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- [00:01]
Dan Bernstein
Dan Bernstein, unfiltered. Unfiltered on 312. Sports. It's DBU on three. One, two. And it is a Monday after an eventful weekend. If Illinois is going to win a national men's college basketball championship, it better be this year. I don't think under Brad Underwood you're fighting Illini are ever, ever, ever going to have a better opportunity. I can't envision it. I can't envision the path setting up like it is for Illinois ever again. I know that the D. Brown Darren Williams team was in the finals. And you can say what you want on Bruce Weber with Bill Self's players or however you want to describe that. But, but this is it. And we, and in this space, I want, I want it to be clear in this space, we mentioned months ago that this team had the bones of a Final Four team.
- [01:10]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. And they, and they certainly are.
- [01:13]
Dan Bernstein
So.
- [01:14]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, I want to, I want to make sure you mention that to give you your credit and props on that, because you did say that months ago that they had the structure, they had the bones for a Final Four team. I saw some recent criticism online of the path in which they got to where they are now. Hey, again, not your fault.
- [01:30]
Dan Bernstein
No apologies.
- [01:30]
Matt Abaticola
Go out and win the games that you got to play and that's what they did. Yep, they looked great against vcu. They looked unstoppable against vcu. They had a very competitive game to get to this Final Four. And here on Saturday they'll play against Yukon to get opportunity to play the championship game. That's all you can ask for.
- [01:50]
Dan Bernstein
And we are brought to you on DBU in partnership with my bookie and today also by Chicago Window Guys and Giordano's. But the, the bracket is going to be what it is. You never, ever, ever, ever, ever have to apologize for the teams you have to go through to get where you want to go, that it's out of your control. And there, there, you, you never see it written after the fact. You never see some of these outcome biased for, for losses saying, well, they didn't know, of course they lost. They had no idea it was going to be in this bracket or set up this way. If, if somebody is trying to take away from somebody's victory by saying, well, they got defeated and they should have beaten this team. I, I always bring this up. I never hear Bears fans complaining about the New England Patriots upsetting the Miami Dolphins and the Bears beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl. I never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever hear Anybody complaining about that? Because nobody cares.
- [02:48]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, they're one, one game away from getting to the finals. And you know, they have an opportunity to play either Arizona or Michigan. It's gonna be a lot of fun. You know, there's. There's two things that really stood out to me in watching these tournament games about the Illinois Wagler and Su Yakovic. They're off the. Is really impressive. Like, I really didn't watch it as closely during the regular season, but watching these tournament games, the way they shadow the guys they're defending and the way they move around screens and picks. They're off the ball defense is really impressive. I don't know if you've noticed that with their, with. With those two guys and the way they guard their, their. Their. The guys that they're, they're defending.
- [03:29]
Dan Bernstein
It's.
- [03:29]
Matt Abaticola
It's really impressive. Really, really impressive how. How they play off the ball.
- [03:33]
Dan Bernstein
D well, all of them work very hard. This, the. The work ethic of this team is tremendous. Really well, too, because you don't look like that in games unless you look like that in practice. I. There's a. This team, other than Wagler, this team's got a lot of other professional players out there, as I've mentioned, not necessarily NBA, but there's, there's a lot of guys who are right on that fringe, right on that level of getting. If they're right place, right time, they could be NBA or they're going to make a lot of money overseas for a lot of years. There's just, there's a lot of talent. It's a great way to build a college basketball team because sometimes you get more years out of some of these guys than you otherwise would it just because of how it takes them a little longer to develop. But here's what's critical. What is key about this team this year. So far, this Illinois team has been leading by enough when it matters most to keep it from being a coaching matchup. And as I mentioned, the same thing you're saying. You're giving me credit for noting that Illinois had a good chance of being a Final Four team. I also said that the limiting factor in my belief of their ability to win a title would be can Brad Underwood match wits with his counterpart? Can he play a late chess game against his counterpart? Because we've seen some big bad coaching in this tournament. We. And we've seen the guys I like, the nice guys, are finishing last, to quote Leo derocher. Fred Hoiberg. What's he. Fred, how about having Enough players on the floor, Fred. John Shire. John Shire. Hey, that those drum beats are getting loud in Durham because you've got every resource, you've got every dollar, you got every player, you got every facility, you got everything you want. You are the anointed you choice of Mike Krzyzewski. And apparently Krzyzewski left the old tournament game coaching starter kit there for you. Throw that out, throw that away because that was, that was, that was a real ugly collar getting tight there.
