance, low on gas. I would gold medal. And it's like. But for, like, to make it competitive in the Olympics, there has to be a consequence to it. So, like, if you. If you. If you, like, if you don't reach your distance, you don't. You run out. Like, something. I don't know, like. Like competitors from, like, Mad Max come out and they get to attack you.
Dan Bernstein
I don't.
Matt Battacona
I don't know.
Dan Bernstein
The buzzards.
Matt Battacona
Yes, they get to come out, but something has to happen. We'll have to figure that out. But driving for distance, low on gas, in my number one.
Dan Bernstein
Well done.
Matt Battacona
Thank you.
Dan Bernstein
I took mine a little more. Not seriously, but a little more straightforward.
Matt Battacona
Sure.
Dan Bernstein
These are possible.
Matt Battacona
That's why I didn't want to, like, discuss it and, like, say, let's do it this way.
Dan Bernstein
Perfect.
Matt Battacona
I just threw the topic out and said, let's see where it goes.
Dan Bernstein
Okay, good. These are. These are possible Olympic events on my list. And these are. Could be winter, could be summer. Number 10, beer pong. Oh, nice and.
Matt Battacona
Love it.
Dan Bernstein
I'm not sure I exactly know the rules. I have. I've seen it played. I've never really played it because when we played it, it was the Dartmouth version that involved actual ping pong. It involved a ping pong table, ping pong paddle, like, playing a game, and there happened to be beers that sat on the table that awarded extra points and drinking, etc. Now it's changed entirely into a game that involves throwing the ball with your hand. And that, I want to say was a Bucknell version that became like, a small east coast liberal arts school thing. But I don't even know the rules of that beer pong, but however they want to do it.
Matt Battacona
Well, with that, I really hope on your list somewhere is taking the fun out of things, because I never thought I could hear someone take the fun out of beer pong.
Dan Bernstein
Nobody's gonna beat me at that. Number nine, darts.
Matt Battacona
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Darts are huge in England, and if you've ever seen their superstars, like, the Wayne Gretzky of darts is.
Matt Battacona
Is.
Dan Bernstein
It's just. They're all fat slobs. They're. They're just gross, and they're chain smoking, and they. They haven't really decided that they need to be in shape. Did you know how annoying it is when, like, some, like, like, like football referees when all of a sudden they're all just. They're just diesel now?
Matt Battacona
Yeah.
Dan Bernstein
Everybody. Have you. Have you seen NBA referees recently?
Matt Battacona
Yeah.
Dan Bernstein
They're all, like, fitness models.
Matt Battacona
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
And we don't we don't see the
Matt Battacona
old guy out of shape, guys.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, yeah. We don't see the pot. If you want that, you gotta have Olympic darts. And then you'll see people where everybody is like that, that, that Turkish shooter at the last Summer Olympics everybody fell in love with. Oh, yeah, but that's everybody. And they're just like, triple 20, triple 20, triple 20. Every dart like, you know, Robin Hooding the other darts. So that was number nine. Number eight. I decided to take something we've seen more of and turn it into its own sport. When you watch swimming in the Summer Olympics, there's always that one race where one person stays underwater the, almost the entire time because there's no rule against it. Yeah, they dive down and they swim underwater for like four laps. They pop up, and by the time they pop up, they're way ahead of everybody. And then they start the actual swimming. Well, I'm going to close that loophole. If you happen to be good at that, you are going to compete in underwater swimming.
Matt Battacona
So you can't come up at all.
Dan Bernstein
You can't come up. And when you come up, you're out.
Matt Battacona
Okay? So either you die or you win.
Dan Bernstein
Last person up wins.
Matt Battacona
There you go.
Dan Bernstein
That's it. And no, you'll, you'll come up and your body will tell you, that's it. I'm out. People will tap out, but the last person, and it's not just sitting underwater. You got to be moving because you get extra points for, for how far you get. We'll figure it all out. But underwater swimming is number eight. Love it. Number seven. Mini golf.
Matt Battacona
Oh, nice.
