Don't be fooled by the Aaron Rodgers nice guy act

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Don't Be Fooled By the Aaron Rodgers Nice Guy Act"

Dan Bernstein Unfiltered
Host: Dan Bernstein with Matt Abbatacola
Date: November 20, 2025

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Main Theme

This episode blends sharp Chicago sports analysis and classic Bernstein banter, centering on the manufactured “nice guy” persona of Aaron Rodgers as he returns to face the Bears. While the hosts also riff on Chicago sports nostalgia, NBA and college hoops, gift etiquette, and even cheese product placement, the crux is a pointed takedown of Rodgers’s attempt to spin a new image and a passionate defense of Chicago’s hopes to finally get the best of him.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Jewish Billionaire Day" at the Vatican (02:06–07:33)

• Playful Banter: Dan and Matt start with a tongue-in-cheek discussion about prominent Jewish Chicagoans (like J.B. Pritzker) visiting the Pope. They wonder what sports memorabilia the Pope receives and riff on the concept of a “Pope Cave” sports bar.
• Notable Quote:
  • Dan: “What would I give the Pope? … I don’t know that I have any earthly possession that he would desire since he’s already taken a vow of poverty.” (03:57)

2. Aaron Rodgers’ Sudden Kindness Is All An Act (07:34–11:02)

• Transparent Pandering: The hosts play and dissect Aaron Rodgers’s media remarks before his possible return vs. the Bears. Dan and Matt argue his sweet talk is performative and that Rodgers still relishes playing the villain.
• Key Points:
  • Rodgers references being a Bulls and Cubs fan and hopes “bygones can be bygones.”
  • Dan’s reaction: “What a pandering hand job he is. Knock it off. Come on.” (10:16)
  • Matt notes Rodgers’ direct camera eye contact and smiles as giveaways for lying: “He knew exactly what he was doing.” (10:38)
  • Both agree: If you buy Rodgers’s act, you’re deluded.

3. The Rodgers/Bears Rivalry and Bears Fandom Agony (11:03–13:57)

• Series History: Quick rundown of the Bears-Packers history—the Packers now lead 108–96–6. Only two postseason meetings.
• Bears Fan Anxiety: Bernstein laments potentially watching the Bears “get cut to ribbons” if Rodgers plays, recounting past games where the Bears were routinely outfoxed.
  • "That’s my worry. What a miserable day that’s going to be…" (11:13)

4. Sports Nostalgia: NFL Jackets, Coaching, and Apparel (13:58–19:00)

• Memories: Dan and Matt reminisce about 80s/90s NFL starter jackets, Ditka sweaters, and the personal politics of wearing team gear.
• Relationship Dynamics: Anecdotes about shopping for each other's clothes on Super Bowl and World Series trips.

5. Rodgers the Villain and the “I Own You” Era (19:01–21:13)

• Host Perspective: Both hosts see through Rodgers’s current “let's move on” attitude, recalling his notorious “I own you” taunt.
• Matt: “You don’t own another franchise in their city and then claim to not be the villain.” (19:19)
• Dan: “You can’t go back and rewrite history. He kicked your ass and owned you for years.” (19:34)

6. Bears Defense Dream Scenarios (20:21–21:13)

• Smothering Rodgers: Matt and Dan theorize on which Bears defenders they’d want to see “land on top of him and have him smushed underneath.”
• Fun Riffs: Imagining low-level dirty play—Andrew Billings “Big Bill” causing chaos and CJGJ doing something sneaky.

7. NBA & Bulls Dramatic Win Recap (30:33–33:10)

• Game Analysis: Dan describes watching the Bulls blow a 21-point lead, only to steal a win over the Blazers via a buzzer-beating three from Nikola Vucevic.
• Notable Moment:
  • "The absolute definition of a stolen win." (31:43)
  • On Vucevic's accountability: "He celebrated his game winner, and we all did. … But when KC Johnson pulled him aside, Vuch was very professional and incredibly honest and coachy." (38:11)

8. College Hoops: Illinois/Alabama Breakdown (43:23–50:46)

• Early Season Quality: Bernstein highlights how college basketball’s early season play has improved due to player sophistication and coaching innovation.
• Illinois’ Potential: Illinois has “the bones of a Final Four team,” with exciting international talent and size, but needs better in-game management from Coach Brad Underwood and more consistent free throws.
• Notable Quote:
  • “Illinois has the bones of a Final Four team. They really do. … I wish I thought more of Brad Underwood as a game coach.” (46:37)
• Stat Watch: Only 3.8% of high school basketball players go on to play in college (54:05).

9. Product Placement—Parmigiano Reggiano Signs with UTA (57:08–61:44)

• Weird News: UTA signs the consortium behind Parmigiano Reggiano to push cheese product placement in movies, TV, and even porn (“instead of chocolate sauce, you drizzle Parmigiano…”).
• Notable Quote:
  • "Is this going to be just somebody like a waiter walking over with the rasp and the chunk? Or is this going to be the whole wheel... in the middle of a car chase?" (60:16)
• Lighthearted Take: Dan and Matt joke about their willingness to promote the cheese and the ancient origins of Parmigiano for comic effect.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dan Bernstein on Aaron Rodgers:
  • "What a pandering hand job he is. Knock it off. Come on." (10:16)
  • “You can’t go back and rewrite history. He kicked your ass and he owned you for years.” (19:34)
• Matt Abbatacola:
  • “He was being facetious and he was being sarcastic. … You don’t own another franchise in their city and then claim to not be the villain.” (19:15–19:19)
• Nikola Vucevic (Bulls Center):
  • "Can't always sit here and talk about resilience. At some point, we have to beat a team… Once we do get up 10, 15, or even like almost 20, like tonight… stay with our foot on the gas and finish the game off." (39:15)
• Dan on TV product placement for cheese:
  • "Is this going to be the whole wheel and how obvious is the product placement? Like, it's not gonna be in the middle of a car chase...?" (60:16)
• Sports Banter:
  • Matt: “So things I'm thankful for—pizza, Dan Bernstein, and plumbing.” (25:12)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• [02:06–07:33] — Vatican visit, the “Pope Cave”, and gift-giving jokes
• [07:34–11:02] — Rodgers interview: dissecting his “nice guy” spin
• [11:03–13:57] — Bears/Packers rivalry: fan dread, rivalry history
• [19:01–21:13] — Aaron Rodgers’s villain role and Bears fan perspective
• [30:33–33:10, 36:52–40:04] — Bulls dramatic collapse & theft v. Blazers, honest postgame from Vucevic
• [43:23–53:21] — Illinois/Alabama analysis, youth basketball evolution
• [57:08–61:44] — Parmigiano Reggiano's Hollywood ambitions

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Tone & Language

The episode features Bernstein’s signature sharp humor, sarcasm, and no-nonsense sports talk, with Matt serving as a quick-witted, affable foil. The tone is conversational, irreverent, but authoritative for Chicago sports fans—never shying from calling out hypocrisy or stating uncomfortable truths, especially regarding Aaron Rodgers’s “act.”

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For New Listeners

This fast-paced, unfiltered episode is rich in both sports analysis and personality. It’s perfect for those who want both a deep dive into the psyche of the Bears-Packers rivalry and the humor and warmth of two longtime sports talk pros riffing on everything from NBA comebacks to kitchen gratitude lists—and, yes, even Italian cheese.

Transcript

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[Dan Bernstein]

Welcome to Dan Bernstein Unfiltered. I am the aforementioned. He is Matt Abaticola. We are here on 312Sports in partnership with my bookie. How did I miss out? First of all, first and foremost, apparently yesterday was important Jews Visit the Pope Day.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Why were you here?