- [05:49]
Matt Abaticola
That was a really ugly finish yesterday.
- [05:51]
Dan Bernstein
And it, it wasn't just Kaden Boozer who's going to live with that dumbass turnover for the rest of his life. Well, how about what his coach says brother with the turnover with a minute ago brother throwing it off his face foot and just, just vomiting the ball up to the opponent. Come on man. Yeah, like, like also I, I'm going to say this now and I'm going to say it clearly. Cameron Boozer is not a can't miss NBA great. He is a certain NBA good. He's got a very high floor. He's going to be a good NBA player. But, but he can't jump. Cameron Boozer cannot jump. And I want you to find for me the number of guys who were below the rim college players who went on to great success professionally. He is, he is a below the rim college player. He is getting the ball underneath and he's pump fake, pump fake, pump fake, waiting, reaching and some of these shots that he's making look pretty spectacular. He reaches his hand out, he's got great ability to spin the ball off the backboard with either hand. Terrific moves. But he is a below the rim college player and it is, you can't adapt to that in the NBA. There's no quarter for you in the NBA There are big angry people waiting to swat that shit into the third row and they'll stand there while you make those pump fakes up and down and up and down. If you're going to be a below the rim player you got to be like Demata Sabonis who is an example of that sort of. That's as good as you can be. You know you can be a hall of the very good for a long time level player. When you're not a good athlete you better be enormous and be that kind of passer and, and Boozer is a good passer and he's got good handles and he's got a decent shot. He's, he's that first steps quick enough but he can't get off the ground at all. And that is going to stand in his way. But so there, there's so much going on. But that is a, that, that's a, that's a choke of chokes. Again.
- [08:14]
Matt Abaticola
That's a choke of chokes. You, you saw the stat, right?
- [08:16]
Dan Bernstein
You saw the stat about after what happened last year with Duke or, or the fact that no number one seed has ever had that big a lead going into his second half and lost. 134 0.
- [08:28]
Matt Abaticola
1340 with a 15 point halftime lead. Now again, a lot of those games were going to come against 16 seeds and eight or nine seeds. You know, you're not talking. That's not a big number when you're looking at playing against number two seeds. But still a stat that's out there. 1340 with a 15 point or more lead at halftime. That was the first loss. Now again, a lot of 16s, a lot of eights, a lot of nine seed teams. You're going to see in the, in that stat if you were to break it down. But to lose that game in the fashion they lost, that's a significant massive choke job. And it, you know, it's like what, what do you, what are you hearing or what did you read or see about, about his job security? Because that, that's one right there. That wouldn't surprise me because that is not a game they should have lost. Yeah, they should be playing Illinois on Saturday in the Final Four.
- [09:15]
Dan Bernstein
I've not heard anything that's imminent because of the, the fact that this, what you would have, I think at some point at Duke that you'd have to almost get Krzyz permission. I don't know how that would work if this, if the, the politics of this resulted in Shire being the chosen anointed one. As long as Mike Krzyzewski is walking this earth, I don't think that a, that the, the collective, I don't think the alums, I don't think the board of trustees. I don't think you're moving anything without his blessing. And Shashevsky is nothing if not stubborn. And you know, for, for a guy who's, whose coaching tree has been his sort of de facto sons, that would, that would be like firing Mike's son at this point. And you are, you are not going to make a move unless he allows it to happen. And I just don't see that happening at the moment. I really.