Dan Bernstein
We've seen Olympic golf. We have not seen the best on the planet at mini golf. And that means you, you, you pick your putter out of a bin, you don't get your sponsored putter, and all you, you, you pick. Sometimes you get a good one, sometimes you get a weird one. And you either get the blue ball, the pink ball, or, and you. There could be one where you're allowed to hit someone else's ball because there's. Some people have different rules, but either way, I want to know who the actual best on the planet are going to be at mini golf. That's great because I think it'd be fun. And then you could have all these Olympic themed obstacles, all sorts of cool stuff that you can do. Bonus points that could be endlessly entertaining. Number six. I thought about this one a lot. In the Winter Olympics, there are any number of ways that we compete at getting down A mountain. Right. So there's skeleton, there's luge. There's the various bobs. There's skiing. My idea. Downhill race. No equipment. Just get the. Down the mountain as fast as you can. I don't care. I don't care if you roll. I don't care if you. If you want to pick. You have to strategize. You may have to, like, dodge between trees. You. You may have to jump, or you may just have to slide on your ass, but that's. However you have to get down that mountain. That's the race. You don't have any skis. You don't have a sled.
Matt Battacona
Right? So.
Dan Bernstein
But the.
Matt Battacona
The terrain is. What is grass, rocks?
Dan Bernstein
I don't know.
Matt Battacona
Or is there snow? Or there various.
Sponsor Announcer
I don't know.
Matt Battacona
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. Yeah.
Matt Battacona
It could be just, I think get down the hill.
Dan Bernstein
I picture it as a Winter Olympic event.
Matt Battacona
Okay. Get down the hill.
Dan Bernstein
Winter Olympic. You're on top of the snowy mountain. Whoever gets down here first wins. I don't care what you do. I'll be here. I'm just. I'm gonna be here. First person I see. You're the winner.
Matt Battacona
That's great.
Dan Bernstein
Just get down the hill. You can tumble. You can. You can just throw yourself down there. You. You might win if you just jump. You might be dead, but you be. You'll be immortal.
Matt Battacona
First one down.
Dan Bernstein
First one down. Tom wins. Is he dead? Yeah, he's dead, but he won.
Matt Battacona
So Ms. Gold.
Dave Kerner
Yep. Give.
Dan Bernstein
Give that man school. However you got to do it. Get the fuck down the hill.
Matt Battacona
Is that's what you got to call it?
Dan Bernstein
Yep, that's it.
Matt Battacona
It's called get the fuck down the hill.
Dan Bernstein
Number five is ultimate frisbee.
Matt Battacona
Nice.
Dan Bernstein
Because I loved playing that game as a kid. I loved it. It was my favorite evening program at camp. Like, after dinner, beautiful summer night. You kind of just want to get. You know, you had a. You want to run off your dinner, and it's. It's. You can. However big a field that you want, it just. You need a little bit. Everything. You got to be fast. You got to have good hands. You got to anticipate. You got to be physical when you. You're. You're going up for a jump ball that's just kind of hanging there, spinning in the air, ripping that thing down. I ulta. And I see it played here sometimes at Lane Stadium across the street. And there's some really good players, but put some ultimate teams together. Number four on my list of potential Olympic sports falconry and however you want to do it. But it should be a bird that's native to your home country.
Matt Battacona
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
It has to be a bird that's native to your home country. And if you. If it has to go. If you want to do it like in a stadium, where it has to go get baton and bring it back to you and. Or has to do. Or get this and bring it back to you, but it has to do your bidding somehow. Or you can send them. You can do it ancient style, medieval style, and send them all off into the woods. And whoever comes back with more food, if you've got, like a Eurasian eagle owl that is trained to bring you back a small deer, and, you know, the US People have a red tail hawk. And there it goes. And it brings back a rabbit, you lose because the other thing brought back more things. Food.
Matt Battacona
Right. And then whatever they bring back, you could weigh and like the most.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you have a party and eat everything.
Matt Battacona
There you go.