[Dan Bernstein]

Why was I here? I look at it the first thing. Oh, there's J.B. pritzker, there's Justin Ishbia, and they're hanging out with Bob. And I'm here right maybe two days ago. The news was yesterday.

[Matt Abaticola]

I Thought I'd be able to go with you.

[Dan Bernstein]

I thought maybe we'd get our chance. And apparently it was only Jewish Billionaire Day. That was the problem. I didn't read the fine print.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, so trillionaires weren't allowed?

[Dan Bernstein]

It wasn't, you know, it was only billionaire. Where was Neil Bloom? Like, where? I. I don't get it. I missed my chance and you saw that Pritzker gave him the Pope beer. Yeah, I guess it's Burning Bush Brewery. The Pope or what is it? The Pope beer. And he gave him a four pack and he said, all right, I'll put this in the fridge. He literally said, that Pope's like, I'll keep this in the fridge. And then Justin Ishbia gave him a 2005 White Sox jersey autographed by all the living members of the 2005 White Sox, I guess, or the material members or something like that.

[Matt Abaticola]

Because I have a. I have a 201111 Cubs jersey. Well, he's got a go.

[Dan Bernstein]

He's got a Cubs Jersey, but not 2011.

[Matt Abaticola]

Signed by the team. And Mike Quaddy, your guy. Yeah, I mean, I would bring that. What would you bring him? Would you bring him? Like, was that Sox fan or the Sox guy? You liked Yvonne Calderon jersey off all the bullet holes?

[Dan Bernstein]

I have a game worn jersey. Yeah, I do have a game worn Yvonne Calderon jersey, but that's mine.

[Matt Abaticola]

What would you give the Pope?

[Dan Bernstein]

What would I give the Pope? I don't know that I have any earthly possession that he would desire since he's already taken a vow of poverty. I mean, he's technically not allowed to accept the gifts personally. He accepts them on behalf of the Holy See.

[Matt Abaticola]

And then what do they do with them?

[Dan Bernstein]

My guess is that there's a.

[Matt Abaticola]

Is there like a bar and grill in the Vatican that they hang them there?

[Dan Bernstein]

Should be. Now he's got beer and jerseys. If there's a pope cave, they should set it up and they should get like, you know, one of those little shuffleboard tables and foosball. Well, if they're awesome at foosball.

[Matt Abaticola]

If there was.

[Dan Bernstein]

What if you were awesome at foosball and also kind of a dick about it, like trash talked, like. Yeah, like in college, he just got really good.

[Matt Abaticola]

I bet you he plays the. The US Russia hockey game. The little bubble.

[Dan Bernstein]

You don't want to piece of me on that.

[Matt Abaticola]

I know. I wonder if he's good at that, though. I wonder. You know, this would be a good opportunity for. I mean, if there. If there ever was going to be like, A sports bar at the Vatican. Shouldn't it be Beer Church? Well, that's their whole bit like a second location, though.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. But maybe, maybe we should get Beer church and the Pope to get and figure out, like, what they could do to bless it. Apparently Ishbia was asking him to bless, like, a new stadium.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, really?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Pritzker's just there saying, you know, thank you for being nice when it comes to, you know, treatment of human beings. Yeah. Like, thank. That's. That's kind of nice. Thanks, Pope.

[Matt Abaticola]

And the Sox guy is asking for help on a stadium.

[Dan Bernstein]

He was cool, though. I thought he handled it very well, but I don't know what he does with it. He's not allowed to technically accept sort of these gifts personally, even though they say Da Pope or Bob on the back. Or Pope Bob, whatever they say. Or Leo.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. But I would like to do. We could do like beer church, New Buffalo Beer church, Vatican City.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. I will say, though, do a remote there. They could do a Roman style pizza.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Instead of the Neapolitan. You could take that dough and do like that. The, the. The scissor cut long strips of the Roman style pizza. That'd be a nice bit. I just, I was waiting for my invite. I really was. I just. I like the idea of the Pope cave where he can hang out with all the sports stuff and he can watch the socks and the Bulls and the Bears and everything he wants to watch. But what if, like, he's great at Galaga? Yeah, he's just like. He's an absolute stone cold Galaga killer.

[Matt Abaticola]

Ms. Pac Man. Yeah. There has to be, like, an empty garage at the Vatican and he can just roll up the garage door and he's got it.

[Dan Bernstein]

And he's got a bigger fridge.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, he's got everything. He's just like, got his jersey or.

[Dan Bernstein]

There'S some obscure video game that happened to be at the bowling alley in Dalton. Like, they had a Dig Dug machine and he just got good at dig dug. And he's like, you don't want a piece of me Dig Dug man. And he's got it there. And he's. And he's like, oh, I don't know. This was a gift I never really play.

[Matt Abaticola]

Or Mortal Kombat.

[Dan Bernstein]

And he gets.

[Matt Abaticola]

Doug, he's all sweaty finish here.

[Dan Bernstein]

And he knows, like, where the Easter eggs are and everything. But he's all. He slow walks it. I don't know. They give me all these video games and these. Is that an old Williams funhouse Pinball machine. Yeah, it's been gathering dust over there. I really wouldn't. You want to play? You don't want to put anything on it, do you? You know, maybe, you know, a couple dollars. And then he fell for the church. Yeah, right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Loses on purpose.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then it's like, oh, the Pope cave. Okay, I gotcha, Bo. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers is full of shit.

[Matt Abaticola]

Why do you say that?

[Dan Bernstein]

Because listen to him. There's no way. There's no way. If you listen to what he said and then you run back and you're right, oh, listen to this. How Aaron Rodgers is gonna walk into Soldier Field with his arm all braced and taped up and he's letting it all go. Come on, really? Are we buying this?

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm not buying it. And when I watched the video of Aaron Rodgers meeting with reporters, I swear to God, he made direct eye contact with the camera.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's creepy.

[Matt Abaticola]

And he smiled. So, you know, he was full of shit.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I just run it. This was Aaron Rodgers talking about the current state of the rivalry. His sort of self image as far as where he stands in the rivalry, what matters and what shouldn't matter.

[Matt Abaticola]

And yeah, he was asked first about what it would take for him to play on Sunday. And then it goes into all that. Okay, what has to happen before you play on Sunday?

[Aaron Rodgers]

Gotta get the okay and gotta feel like I can protect myself.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is there added incentive for you for the opponent this week?

[Aaron Rodgers]

There's incentive for every opponent. But I have enjoyed many a Sunday and Monday and Thursdays in that city. It's a great sports town, phenomenal sports fans and great place to play.

[Dan Bernstein]

Do you sort of thrive off of.

[Matt Abaticola]

Being the villain there a little bit.

[Aaron Rodgers]

Sort of enjoy that. I'd rather not be. I mean, I'm not in Green Bay anymore. I feel like we can let bygones be bygones. Maybe I can. I guess it's been. It's a great rival. I mean, in the history of all sports. You talk about the Lakers and the Celtics and the Red Sox and the Yankees. You got to talk about the packers and the Bears and there's been some great memories there. When I first got to Green Bay, the Bears had the all time series lead when I left, packers did. Since J. Love has taken over, it's even gotten better. But I hope, I hope those fans can put that, put that behind them. I'm sure they can't. Don't expect them to, but I really enjoy the city they got. Great sports fan. I grew up watching WGN on My5 channel. TV back in the day. So I was a Cubs fan and a Bulls fan. How can you not be a Bulls fan unless you don't like Michael Jordan? I did. I loved them. So it was a lot of fun memories over the years playing there.

[Dan Bernstein]

What a pandering hand job he is. Knock it off. Come on. You heard it in there. You heard in there. It's like, well, we. The Bears had the lead in the all time series when I left the packers. Did. I like to just kind of let it all go. I don't expect them to come.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, he was, he was smiling and he made eye contact. He knew exactly what he was doing. Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

Anybody who is sitting there earnestly buying any of that crap should be not allowed to stand in front of him and report what he says.