- [10:17]
Matt Abaticola
How about, how about just going back real quick too, to that Illinois Houston game and that scouting I gave you on that, because you asked about that weeks ago, about what it was going to take for Illinois to beat Houston
- [10:28]
Dan Bernstein
and you said that they weren't the defensive team they used to be. I will say I was shocked at how disorganized they were offensively and how they walked right into everything that Illinois wanted them to do when they wanted CNAC to take some of those baseline 18 footers. If you're telling me that some of the, some of the best shots that Houston could get were contested twos by, by their second, third, fourth best player on the floor, that means your defense is real good. And I, I think, dare I say, Calvin Sampson was out coached by Brad Underwood in that game.
- [11:13]
Matt Abaticola
Well, you know, that almost came to roost into when you're talking about Brad Underwood in that Iowa game, because that was. Man, I thought I would play. And of course, Sturts, I mean, you're not going to ask for a better game out of a kid shooting the ball like he did. But I thought Iowa played Illinois really, really well and forced them into what they wanted them to do.
- [11:33]
Dan Bernstein
But it was also, you know what, they're just way more talented and way bigger.
- [11:38]
Matt Abaticola
Oh, Illinois is. Yeah, that's, that's, that's why Illinois was able to pull that game out huge. Iowa forced them into what they wanted them to do. But because you are bigger and you are more talented, they cleaned up on the boards and they were able to overcome that amazing shooting by Iowa. That was a game that I did not expect to see going that route as it did.
- [11:57]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. If you can't win that game if you're Iowa and if they say, look here, here are what you're going to get here, here's, here's the shooting, you would have said that's a win. That just tells you how good Illinois is.
- [12:13]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, they play so well defensively. They clean up the boards offensively and defensively. Really just a really fun team to watch. I love watching Boswell play. He's going to have to do a little bit of scoring here against UConn on Saturday. His defense is just exceptional. You know, if they can get their big men to score and not get into like a 10 nothing, 12 nothing start like they have the last couple of games. Let's, let's, let's roll from the start and get, and get that game going.
- [12:38]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, but if it's close, you're going to lose.
- [12:41]
Matt Abaticola
You know, Dan, it's going to be a good game. It's not, it's going to Be a close game. It's not going to be a double digit win. It's going to be a very close game. You know, Yukon, the UConn takes care of the ball better than Illinois does. Illinois takes care of the ball really, really well. Obviously they're a top, top five team as far as turnovers committed. But the way UConn's played in this tournament, they're going to take care of the ball. They're going to steal the ball a little bit more. But where Illinois is going to have the advantage again is that, is that size. They're going to have the advantage inside to clean up the boards.
- [13:12]
Dan Bernstein
Well, the size and the fact that they've got a guy who can match Caravan with where Alex Caraban is, their, their beating heart and his effort. But Mirkovich is exactly that guy. Like they're, they're so similar and Mirkovich might even, might even be a little bit better, but they're, they're very similar players in a lot of respects and what they mean to their respective teams. So to me, in a lot of ways though, as they go, so their teams are going to go. Mirkovich is just a, he's a stone ass man. He is a baller. No, he's, he's, he's, he is a baller and he's unselfish guy does whatever is needed. Always around the ball. He can defend without fouling. I really like watching him play. I like watching this Illinois team play.
- [14:08]
Matt Abaticola
I do too.
- [14:09]
Dan Bernstein
They've got a little bit of everything. And it's. I also think because Iowa played so patiently and deliberately, it's a reasonable preparation for UConn. Much more so than it would have prepared them for Duke because Duke's going, going, going, going. And they got everybody who can fly down the court. And it's part of why they lost. It's part of why they lost because Kaden Boozer saw his two teammates open, open, open. And even though there were two guys on him, rather than just standing there
- [14:42]
Matt Abaticola
and holding, holding the ball and getting fou.
- [14:46]
Dan Bernstein
I know, jumped in the air because that's how they play. Go, go, go, go, go. Illinois proved that they could hang in there with multiple recoveries, help and recovery. Rotate, recover, switch your guys back. That's not easy to do with this damn 35 second shot clock. That drives me absolutely crazy. I hate it. I hate the 35 second shot clock. Go to a normal shot clock and play real basketball, please.