Dan Bernstein
So. Because. So. So falconry is number four. Along those same lines, number three is. Is competitive fishing. And there's any number of ways you can do this. Where it could be wicked tuna style, where you just have the various boats representing the various countries. And over. It could be over the two weeks of the Olympics where you're constantly checking in because you need a larger sample size than just one day on the water because of conditions and all that. Everybody gets the same baits to choose from. You have a limited number of spots where you can go. And there can be a lottery system to determine who gets first choice of spots. There has to be a minimum distance between boats, so you can't go bogart somebody's spot. But then it would be total pounds of tuna within whatever you set up. And ideally, or whatever you're catching, you hope to release everything. And it could be bill fishing. It could be for marlin and sailfish. It could be ice fishing for the Winter Olympics. You get to choose where your holes go, and you get to see who pulls up the most of whatever is in, you know, Lake Placid. Yeah, so that was an idea.
Matt Battacona
I like it.
Dan Bernstein
Number two, and this one is obvious, and it's been a long time coming, and it would be absolutely awesome. Dodgeball. We gotta do dodgeball. Just be. Think about if. If you were putting the US Team together right now from all the major sports, who would be in the US Team? Who would be your starting five or six, however many would be for dodgeball?
Matt Battacona
Oh, pitchers and quarterbacks.
Dan Bernstein
Not even, like, could you Imagine Pete Crowe, Armstrong.
Matt Battacona
Oh, yeah.
Dan Bernstein
How about Caleb Williams, his ability to dodge.
Matt Battacona
Oh, yeah.
Dan Bernstein
Who's better at evading things than Caleb Williams and throwing things? So. And this all.
Matt Battacona
You could have Zacchaeus hands, man.
Dan Bernstein
Damn it. I dropped it again. But there's. There's a lot of, like, I don't think basketball. You ever seen basketball players really try to throw a couple of outlet passers, but they're too big. Yeah, they're too big.
Matt Battacona
And then, like, the running. The running wouldn't be good for their.
Dan Bernstein
And you just throw it at their feet.
Matt Battacona
Yeah.
Dan Bernstein
You know, you just hit him in the chin. What is. What is. They're.
Matt Battacona
They're not avoiding balls as well.
Dan Bernstein
Well, this. And a lot of this stems from something I saw at which. What. It was the trampoline thing over on Howard street where we went sky high, I think it's called. And it was Jason's.
Matt Battacona
That's the dispensary.
Dan Bernstein
Jason's 8U travel baseball team was there for somebody's birthday party, and then they opened up open dodgeball for anybody who is there open dodgeball in teams. I have never seen a group dominate like the 8U travel baseball team.
Matt Battacona
That's funny.
Dan Bernstein
Beating all the adults because they never run out of energy. They're constantly bouncing everywhere. They can all catch and they can all throw, and they're tiny, so you couldn't hit them. It was like a bunch of crazed Ewoks that were just sort of all bouncing around and then. So you could put teams together and you could have. Could you imagine, like, the Puerto Rican team with Francisco Lindor and Javier Baez. Could you imagine, like. Like how difficult they would be to beat? It would just be really cool. Dodgy is number two now, and number one is based on something we did at Northstar camp that was always a highlight of every season at camp and every camp that does color wars. Whatever your colors may be, whether you're red and white or blue and yellow, whatever it is, Northstar's colors are green and white. And color wars went on all year. But the big thing was called the green and white marathon. And the green white marathon was everything. It was a race, a relay race in multiple stages of every possible activity you could imagine. And the point was to include everyone in the camp. Every single kid participated in some way
Matt Battacona
in the marathon because it wasn't all based on athletics.
Dan Bernstein
Not necessarily.
Matt Battacona
Right.
Dan Bernstein
It can be, but you. There is. There's a huge property here. There's acres and acres of property. And it would use up the Entire area of the camp. And it was green versus white. And it would begin with a run. The gun sounds and the runners run and they run whatever is a half a mile. And then you tag the next person and the next group that's tagged. Everybody is. There's one little tin can and there is a bucket on the beach. And it is a relay race to fill that bucket until it spills. And when that bucket spills, another runner takes off. And that runner goes to archery. And by the time that runner slaps the archery shed is when your archer can begin firing to earn enough points to send the next runner. And then the next, the next runner goes to volleyball. And then your two people have to have a rally of 10 hits over the net without the ball falling. And then the next runner goes and they can go to tennis. And they could go. We have somebody at the dock who had to pull three fish out of the water on a hook. And then the next runner goes to the next thing.