[Matt Abaticola]

All time series, 108 to 96. Well, I'm sorry.

[Dan Bernstein]

Come on.

[Matt Abaticola]

108, 996 and then six ties.

[Dan Bernstein]

Sorry.

[Matt Abaticola]

Packers with 108 wins. Bears 96, six ties.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know what's going to happen to me is I'm going to. Now that I sort of agreed with you and you convinced me.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hope he plays and hope the Bears bury this whole thing and put an end to it. Close the book as we say that he'll just cut him to ribbons. That's my worry. What a miserable day that's going to be if. If he just has one of those games where it's, you know, where you see the, the X split out wide and I'm standing there screaming, it's slant. It's a slant, it's a slant. He's going to set up right and then he's going to throw the slant to the X. And nobody listens to me. And the TV doesn't hear me and everybody in my house is yelling at me. And Zoe says, what a slant. Be quiet. I've got like, watch this. Here it comes. You want to see what a slant is? Look at this. It's called X glance. And here it is for 14 yards on third and eight. That's what's going to happen. Or they're finally going to get a pass rush. I'd be like, oh, my God, it's a screen, God damn it. I hate that feeling. I hate the feeling of feeling like, oh, geez, you're getting caught in a screen. And yet it's so rare that the Bears could do it to anybody else. But I'm not going to. I'm not going to get bogged down in that.

[Matt Abaticola]

So they've only had Two postseason meetings.

[Dan Bernstein]

Mm hmm.

[Matt Abaticola]

Largest victory in the series, the Bears 61 to 7, Packers 49 to 0.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, we brought up that game recently, and anytime we're invoking the production in that game, that's a good sign.

[Matt Abaticola]

Longest win streak for The Bears was 8. Packers at 11.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I think that 8 was actually during my heyday as a fan.

[Matt Abaticola]

85. Yeah, it started in 85.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, that was. Those were the glory years when they were just dead and buried bad.

[Matt Abaticola]

So.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

So their postseason history, 1941. NFL Western Divisional. Bears won that one, 33 to 14. And then the 2010 NFC Championship Game.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. And they're really. When you start looking at the history of games against the Steelers, there isn't all that much to, you know, there was. Was it Mike Singletary's last game when a bad Bears team had a spasm of competence?

[Matt Abaticola]

What year was it? Was that 92?

[Dan Bernstein]

Was that. Was it? Was that 92? Was that the bad Ditka? You were. It was at the last game of the. When Ditka said, I don't think we can win another game because that was miserable. In one of that. I think it was one of those years where Ditka was just like, I don't think we are. This team's gonna ever win.

[Matt Abaticola]

I can't believe I remember that. Yeah, December 27, 1992 is his last game.

[Dan Bernstein]

And they won. Right. I believe that that was. They sort of capped off a bad season with a resounding win. Might have been. There's another win over the Rams. I think that was one of the few that they got.

[Matt Abaticola]

But the last game he played was against the Packers.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, it was against. It was the Pack. It wasn't the Steelers. Okay. Because there was. It's weird that we don't have more sort of vivid Bears Steelers memories, but the trut is that there are a lot of Bears fans my age that were Steelers fans because they were on national TV all the time. You know, the Steelers and Cowboys. When you grew up in the mid-70s, mid to late-70s, Steelers were ubiquitous. And everybody knew everybody on that team, whether it was, you know, Jack Lambert and Mean Joe Green and Elsie Greenwood and Lynn Swan and John Stallworth and Franco Harris and Rocky Blair.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, I mean, that was their. Wasn't that. That was the years of the. The Iron Curtain.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. As Chris Range once said. And finally Bud Carson died. And finally Bud Carson died. He's been living long enough for Chris Rangy's taste.

[Matt Abaticola]

He was the architect of the Iron Curtain.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. No, actually, no, that was probably Stalin might get that credit. Khrushchev probably in there ahead of Bud Carson.

[Matt Abaticola]

Maybe. Maybe light them up.

[Dan Bernstein]

Light them up. Who built the Soviet Union and yeah, so those teams, the Steelers, like it was when you would go or every late summer when it was time for back to school shopping and you'd get the, like those, those really cool NFL jackets. They would always. Even around here.

[Matt Abaticola]

The satin starter jackets.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, they weren't satin yet. Oh, I had the.

[Matt Abaticola]

I had the Bears.

[Dan Bernstein]

I had the. You did?

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, yeah. Bear set and starter.

[Dan Bernstein]

I never had the Bears. My mom, I always bought. She'd go to style shop in Highland park and she'd get me and I was, as I was growing, whatever NFL, random NFL jacket. And I had the Patriots. And the Patriots one was awesome because that was the dark blue leather sleeves. It was like a high school letterman's jacket with the fabric in the front. The leather sleeves or leatherette sleeves, whatever it was. And it had the, the actual snapping guy logo, the cool Patriot logo. So I had that jacket and I think one year I did have a Steelers and then one year I had a St. Louis Cardinals. So I don't know why. It was just whatever one was on the rack and whatever was my size, she'd come. So I got you. Here's. Here's your fall jacket.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I would not allow that Cardinals jacket. Yeah, this is the one that I had.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, that's wicked. Yeah, that's really sweet. Although I should bring it. I do have the actual vintage original Ditka Bears sweater. Oh, really? It is yet in great condition. Not moth eaten. It has been in a cedar drawer in our. In my parents house.

[Matt Abaticola]

Why don't you ever wear that?

[Dan Bernstein]

You know what? I haven't tried it on. I will. I'll go get it and see if it fits.

[Matt Abaticola]

You should wear it.

[Dan Bernstein]

I really should. Yeah. And I wouldn't. I break my rule about team apparel.

[Matt Abaticola]

What's your rule?

[Dan Bernstein]

I just. I don't. I don't wear. I haven't worn team logos.

[Matt Abaticola]

How do you. How do you navigate that? If it's. If it's free, if it's given to you.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't.

[Matt Abaticola]

You like free clothes. I don't favorite.

[Dan Bernstein]

I was given a free Bears hat. I was. And occasionally I'll. I might break the rule for fishing. If it's just some. Something raggedy. It's going to get gross.

[Matt Abaticola]

So what's your order of clothing? My favorites is one free. Two cheap. Three. What's three?

[Dan Bernstein]

The stuff Beth buys me. Okay. Which is nice.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes. All right, that's fine.

[Dan Bernstein]

When she says, listen, wear this, she'll say, look, I'm going to Nordstrom Rack. I'm going to spend $400. Do I have your permission to just go spend $400 at Nordstrom Rack? Not even the regular Nordstrom. Yeah. And I'll say, fine. Because every once in a while, she's like, look, I want to.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like, for you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. For me? Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

I've seen that you've. You've quickly gotten away from the polos she bought you. I think you wore one.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, I have them one day and she got me quarter zips. I know what this is. My Wells park coaching pullover is my baseball thing. This is like, you know, my. My hitting coach.

[Matt Abaticola]

I know Wells Park.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know you do. You bought. You know. Do you remember when you took me clothes shopping?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. We were in Houston.

[Dan Bernstein]

No. Yes, we did go in Houston. You also took me here. It might have been before the Miami Super Bowl.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, it was before Miami and we.

[Dan Bernstein]

Went to actual Nordstrom. I still have two of those three shirts. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

I had to take you shirt shopping because I couldn't do it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. And you were wrangling me like a child. You're, like, dragging me, like, put. Try this on.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, we were in that Houston shopping mall.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. It's connected to our hotel. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

So that was for the World Series trip.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep.