- [15:11]
Matt Abaticola
Oh, you've been to a high school game then in a while, have you?
- [15:14]
Dan Bernstein
No, thank you.
- [15:16]
Matt Abaticola
Not having a shot clock, it infuriates me. No, it drives me insane.
- [15:21]
Dan Bernstein
Yes, I know. It's hard enough for me to watch. Like, I had to turn on a Bulls game just to get the college taste out of my mouth after a while. I mean, seriously, it's like. I know I did.
- [15:31]
Matt Abaticola
It's been so much fun to watch.
- [15:33]
Dan Bernstein
I know it is. But they miss so many shots. It's just so many missed shots. And the possessions are so long and it's just too. They're just. I mean, I get my fill of white basketball real fast. And like, I, I. The whole corn pone college stuff with Iowa and, and Nebraska and Iowa State was out there. Oh, here's my other theory. Let me mention this. First, Illinois just took down Iowa. Michigan knocked off Tennessee in a beat down ucas. Uconn sent Duke home. Your bracket might be cooked. Your bankroll doesn't have to be. Final four live bets catch the swing before the odds adjust. You're nodding along when I say that. Live bets, you can grab it before the odds adjust. When you're working with my bookie, you don't need a perfect bracket. You need the right read at the right time. And if you're going to be in it, be in it to win it. With my bookie. Ag. The promo code, DBU for Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered. Your first bet's covered up to 500 bucks. If it misses, you can activate the bet back bonus token and run it back. The tournament's heating up. Don't just watch it go big. Win from it. My bookie's got your back. MyBookie AG. The promo code DBU for your bet back bonus token. Only at MyBookie. I have a proposal, and it is this. We don't need both Bennett Sturtz and Braden Smith. It's there. We don't need both of them, so I want you to pick one either. We are merging them into one.
- [17:19]
Matt Abaticola
I think that's the most fair route to go there.
- [17:21]
Dan Bernstein
We just were combining Bennett Sturtz and Braden Smith into Brain it Smurts. Okay.
- [17:32]
Matt Abaticola
Yes.
- [17:33]
Dan Bernstein
Brain it Smurts.
- [17:35]
Matt Abaticola
How about just B B Smerts? Nope. Nope.
- [17:38]
Dan Bernstein
It's gonna have to combine Braden and Bennett Brainett. Or Bran it. Bran it Smirts.
- [17:44]
Matt Abaticola
I like Bran it Smirts. Okay.
- [17:45]
Dan Bernstein
We're gonna squeeze them into one person, just for efficiency's sake.
- [17:50]
Matt Abaticola
It sounds like something you'd make your kitchen countertops out of.
- [17:54]
Dan Bernstein
Oh, Bran it Smurts. Yes, I know. It's all the Rage. It really is because it, you know, it's, it's you, you can cut on it, it's great. And it doesn't, it doesn't conduct heat. It's, it's really, it's, it's inexpensive. Unlike having to dig something up. You know, they can make this stuff in a lab, but that is it. We don't need both of them. And I used to be tougher about these things. I used to say that one of the. We had to decide which person would be eliminated. But I'm not going to do that.
- [18:22]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, let's merge them together.
- [18:23]
Dan Bernstein
I don't want to eliminate technology. Yes, right. This. And I think this is the third time I've done this. I did this years ago when the NFL had punters Leo Aragus and Louis Aguiar that I said we didn't need punters with named Leo Aragus and Louis Aguiar and we merged them into Lu Agagus. And I think we did the same thing in college basketball with Pat Garrity and Matt Harpering. I think we met, we made Pat, Matt Harpity. So same thing.
- [18:58]
Matt Abaticola
Now we have, we have Brandet smarts.
- [18:59]
Dan Bernstein
Brand it Smurtz is that, that will cover both of those players for their entire future. But hey, this is, this is a hell of a weekend, man. There was some really. But. And boy, Michigan, Illinois can. If they're not going to beat him 10 times out of 10. But they can beat him three times out of 10.
- [19:22]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. No, no, Dan, I mean Illinois can win the national championship.