Matt Battacona
Was there. Was there one where you'd like you brush mother's hair or rub her feet?
Dan Bernstein
We didn't have that. But. But you could. For the other kids, there was like for the non athletic, but we could, we could. Yeah, you could do whatever you want. And then if you want it, we're in. And so like, even for the non athletic kids, there'd be like lanyard making. And it was, you know, go, you know, make lanyards like the wind. And when you get to the top, then that sends somebody else up. And it always ends with the fire building. However many events, you know, just swimming events, that there's diving, there's swimming, there's. There's all this stuff swim across the lake and back and it ends with fire building. And you have to, once you're ready to go, you get one match and you have to construct a fire with a number 10 can filled with soapy water. And until that you win the first team to have that water boil over.
Matt Battacona
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Because your fire is so hot. Or you can do.
Matt Battacona
Then you'd have to go to like balance the spreadsheet, examine the diamonds.
Dan Bernstein
I was just gonna say differential diagnosis of a heart problem. And then it was determining determining potential conflicts of interest in client representation presentation. It was right. Adjust to. To recently enacted tax law.
Matt Battacona
Oh God.
Dan Bernstein
That was part of it.
Matt Battacona
There was always. There had to be always one kid with a briefcase at North Star.
Dan Bernstein
You know, all the time they were checking our work. But. But that. The idea of a. I love it.
Matt Battacona
No, that's fine.
Dan Bernstein
The Same.
Matt Battacona
But to do like a massive one like that for.
Dan Bernstein
With all the Olympic sports. Yes, with all the things. It's like you take off and do this and you do your thing and you do your. Your thing, and it's all a multi stage propagating relay race.
Matt Battacona
You know, it just. It just sparked a memory too, of you could do like a massive country by country, capture the flag. Oh, dude, that would be fun.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. Jailbreak.
Matt Battacona
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
That was the best.
Dave Kerner
That's good.
Dan Bernstein
Good stuff.
Matt Battacona
I love it. I'm glad that we took. We took different avenues on this. It was fun.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, that was fun. That was really, really good.
Matt Battacona
Wait, where did your. Where did your chopped one fit in?
Dan Bernstein
That was third.
Matt Battacona
Third.
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
Matt Battacona
Three.
Dave Kerner
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Yes, three was chopped.
Matt Battacona
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
All right. And it could be. If you want it to be very specific to the countries, it could be. But if you were to have a judging panel that could appreciate different kinds of cuisines, it probably would have to be democratized a little bit. In that way, it marches around the corner. College basketball's heating up. Do not miss any of the action with my bookie right now because as every game starts to matter that we're getting into the conference tournaments and you can really start to get an idea of how these teams are doing competitively, and things start to really, really get fun right now. So make sure you're doing that. There are big matchups all over the schedule right now. Don't miss the My Bookie prop board. It's deep, it's fun to play. You got player performances, game milestones, everything in between. Things are interesting all game long. Remember the code for you when you go to my bookie and when you register and deposit, don't forget DBU. That's your code at MyBookie AG. And then your first bets covered, up to 500 bucks. If it doesn't hit, you got a bet back bonus token. You can run it back. One account, one wallet. It's all in one place. It's all at MyBookie AG. Your code is DBU. Don't just watch the action. Make it pay with my bookie. Which brings us to our DBU picks that we do every Monday, every Friday. These are presented by my bookie. All right.
Matt Battacona
I'm staying in the NBA because as you mentioned earlier, my last 13, 11 and two against the spread. I only got two games tonight. I felt confident about. We're looking at Oklahoma City. OKC is laying 18 against the Nets, who gave me a big win last night. The cavs were laying 13 and a half against the Nets and they won by like 40. So back to back nights for the Nets. OKC was off yesterday. So they're laying 18 against the Nets and then the Lakers are laying six and a half against the Clippers. So we're going to give those points. So OKC minus 18, the Lakers minus six and a half. Both hosting their opponents, Lakers and Clippers, Thunder and Nets.