[Matt Abaticola]

And then the super bowl trip. So whenever there was a championship trip, had to buy you clothes.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was a perfect, like, hey, if.

[Matt Abaticola]

We'Re hanging out the next few nights, you need to dress better.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. So. Aaron Rodgers. I don't believe you.

[Matt Abaticola]

You shouldn't believe me.

[Dan Bernstein]

I. Aaron Rodgers, I think you want to be the villain. I think that all of this stuff is. Is. It might just be sort of post career preparation. I love everybody.

[Matt Abaticola]

No, I think. I think he was. He was being facetious and he was being sarcastic.

[Dan Bernstein]

He.

[Matt Abaticola]

You know, you don't. You don't own another franchise in their city and then claim to not be the villain.

[Dan Bernstein]

The discount double check thing.

[Matt Abaticola]

I own you.

[Dan Bernstein]

I own you. They'd be like, and you know what? And it's. It's fine.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm fine with it.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know what?

[Matt Abaticola]

If. If you don't like it, then beat him.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Matt Abaticola]

But you can't go back and rewrite history. He kicked your ass and he owned you for years.

[Dan Bernstein]

And it makes it worse when he pulls this crap. Right? It actually makes it worse.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, you know, I think it's great.

[Dan Bernstein]

I wish they would let it go. Yeah, kiss my ass, please.

[Matt Abaticola]

So if you didn't want him to play now, I'm sure you have to now, as a Bears fan, that you want him just to be buried, but I would. I'll take that risk of him tearing them up for the opportunity to bury it and maybe end this season for him. That it's just, hey, after playing, it is found that it's, you know, the risk, it's just too much. I can't. I can't continue after being sacked a few times. It's going to be hard, though. We're going to look at those numbers in forward progress today, break down some advanced defensive stats about the Bears and the Steelers.

[Dan Bernstein]

Who would be the ideal guy to just sort of land on top of him and have him smushed underneath like Wiley Coyote Billings.

[Matt Abaticola]

Natalie's favorite player.

[Dan Bernstein]

Andrew Billings.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes. Loves him.

[Dan Bernstein]

Big Bill.

[Matt Abaticola]

Loves him.

[Dan Bernstein]

Big Bill just. And he's still doing that thing where he screams move during the cadence. Watch what the Bears do. We're Big Bill when he's out there. They know what their alignment is supposed to be, but they don't start in it. They start in a false alignment until Big Bill yells, and then he tries to time that up to interrupt the cadence, and then everybody shifts to their actual positions.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, I like Billings. And then a combination of cj, gj. Because he'll do something dirty when they're on the ground, like poke him in.

[Dan Bernstein]

The eye, spit on him or something.

[Matt Abaticola]

Spit on him. The lowest form of human disrespect. Spitting on a person.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Who said that?

[Matt Abaticola]

A couple Espen guys.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, talking about the Jamar. The Chase. Jamar Chase.

[Matt Abaticola]

Jalen Ramsey. Yeah, I kind of think murdering someone is a lower form of human disrespect.

[Dan Bernstein]

But I get it that murdering someone was just lower than spitting or pulling a US Citizen off the street and then deporting them to a country where they've never been. That. That. Is that lower?

[Matt Abaticola]

That's lower than spitting.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, I'm just confirming now they spit.

[Matt Abaticola]

On them, then did that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Okay. I'm just. I'm just making sure. Hey, if you can survive Thanksgiving with your family, you deserve an easy W. And that is where my bookies got you covered. The lock of the season is back, baby. It's the bet every better talks about it. Doesn't miss. It's a single touchdown. That's all it takes. Bears, Eagles, Black Friday. One trip to the end zone. Why am I talking like Pat Summerall Sims?

[Matt Abaticola]

Too sober.

[Dan Bernstein]

He's got Bavaro. Touchdown Giants Mark Bavaro.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, everybody 89, big fan of his.

[Dan Bernstein]

I still see lad McConkey and think he's probably related to Phil McConkey.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, are they not?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, they're not. Oh, did you think so?

[Matt Abaticola]

I just always assumed they were.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, you see, like, little scrappy white guy, receiver. Like, that's got to be a relative.

[Matt Abaticola]

Relative.

[Dan Bernstein]

Nope. There's another lion of scrappy McConkies somewhere. And that's actually a good name for a band. Old Scrappy McConkey. No, it's a bar. Yeah. Where are you guys going tonight? I don't know. We're probably going to start here. We're all going to end up at Scrappy McConkey's later. That is good.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

One trip to the end zone, you double your money. It's the simplest bet you'll ever make in the easiest cash of the season. That's the best reason to love my bookie. You get the sports book, you get the casino. You get everything in one spot. No app, no hoops. Just hit the site and you're in the action. We have a promo code for you. It's DBU for Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered. Use that promo code when you sign up and you will get a welcome bonus to get started. Now load up, lock in, and enjoy the feast at MyBookie. Tomorrow we'll have DBU picks for you. My DBU picks on Monday were really bad. I hope that those are my worst. You should owe the casino extra money. You should owe. Like, if you actually made that bet based on my picks Monday, my bookie should call you and be like, yeah, you give us more money.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, no, that's the one where at the casino, you have to. You literally leave your shirt behind on.

[Dan Bernstein]

The way out, folded neatly. Take it off, like, all right, there's a basket up front. Drop it in. Yeah, you got me. I'm sorry. I feel bad. It was such a bad bet. Like, you should be publicly clowned. They should place you in the stocks.

[Matt Abaticola]

Sorry. You'll rebound this weekend.

[Dan Bernstein]

You think so? Yeah, I feel you think so. I love your confidence. I love that. Makes me feel good. So in the hallway. Not in the hallway, but in our kitchen area. I want to get a ruling on this. In the kitchen area here, there is a Thanksgiving, like, tableau that they're putting up. There's a big construction paper turkey, and there is a stack of little feathers. And everybody is supposed to write their name on one of the feathers. And then underneath your name, you write down for what you are thankful this year. And then you put it up on the turkey and everybody puts it up there. And it just, you know, kind of a nice little workplace thing. And everybody can talk about the things for which they're thankful. And I go in there, I'm like, should I? You know, necessarily. I wasn't planning on doing it, but then I see it says Matt. Oh, God, what did he do? And what did you put? You put like, you know, family and something. And then he put Dan Bernstein.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, no, just do it correct. The first one said pizza.

[Dan Bernstein]

Pizza.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Then it was Dan Bernstein.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

And then it was plumbing.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

So things I'm thankful for.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm happy I ranked over plumbing. Yeah. So then I felt bad. I'm like, now I have to do it. Because if I don't do it, people are gonna think that now I'm not returning the reciprocal thanks to you, which I've given you all the time. I'm constantly telling you how much I love you and respect you. And if I'm not, you know, let me know if you're needy that way. So I'm like. Which I'm not. So I'm like, I guess I have to do this.

[Matt Abaticola]

So did you do one?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Did you put me on it?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. Why, am I dumb? Everybody's gonna start saying, hey, you see a better cola put in Bernstein. And it'll be like an office gossip thing. And people are gonna think I'm a jer.

[Matt Abaticola]

But what they're not going to know is that mine was sarcasm and yours is genuine.

[Dan Bernstein]

But that's okay then. It works on multiple levels. But you weren't first, though. I put Enough Health as number one.

[Matt Abaticola]

Enough Health. I like that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right, because you're never healthy. There's always something wrong.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm old enough to get out of bed.

[Dan Bernstein]

Do your job. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Spend time with the family.

[Dan Bernstein]

But enough. Cook Enough Health.

[Matt Abaticola]

I like that.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then I put. I think I put resilience of democratic institutions second.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Then fried chicken. Oh, no. Family was second.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, enough.