- [19:26]
Dan Bernstein
Oh yeah. Oh yeah they can.
- [19:28]
Matt Abaticola
And so the point is they better,
- [19:31]
Dan Bernstein
they better do it now. They better do it this year.
- [19:35]
Matt Abaticola
This is his ninth season.
- [19:37]
Dan Bernstein
Brad Underwood, I think that's right with Illinois.
- [19:39]
Matt Abaticola
But it's been nine years already.
- [19:41]
Dan Bernstein
But it wasn't just like when you see what nobody saw Keaton Wagler emerging like this.
- [19:46]
Matt Abaticola
Right.
- [19:47]
Dan Bernstein
No one saw him becoming something that is, that doesn't play quite the way the other guys do. That's got this, this great demeanor to his game. A one on one ability to, to go foul hunting. He's got to get a little better at that though. Either. Either finish or evince the foul. Get to the damn line because you're going to need that late. And that's what I don't know if they have. I don't know that they can win close and late. They haven't had to show that yet. And all these overtime losses throughout the season that Brad Underwood prove it to me. Prove it to me in this game. Or the national championship win. Close and late because you're ready for it and you're ahead of the game and you've got your timeouts and you've got your matchups. I don't know what he was doing at the end of the first half with the first fouling and. And like racking up fouls on his guys for no reason. Only go in to go into the half down two that there's. There were too many odd things that were going on with. With his I. The two guys I'm going to doubt until they prove it. Brad Underwood and John Shire. Because look that that was it.
- [20:59]
Matt Abaticola
That was a terrible.
- [21:00]
Dan Bernstein
That was. And did you hear the Duke broadcast? You're the Duke radio broadcast. I didn't know man like complaining about a. The Yukon player had run on the court. It should have been a technical like and they were. They were absolutely getting dunked on on social media too.
- [21:19]
Matt Abaticola
And they had a 15 point lead. They gave that game away in the second half. It's not about kid running on.
- [21:24]
Dan Bernstein
No, it's not about anything but. But immediately they turned Karen on the broadcast manager.
- [21:30]
Matt Abaticola
About this Saturday. UConn and Illinois are the early game 509. Arizona takes on Michigan in the later game. We'll talk more about them of course as the week goes through as well.
- [21:41]
Dan Bernstein
We will And I'm sorry that I haven't mentioned Arizona yet because there's a lot of players on that team too. They're. They're. They're tough. They are tough. And I'm also starting to think as a Bulls fan there are more guys in this draft that I like. I know I was that I'm souring a little bit on Cam Boozer. I don't know if other scouts are feeling that way or other teams are feeling that way as well because I just. I don't like a below the rim college player in the NBA as much as I like some of these guys are going to actually jump. But I'll tell you something. Isaiah Evans is going to be good. I think Braden buries going to be real good. These guards who are willing to rebound. I like that too. There. There are some. There are some players who. It's clear that who the top three are. Look, DeBonsa is one of one in my book that that's it. DeBons is the guy. I have no idea about Peterson. I don't know how he is mentally or physically and it's almost like I don't feel that I've gotten a complete look at him in the games that I've watched because I haven't. There haven't been enough games, enough situations. So this is a, the Peterson workouts are going to be huge. The individual workouts, the interviews, understanding where he is with his physical and mental health and what, and the Bulls do their physical health stuff is questionable. Their mental health stuff has been good. We talked about this on owc. You know, Jason and I were talking about the, that what they did with and to help Andre Drummond, to help DeMar DeRozan and to have that side of things. It might be a nice spot if, if they trade up or if Darren Peterson makes it down to them because of teams worries he won't. But we don't know exactly if the Bulls are going to luck into, you know, say the fourth pick or something like that, but there's, there are people to watch in this tournament. And the other guy in Arizona, what's his name? Cut your cock off. What's, what's, who's the big, the big Russian guy. I was calling him cut your cock off all weekend, but
- [23:55]
Matt Abaticola
I want to hear that name drafted.