Dan Bernstein
Talking about US Olympic hockey kind of got me in the mood for this. So this afternoon it's going to be the US Against Slovakia. The US Is favored by two and a half goals, which seems like a lot of goals. But then I looked at the over under and the over under is six for total goals. I'm going to take the under. It just seems like a lot to me. Six is a lot. And if a team wants to play a defensive game and do all that neutral zone trapping and just try to give themselves a chance with something late by playing, kind of a push game might happen. So with that possibility, and maybe it's not, and maybe it ends up being eight to four, but I'm going to take the under of that total of six goals in USA Slovakia. And those are DBU picks. Lock in your picks now with my bookie bet on anything, anywhere, anytime.
Matt Battacona
Yeah, my, my picks yesterday, actually it was. It was 16 and a half. The Cavs were laying 16 and a half against Brooklyn, and then Toronto was minus five and a half against the Bulls. And I thought the easiest pick of the game yesterday or of the schedule yesterday was Detroit at New York getting four and a half. And they won that one pretty easily.
Dan Bernstein
Detroit's good. Yeah, Detroit could win the title.
Matt Battacona
Yes, they could. Yes, they absolutely could. And I love watching Cade Cunningham. I was so excited when we went. We were in New York in December of 24 and we caught a Knicks Pistons game. And I wasn't much into the NBA, wasn't, you know, really familiar with all the guys. But I was watching Cunningham, I'm like, holy.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, it's a good player.
Matt Battacona
And then, you know, seeing him and Brunson play in person, it was just. It was a lot of fun. That was really cool.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. So, yeah, if you're, if you want to get in on the bandwagon for the Detroit Pistons, you might be a little late, but I know Jason got a Cade Cunningham jersey two years ago.
Matt Battacona
Oh, nice.
Dan Bernstein
So he's excited about having that. I don't know when he wears it, but yeah, that will be Dan Bernstein unfiltered for this Friday. And we thank you for being a part of it for another exciting and certainly newsworthy week. So that does it. We have been brought to you in partnership with my bookie and brought to you by our friend Russ Armstrong and Chicago Window Guys. Don't forget to give them a call so he can come out and look and get you some new windows. 847-302-9171. We're back at you on Monday.
Matt Battacona
Dan Bernstein, unfiltered.
Dan Bernstein
Unfiltered on three.
Matt Battacona
One two, sports.
This episode, hosted by Dan Bernstein and Matt Abbatacola, celebrates the upcoming anniversary of the legendary 1980 Olympic "Miracle on Ice" hockey game. Joining them is their longtime colleague, retired sports reporter Dave Kerner, who was in the press box for that iconic USA vs. USSR game in Lake Placid. Kerner shares vivid firsthand memories, insider details, and post-game reflections from that historic night. The conversation also explores the broader evolution of hockey and the deep legacy of that game.
Expectations and Atmosphere (06:49, 18:13)
Turning Point: Tretiak Pulled (07:32)
Soviet Mindgames, Tension, and Coaching Decisions (09:01, 10:03)
On the Tretiak/Myshkin goalie switch:
"When he came out and he went into the net to start the second period, we're, like, looking at each other in the press box, we're saying, indeed, you know what? This is a game."
— Dave Kerner, 08:04
On the postgame atmosphere:
"It felt like a huge party outside... Those guys came out later and people are touching them, you know, like it's the Beatles or something rolling through."
— Dave Kerner, 13:04
On the noise in the arena:
"The noise was constant. I mean, you could barely hear the guy next to you in the press box. And that was from start to finish..."
— Dave Kerner, 18:24
On the Soviets’ style and legacy:
"Everything you learn from the earliest levels... is all based on what that Soviet team did to change the way the game was played."
— Dan Bernstein, 16:22
On evolution of hockey style:
"It's lifted the play of everybody... they don't have to run you out of the rink. They don't have to intimidate you. And really, that's what the Soviets had."
— Dave Kerner, 17:36
This episode is an essential listen for sports history fans. Dave Kerner’s firsthand stories bring the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” vividly to life, providing on-the-ground perspective from one of history’s greatest sporting upsets. The discussion seamlessly weaves nostalgia, honest sports analysis, and the ongoing legacy of that game in shaping world hockey.
For fans who missed the episode:
You’ll feel like you’re in the Lake Placid press box, sensing the energy, uncertainty, and national pride of an era-defining moment in American sports.