[Dan Bernstein]

Health was first. Family was second. Resilience of democratic institutions. And then Mat A. And then fried chicken. Oh, well, you didn't.

[Matt Abaticola]

You just put Matt A.

[Dan Bernstein]

Who do you think it is?

[Matt Abaticola]

Could be anybody. It could be you didn't go specific enough. So I put Dan Bernstein. I didn't put Dan B.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, that's fine. You don't. You don't go all the way with it. You don't have to.

[Dan Bernstein]

You seriously want me to grade you Took the feather and then write it in there.

[Matt Abaticola]

You open the door and you stepped in but didn't go all the way in. It's fine. You don't have to do it.

[Dan Bernstein]

You think I need it? I'm good. Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm good. If you.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right.

[Matt Abaticola]

Are thankful for.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

Matt A. Could be anyone.

[Dan Bernstein]

Maybe it's my former co worker Matt Anaya.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, maybe it is.

[Dan Bernstein]

Could be.

[Matt Abaticola]

See, right. That's why you're a jerk.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. See, maybe I didn't single you out.

[Matt Abaticola]

You know, there is one thing I want to mention about our emails that we're getting from people.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, my God. We got. So I think Feedback Friday tomorrow is going to rock.

[Matt Abaticola]

I think we have a real clear insight into who our listening audience is because we've had more response about to the porn chat audio porn app names than anything we've done so far.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know.

[Matt Abaticola]

And they don't stop. They keep coming in. If you guys haven't named it yet, here's some more.

[Dan Bernstein]

If you're serious about this, people are.

[Matt Abaticola]

Really getting into it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hey. Well, then of course we have a mutual friend who is definitely not Bill from Capitol Hill.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And he's very angry.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right? It's definitely this mutual friend. It is the one person. It's absolutely not.

[Matt Abaticola]

It is not.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is not Bill from Capitol Hill who is angry that we didn't actually seek out his counsel when it comes to audio pornography. Yeah, sorry. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Because he was the first to alert us. Well, not him, but the guy in the message.

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, right. Who has nothing to do with Bill and his.

[Matt Abaticola]

Let us know that there actually is already audio porn stuff available.

[Dan Bernstein]

Free.

[Matt Abaticola]

I think my favorite one was Huff and Puff or Huffing and Puffin.

[Dan Bernstein]

I like. I liked a U R A L. Oh, yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

That was one of the first ones that came through.

[Dan Bernstein]

A lot of people were there. There's there. There were several. And thank you for all of them.

[Matt Abaticola]

But really, really good insight into who is listening to these podcasts. So thank you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, thank you. Your grubbiness.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'll remember that if we ever do anything out live and in person, which we plan to.

[Dan Bernstein]

Lots of hand sanitizer.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh. And just not bringing my family anywhere near it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Lots of hand. I remember we did a remote. It wasn't you. We did a remote at Cubs convention and people like, you know, it wasn't quite the auto show, but it was auto shows. Those are the worst. But they're the best, too. And people kept coming out, coming out. And I realized we didn't have any hand sanitizer. And I was like, what are we gonna do? And it was Shep. So Nick Shepkowski, like, ran down and came back with this huge jar of sanitizer. Thank you.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

Somebody brought me water in the desert somewhere. I was like, oh, hey.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, that was the worst setup. Like, I mean, people literally stand six inches from your faces and talk.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, the auto show, they come and go. Where's the Mustang? I don't know. Sir, can you make an announcement? I can't find my wife. I don't.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. People didn't realize that we were doing a radio show and we weren't like, part of the auto show, like staff and.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, we just looked like authority of something.

[Matt Abaticola]

If you're looking for a lost spouse, like, would you go to you and Terry for help?

[Dan Bernstein]

Go to Terry for sure.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

You're probably better without her. I don't know. I. I think you want to get rid of that old bag. I'll just leave her wherever she is. You're fine, buddy. Put a book on your head. That was something.

[Matt Abaticola]

Matt. Auto show remotes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. I stayed up to watch a lot of basketball last night. I had a really, really good basketball night. I just sort of hunkered down and I made nachos, a huge plate of nachos. And I had a thing of guacamole. And I sat at the. At the coffee table and I got the last 10 minutes of Arizona, Connecticut.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

Then I got the start of Illinois and Alabama into the start of the Bulls game. And then I was the flip king, man. I was watching every possession. I was on it, watching all of it, and stayed up for the end of the Bulls game. You talk about an ending. You talk about stealing a win. The absolute definition of a stolen win. It was the. The Bulls were up, I think, 21 points with nine minutes left in the game.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's pretty good.

[Dan Bernstein]

They were up.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's the NBA.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is the NBA and freeze rain and it's the Bulls. But. And they did win. They won. 122 to 121 on the Nicola Vuchevic three pointer at the buzzer.

[Matt Abaticola]

It's crazy.

[Dan Bernstein]

And you'll see that he finished with 27 points, but he had a rough one. He. He had. Because the Bulls were up. They were up 21. And then all of a sudden. And this is when the broadcast. And by the way, this Connor Onion, he's very good. Really good.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

So I'll tell you, he's national level good.

[Matt Abaticola]

I watched most of the first Quarter of the game. And it was really interesting watching their offense, hearing you talk about it over the last. Last couple of weeks when. When they're moving the ball and sometimes without a dribble even. It is something. It's really fun to watch.

[Dan Bernstein]

You mean on the break or you mean in the half court?

[Matt Abaticola]

I mean in the half court. Yeah, but I don't know how teams will defend that because it's. It's really quick, and I don't. Yeah, that's. It's a. It's a really fun offense. Watch, like, just watching what. Watching it after you've talked about it.

[Dan Bernstein]

And how they can move a defense.

[Matt Abaticola]

And there could be three or four is. The ball doesn't even hit the ground. And it's just. There's deliberate movement, though. It's not just, I got nothing to do. I don't know where to go. It's deliberate and purposeful. It's. It's really fun to watch. Not enough to watch a whole game, but, I mean, I was there, of course. No, I was there. We checked out. And then I started watching a new show on Prime. But.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, so what happened was the bulls are up 21 and the broadcast starts to coast. The broadcast kind of gets fun or. Yeah, the tone changed, and Stacy King is. Is. Is waxing on about. And I get it. And he's just talking about, you know, look at all their sharing the ball. Look how deep they're going. They're playing at this pace. And it means. Look at Javon Carter. He calls him Jiffy Pop because, you know, pop, pop, pop. Comes in, nailing threes, talking about the game Dale and Terry had, and they went into celebration mode. Up 21 with nine minutes left. But as they kind of started doing that, I'm watching these possessions, and I kind of was thinking, guys, guys, the lead is 13. It's not 21 anymore. You might want to engage here, Mav. You might want to get back in because. Or Rooster, whoever you're asking to engage. It was Cougar. Well, no, it was Mav needed to get engaged. Yeah, right. But in the sequel, it was Rooster that went to the zoo, right? Yeah, yeah, same thing. Like, I don't know what happens if I kept having pilots doing that in the Top Gun program. I'm firing people.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, that's all I got really mad about. Cougar's the, like, the. Like, top of the class. And yet he goes and he. And he turns in his wings, and he was like, you know, that shit up there scared me mad this, you know, wasn't I expected. Like, what do you expect?

[Dan Bernstein]

You're.

[Matt Abaticola]

You're a fighter pilot.

[Dan Bernstein]

Top Gun. I don't know.

[Matt Abaticola]

There'd be other planes flying at me.

[Dan Bernstein]

This was hard.

[Matt Abaticola]

What do you think was happening flying a jet?

[Dan Bernstein]

But it happens. Like they have another big mission, another thing. You've got these fifth generation fighters and the surface to air missiles, and it's like, well, I don't know. I'm drifting and my dad and all this stuff. Hey, douchebag, you're in Top Gun. Stop drifting on us.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

At some point, the people in charge, you're like, why does this keep happening?

[Matt Abaticola]

Like, the entrance exam should have a question on there. Like, will you fold under pressure?

[Dan Bernstein]

Are you gonna get rattled if you see another airplane up there?

[Matt Abaticola]

Probably.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right, well, welcome. You're in, I'm out. That's it. I can't handle this. Like, Cougar.

[Matt Abaticola]

What'd I didn't expect? All these jets trying to shoot me down.

[Dan Bernstein]

That gets tense up there, doesn't it? Yeah, Cougar, it does. Yeah. I'm. I don't like this anymore. I'm leaving.

[Matt Abaticola]

Turning his wings. Was there a family emergency?

[Dan Bernstein]

Oh, no, no.

[Matt Abaticola]

He just. He was scared of flying.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. Okay, great. Next man up, I guess, right? Go to the practice squad. Pull somebody up. Where was I? So there's. I said, you better engage. And then they go on this run. It was a 31 to 7 run by Portland. Ouch. 31 to 7. Donovan Clingan is. I still don't think he's really all that good, but he is an enormous person. That's really what he does. His job is to be an enormous person. And he's got. He's got long arms and quick hands, and he got every rebound. He finished like 24 rebounds or something like that. And every time they missed, they would grab their own rebound. And it was brutal. It would have been just the most. Just gut wrenching loss. Portland's up 119. 116. Kobe White hits a ridiculous logo three to get him within one. And then they. Jeremy Grant missed a free throw, so they've got a chance. And the. So they're down two, and Kobe White drives, and he. And he got up in the air, and I thought, oh, shoot, he's up in the air and forget it. And somehow he reaches around his guy, whips the past to Vuch just like Giddy did on the baseline in the Sixers game.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

Same kind of thing. He drew the guy in enough. And Vuch knocks it down, and everybody's going crazy. But they deserved to lose. They absolutely. This, this takes, like, what we've been going through with the Bears and really distills it down because they crap that game away. They, they, they. They should have lost, and they should have taken with it all these lessons of keep. Keep your foot on an opponent's neck. It's an NBA game. They've got young guys trying to prove themselves, and they had guys that weren't even playing some of their best players, but they are. They've got to learn that. I mean, Shannon Sharp didn't play. Drew Holiday didn't play.

[Matt Abaticola]

So your four of your five starters were negative and plus, minus. And then Dale and Terry. Julian Phillips were. Terry was plus 16. He was plus 12.

[Dan Bernstein]

Dale was all over the place, man. In 17 minutes, five assists, three rebounds, six points, three steals and a block, he was all over the place. I give him a lot of credit. Yeah, he played bigger than his size, and there were a lot of guys. There were a couple big rebounds that Patrick Williams grabbed.

[Matt Abaticola]

Vuch was two rebounds away from his 209th double double.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, he was terrible. He got owned. And I give him so much credit because as everybody's going crazy and he celebrated his game winner, and we all did.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah.

[Dan Bernstein]

But when Casey Johnson pulled him aside, Vuch was very professional and incredibly honest and coachy about the actual meaning of that shot. Boots. How'd that feel?

[Nikola Vucevic]

Feel great. Great.

[Dan Bernstein]

Great.

[Nikola Vucevic]

You know, I didn't make any shots in the fourth. Struggle to hold off big fella on the glass. Just not a great fourth quarter for me overall in the team. And just, you know, Kobe made a great play, and I just felt confident in my shot and, you know, glad he went in. Glad we got to win. You know, obviously, I wish we had, you know, we had the lead. We should have closed our game off sooner, but, you know, feels great to get a game winner. You always enjoyed him a lot.

[Matt Abaticola]

What does it say about this team's resilience to come back from that double overtime loss in Utah, withstand the rush tonight and come out of this trip 2 and 1.

[Nikola Vucevic]

It says a lot. But, you know, we can't always sit here and talk about resilience. At some point we have to, you know, beat a team that once we do get up 10, 15, or even like almost 20, like tonight, you know, stay with our foot on the gas and finish the game off. You know, we. Today, tonight we made a play. I mean, I hit the shot, you know, he missed a free throw. We got, you know, we got some luck our ways and we won the game. But you know, moving forward we can't rely on try to save games. We have to when we get a leave, when we play well, as well as we did tonight, we have to finish the job off. So you know, hopefully we learn lesson. But you know, it's obviously happy. We were two and one trip happy, won a game. You know, we get to celebrate before you get home.

[Dan Bernstein]

He's so right. I love that.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. The big fella had 21 rebounds, the.

[Dan Bernstein]

Big fella had 10 offensive rebounds.

[Matt Abaticola]

Finished at 2117 points. And then they made a big deal at the start of the game. City Sizoko.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Made his first start. Is that his first NBA start ever?

[Dan Bernstein]

I think so.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, okay. But second year player, right? He wasn't, he's not a rookie.

[Dan Bernstein]

City Suzoko is. Let's see, he had 20, he was a second round pick in 20, 23.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay, so second season, making his first start.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep. He is the French 6, 6 guard. Pretty live wire, man. This, this league is full of dudes, I'm telling you. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

And that's, you know, the thing about the NBA. So up 219 minutes to go. Like it's, it's, it's not over. Like your team can battle back at any point, especially in this league with throwing up threes one after another after another after another and just always how it's been.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's also that. Well, but the pace now these are insane. These are two high paced teams too that are going to get it out of the bottom of the net and just. And run, run, run, run, run. And it's, it's, there are a couple sequences and like I was tired between that and the Illinois Alabama game. You talk about high pace, you talk about fun. So before I talk about college, I just, and I, and I want to get to that and my thoughts on Illinois and just looking at that team and sort of seeing how that all went down last night. But that was, there was a lot of fun basketball that was really competitive and I, I also think college basketball early in seasons is better now than it was because. I'll explain. But first I want to let you know that protein bar and kitchen right now not only has their fall menu going, they've got a 50% off deal because you're listening to Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered protein Barn kitchen is all over the city, all over the area. There's 15 locations. There's one in Northbrook, there's one in Oakbrook. There is one right here at 10 West Lake street right down here where. And that's where they're testing their new gluten free crispy chicken for their buffalo bowl. The Caesar wrapped a Cobb salad. You can try that out if you are interested in such things. But with the code DBU50, you can get 50% off at protein Bar and Kitchen on your next visit. It's in the app. It is exclusive to the PBK app. And you're gonna be happy you downloaded the app because there's all kinds of rewards and they can figure out what you like and when you like it and send you all kinds of cool things. But when you're hungry and you want the kind of energy that isn't gonna be just like a short lived sugar rush and it isn't gonna be the kind of thing that just makes you feel gross after you eat. That's what's great about Protein Bar and Kitchen is there's all kinds of healthy swaps you can choose. You can get exactly what you want for the right time. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack before you hop on the train or pre workout, post workout. You can even get a creatine boost right now in their shakes and smoothies and acai bow because they've partnered with a rival creatine to do that. Whatever you want, but you've got the code. It's DBU50 in the PBK app.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Make sure you use the app, download the app if you haven't yet. And I'm wondering why you have not done it yet. So do it, go in, use the app, you get rewards. They build up pretty quick. You just got to go in there and get stuff. And I'm telling you, if you like breakfast burritos, the Mexicali burrito, it's out of this world. It's good stuff, man.

[Dan Bernstein]

So I think we used to have a problem in college basketball where before coaches adapted to what was happening a lot of the early season college basketball and in some of these tournaments that they have where everybody's at Madison Square Garden or people come to United center, it was ugly because coaches had systems and coaches would think, well, you know, I got these one and dones. The whole idea of one and dones and it's screwing everything up. And now we've got to, we gotta simplify. And I can't run my intricate passing system because I don't have juniors and seniors who are here. But they adapted. Coaches got better at this and they got better at running stuff that was easier to teach simultaneously. Players are coming to college, the best players are coming to college much more polished than they used to. You used to pull some of these gangly kids out of high school who all they were doing is running and dunking for their high school team and doing whatever they wanted. The quality of coaching in general in season, off season, the private instruction that guys are getting, the weight training that they're getting at younger and younger ages. The reason the stuff we're saying about the NBA is true, because the production pipeline for basketball players internationally, I'm saying whether you're in Paris or whether you're in Cameroon or whether you're in Mexico or you're here, everybody's getting better at a younger age and more polished. And you can run real stuff now. And they're running NBA stuff at the college. A lot of that's getting standardized now. When you start looking at the five out things that they're doing, they're using the horns, sets and the Iverson cuts and a lot of that stuff. So what I used to always say is, I don't want to watch college basketball until the conference season, end of the conference season. That's when it gets good. I don't think it's necessarily true anymore. And I also love it when coaches take on challenges. And it's one thing about Brad Underwood that I really do respect is he likes to test his team. Tom Izzo does it every year. Tom Izzo is always one of these guys who, they might have more losses than they would otherwise have, but they're a better basketball team because of it. And they make a longer run in the tournament than you think. So I had, I was trying to watch with a close eye because Alabama, they, they play hard. They play hard. And they've got a couple NBA dudes out there. The, the Illinois team is a fascinating group this year. They're enormous. They've got so much size between the Visages and Murkovich. And I'll tell you something, Paja Stojakovic, his kid Andre, he's going to be a thing. He is. He is as, as a, as a raw college player. He is. He's got a very, very high iq. And my guess is, and I didn't really get to see much of Petrovich, who's supposed to be awesome, too. I think he's like 30 years old at this point. But they are Illinois. Forget the outcome last night. Illinois has the bones of a Final Four team. They really do. This is a very, very strong set of raw materials. I wish I thought more of Brad Underwood as a game coach because I still think that's kind of where this is lacking. He can obviously recruit, he can obviously motivate. I think he may be. Have the highest differential between how mean he looks and how nice he is, because he actually seems to be a really nice guy from what I know. But, boy, does he look like a villain. He really looks like a, Like a, Like a cart, like a Chris Cooper character, like a, Like a really nasty kind of villain. And just that his, his angry face. He's. He looks like a meaner Brian Kelly sometimes when he's angry, but I don't think he's actually like that. He has put together a big, strong, pretty smart team. They need more ball handling when. When Boswell is out, they really struggle to have somebody prevent bad shots and somebody settle them down, get them into what they're doing, be a. Be a pace setter up or down. And Boswell's a little bowling ball. And if he could shoot, this would be an absolute Final four team. But he can't really shoot. He's got a. He's got to go to the basket. He's. He's just all shoulders. He's kind of built like, like Jalen Brunson, but he can't, he can't shoot. They're. They. They'll figure this out. Like, they've got a lot of growth left and they're, they're big. They're not tremendously athletic. And that's why the matchup against Alabama was fascinating to me, because Alabama was beating them with at times, both foot quickness and hand quickness. I think Illinois's bigs have to be much more disciplined in not bringing the ball down, because if I were going against Illinois, my scouting report would be attack the ball underneath, scrape at it, swipe at it, poke at it, and when they do clear a screen on the perimeter, attack the dribble, send weak side help. Not, not as a full double team, but rake at it, attack their ball handling when, especially when Boswell is not in the game and force those turnovers. And Illinois hung with them. They hung with them. I thought that was a really good test for them, and they lost. But that's okay. That's okay. I'll be very interested to see how this comes together because that Humrick House big dude firing threes, you know, they've. And if Petrovich is able to step into the role that they think he can, you've got a. You have the makings of a Team that could make a long run if not win a national championship.

[Matt Abaticola]

Was Alabama in the top 10 ranked in that game last night? Illinois eight or nine?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. No, Alabama's 11. 11 was eight.

[Matt Abaticola]

Eight. Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

And Alabama has a lot of variance in how they play because there's going to be nights where they just can't hit. But they shot 66 threes.

[Matt Abaticola]

Jesus.

[Dan Bernstein]

And they made 30 of them. Wow. Which is pretty amazing.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, that's great.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, you know what? They didn't. I'm sorry. My computer is screwed up. They took 66 shots. They had 23 threes. My computer was offset. Is that right? No, 30. Excuse me, 36 threes. Everything is all misaligned on my computer here. They were 30 of 66. They were 13 of 36. And they were 17 of 23 from the line. Free throws were a problem for Illinois that they've got to fix. They just. They've got to fix the free throws.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, if they can go and win a championship this year and the movie's made, I think actor Brendan Gleason plays Brett Underwood.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's not bad. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

Every time I see Brett Underwood, that's exactly.

[Dan Bernstein]

See, I thought Chris Cooper.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. Brendan Gleason, spot on.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. Yeah. If they're going to make a movie out of this Illinois team. Yep. But, yeah, when they. They've got that group, Merkavich, they've got Ivizich Stojakovich, Humrick House. Ivizic Petrovich, Humrick House.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's a good place for a burger and a beer.

[Dan Bernstein]

I was singing it to the rally House. Every time. Hum Rick House Hum Rick House. He's a big man. He shoots threes. He is. Hum Rick House. Oh, I was making up, you know, what I was doing because I was singing all night. Because the dog is here. So I always sing to the dog. I always make up Maggie. Songs about Maggie.

[Matt Abaticola]

Hates the maid, hates other dogs. Correct.

[Dan Bernstein]

And they're doing. Our neighbors across the street are painting. So we have had Maggie from Tuesday night. We have her through Saturday.

[Matt Abaticola]

You sleep with her?

[Dan Bernstein]

She sleeps in the bed. She sleeps in the. Well, she sleeps at the bottom of the bed. Except the other night where she army crawled in between Beth and me and came over and in the middle of the night was giving me the. I want attention. I want attention. Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

You're like, I'm sleeping.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. I had to make sure it wasn't. I knew it wasn't Beth. I mean, that was the one. I'm like, well, this. Who wants attention from me?

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, I'm glad you didn't mistake her from Beth.

[Commercial Announcer]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

But she's like, give me attention. Like, seriously, right now you just want head scritches because you can't stop. And if you stop, she gives you a look like you're not allowed to stop. That's annoying. Yeah. So I shoved her all the way back down to the bottom of the bed.

[Matt Abaticola]

But it was actually Beth.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. But I got the wife and she was mad. No. All good. The Illinois could be. They could. There's. I'm not going to put any limitation on this team, but they've got to figure out who their secondary ball handler is. They've got to really be careful taking care of the basketball. And I wish when the time came for whatever that matchup is against a 14 seed or a 13 seed or whatever, it's going to be that I trusted some of the in game decision making of Brad Underwood. I hope that gets better. But they're. They're fun. They're definitely fun. And that was for Alabama to win in that environment. The crowd was great. It was obviously it was at the United center, so. And it was weird to see the Bulls floor and then be flipping away from the Bulls game to watch the Bulls in Portland and then flip back and it's the Bulls floor and you go like, wait, what, what's the score? Okay. I'm trying to keep myself centered there.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. When you were talking about the. Really the evolution of youth sports and how it's grown and developed and really changed over the years. I mean, you having had Jason go through it. I have a couple right now. But still, I mean. But he was doing travel teams and you're traveling all over for different things.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yep.

[Matt Abaticola]

That could be an interesting conversation for some time talking about the evolution of youth sports. We could have someone come on. There's one thing I try to remind, like teams that I coach and the parents. I just pulled the stats up so I made sure I had it right. This was something I've read. It was from last year. These are numbers from last year, 20, 24. The. The percentage of high school participants that go on to play in college has very low. So just.

[Dan Bernstein]

And this.

[Matt Abaticola]

Let's take the sport of basketball from high school participants. And this is last year 20 overall high school to the NCAA.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Matt Abaticola]

3.8% now overall high school.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's not just Division 1.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's not just Division 1. That's 1, 2, 3. The percentage that go on to play Division 1 is 1%. That's in basketball. In football, it's 3%.

[Dan Bernstein]

But that's only because of roster size, right?

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah, but it's just like I try to reinforce that idea not only to the kids, but more to like the parents.

[Dan Bernstein]

And everybody has their moment when they actually realize that.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. And I reinforce that at any of our football games, there will never be a scout coming from any College. It's 12 year old football. There will never be a scout there from any college to watch our games. Regardless of how great your son is, trust me, it's never going to happen.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. So understand that. Make sure your kid is having fun and enjoys the game.

[Matt Abaticola]

So that's been my goal as I evolved as a coach. It's to have fun and to want to come back and play next year. That's the goal. You do that, then eventually you get a chance to play in high school. Hopefully you love it and you have a good foundation. When you walk in high school your.

[Dan Bernstein]

First day, you ever kicked a parent out of a game from your own. Have you ever had to walk over and say, hey, knock it off.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. Yeah. That's too bad. Turkey probably could have done it more. Football, bad decisions. And we get this time of year, that's the Holy Trinity, whatever it may be. Well, you want it to be profitable. Everything that is going on with all the football and all the food, my bookie gives you a chance to do that. And this week my bookie is loading up your table with cash drops with boosted lines with same game parlays capped off with a bomb. On Black Friday, it's the return of the lock of the season. This is the bet every bettor talks about. It doesn't miss one single touchdown. That's all it takes. Bears, Eagles, Black Friday. One trip to the end zone, you double your money. The simplest bet you'll ever make. As if you needed another reason to love my bookie. When you're watching the games with friends, by the way, my bookie's gonna give you an extra bonus every time one of them signs up and makes a deposit. Bring a buddy and then stack your account while you guys win together. So if you're hanging out with a group of people and you've got your my bookie account and you're having fun and screwing around with a couple things here and there. Be like, what are you doing? What are you doing? Say, look, if you sign up, I'm gonna get a bonus. And then whatever you do with that bonus, that's on you. Sort of the horse trading you want to do there. But you gotta Start with our promo code. Dbu. Dan Bernstein, Unfiltered dbu. When you sign up, just those three letters and you'll grab that welcome bonus to get ahead. So load up, up, lock in. Enjoy the feast at my bookie. I want to end this episode with news of a major signing.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay. Is this in sports?

[Dan Bernstein]

This is a major signing. It involves United Talent Agency.

[Matt Abaticola]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I had no idea this kind of thing was possible. United States lead talent agency has signed Parmigiano Reggiano. Huh? The governing body of Parmigiano Reggiano, which is known as the prc, the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium has been signed by United Talent Agency to get the supermarket staple its placement in films, TV shows and streaming projects around the globe. Globe. According to a statement from the consortium, the agency will, quote, leverage its expertise and global connectivity across entertainment and culture to introduce Parmigiano Reggiano to a wide pool of partners to further its message of gastronomical excellence and high quality ingredients. Maybe Michael Jordan will give us insights to cheese excellence as well.

[Matt Abaticola]

Well, they could start right here. I mean, if they want me to eat spoonfuls of it on camera, we can do that.

[Dan Bernstein]

That Parmigiano Reggiano has been produced in Italy in essentially the same way for how many years do you think? How many years? I believe there's only three ingredients. I don't know.

[Matt Abaticola]

4,000.

[Dan Bernstein]

What?

[Matt Abaticola]

12,000?

[Dan Bernstein]

1,000, 16,000? 4,000 for the dinosaurs.

[Matt Abaticola]

Goes back to the dinosaur times in Italy. I mean, a giant, you know, pterodactyl wing with some Parmigiano Reggiano.

[Dan Bernstein]

Four thousand years.

[Matt Abaticola]

So is it 12,000?

[Dan Bernstein]

It's 1,000.

[Matt Abaticola]

Oh, 1,000.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay. And it has PDO status, protected designation of origin. It can only be produced in one of five Italian provinces. There are strict rules about the ingredients.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like San Marzano tomatoes.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think it's only three. Product placement we know has become big business. It is arguably the most famous cheese on planet Earth and it's uniquely positioned to find placement. So this is according to Carmine Forbusso. Carmine is the head of marketing for the consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano. He says it's not just a symbol of excellence rooted in tradition, but increasingly a truly iconic global brand. According to data, for the first eight months of 2025, exports reached 53.2%, a volume growth of nearly 3% compared to the same period of the previous year. So they are partnering for product placement now. Is this going to be just somebody like a waiter walking over with the rasp and the chunk. Or is this going to be the whole wheel and how obvious is the product placement? Like, it's not gonna be in the middle of a car chase. It's like, watch it. And there's like a wheel of Parmesan just happens to be rolling by.

[Matt Abaticola]

Or it could just be a wedge on top of the dashboard that slides across as he turns.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. There's all sorts of possibilities here. Or.

[Matt Abaticola]

Or like a guy was emptying his pockets and he, like, at the. He's at like, tsa and he pulls out his wallet and car keys and a wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. Or it could be like a, you know, a. A MacGuffin in a movie. Like, rather than Marcellus Wallace's suitcase or whatever that is, somebody's carrying a wheel or the wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano actually has a starring role as a character. Could be like in a buddy cop film or something.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like, you could incorporate that into. Into porn as well. Instead of like, like chocolate sauce you drizzle over your lover, you could, you know, grate some Parmigiano Reggiano all over maybe.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah. I have. In the freezer, I actually have Parmigiano reg Rinds that I always.

[Matt Abaticola]

For your sauce?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, I always keep chunks there for soups, for sauces. It's sort of one of these secret little ingredients that you're not quite sure what's giving it that taste, but that's what it is. It's the rind.

[Matt Abaticola]

Yeah. It's raw cow's milk, rennet and salt. Three essential ingredients. You know, it's Parmigiano. Reggiano is high in Omega 3, which is good for your cardiovascular health. I don't know if you knew that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Amen. And it is the king of cheeses. And there are some restaurants now where they will. They will mix your pasta in like a Parmigiano Reggiano bowl. Like a hollowed out half.

[Matt Abaticola]

Like it's a wheel.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Matt Abaticola]

That's got a.

[Dan Bernstein]

And they'll. But they'll mix it in there and then sort of scrape the edges around. But I mean, Caesar salads, everything else. So good luck. I just want to. If you think. If you think something in the Matrix or something in the algorithm is inserting Parmigiano REGGIANO into your YouTube videos, into TV series, into whatever you're streaming your porn into your porn. It's possible. I'm just telling you why, that they've signed with a very, very powerful agency and that is going to do it. Why are you smiling?

[Matt Abaticola]

It's good.

[Dan Bernstein]

I know why you're smiling.

[Matt Abaticola]

Why am I smiling?

[Dan Bernstein]

Because this time you're actually going to have.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm ready now.

[Dan Bernstein]

Clothes loaded up.

[Matt Abaticola]

I'm good to go.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's why. Well, that's going to do it for Dan Bernstein Unfiltered. Make sure that you are also listening for full wall to wall be on forward progress. We're going to get on with that next. And your bull stuff is always all at organizations win championships, all under the 312 sports banner. We today on DBU have been presented by my book, Dan Bernstein Unfiltered Unfiltered on 312Sports.