- [23:57]
Dan Bernstein
I'm sorry. Yeah, but I, I, to me he's got your cock off. But he's quicker than I thought. He's, he is got a very quick first step, I think co opietes an NBA player buries clearly is and they're very well coached and they keep coming with. You know, they bring the other big dude off the bench and there's, there, there's some good coaching going on now. There's been some bad coaching as well and those guys are out. But you know, I generally don't get hyped about college basketball all that much. But some. Somebody's going to need a big day against Michigan. Illinois could be that team.
- [24:35]
Matt Abaticola
So that's Ivan Karchenov. Karchenkov.
- [24:38]
Dan Bernstein
Karchenkov.
- [24:39]
Matt Abaticola
Karchenkov. Okay. Ivan Karchenkov.
- [24:41]
Dan Bernstein
I think that's right.
- [24:42]
Matt Abaticola
Six, seven. Yep.
- [24:44]
Dan Bernstein
Oh, don't even start me with the six, seven. Getting my, the people are still doing it still. When, when is that over?
- [24:53]
Matt Abaticola
It's not going to be over because old guys like you keep doing it.
- [24:56]
Dan Bernstein
When is it over? Six, seven. God. God. Breaking a Napoleon diamond.
- [25:02]
Matt Abaticola
All right, Napoleon. Yeah.
- [25:03]
Dan Bernstein
Idiot. This is. The games are getting really interesting. We know that. And this time of year is great. What should not be a question is your game day food. If you're watching these games at home with friends, whatever, you need something that actually delivers. And that's why I go with Giordano's. And you should too because the full lineup is there for you. Chicago Deep dish if you want something loaded. Tavern style pizza, cut into squares. I think that's redundant. You know tavern style pizza, it's cut into squares, thin crust. Want to keep it classic? Then you can add in wings. I prefer the the regular Buffalo style wings. They're awesome cookies. Game day deals, then you got that real spread. You're not scrambling around at halftime. There's no bad last minute decisions. It is just food that shows up the way it's supposed to. And these games, they might be unpredictable, shall we say, but your setup shouldn't be and doesn't have to be. So order Delivery now@giordano.com or visit a Giordano's location near you for pickup and grab that perfect game day spread. Game day deals are happening right now at Giordano's. Your bracket may bust. Mine has your pizza. Shouldn't if you already have listened to off the Ivy, you know how we feel about the Cubs weekend. And if you're new, hey, whoa, what's the I. What's off the Ivy? Last week we we began a daily Monday through Friday Cubs pod here on 312 Sports called off the IV, a Chicago Cubs podcast. Cody Delmendo, Matt Abaticola and me, we'll start the morning posting all your things. Cub. Just just a daily check in for you with everything that's going on. And I mentioned then that I was going to use some space here to just talk about what the big picture is with these very team friendly and long term signings. The fact that Nico Horner got his no trade clause, the fact that PCA just wants to be here as long as he does and Horner wants to be here as long as he does. And you've got Bregman who is signed. You've got your shortstop Dansby Swanson who is signed. You've got a commitment to a core and in today's day and age, with what you've been through as a Cub fan, it is not a small thing. And I kept thinking into the context of the possibility of a work stoppage. Probability of a work stoppage. There will be a lockout in the winter and then we'll see how long it lasts. But it's likely that some games could be missed. You hope a whole season isn't missed. You hope that there are the cooler heads are able to work out an equitable deal for all involved. But knowing that on the other side of that whatever it is, you Know your team. How about that? Like just the security of that. And cynically, this is where I was last week, taking sort of the cynical perspective of the marketing department, like knowing who you can put on posters and T shirts and using TV ad campaigns and the faces of this team aren't going to. Going anywhere for a while. But even from a, From a perspective that isn't as cynical, just from your perspective as a fan, you know, your team, however long a work stoppage is, it's still going to be your team. And it's been. It's a rare thing in sports to have a commitment to be able to watch these guys mature and age, and maybe they age past their prime ability, but as long as you're building up enough around them, around Bregman, Swanson, the late years of Horner, and there are. Then this is supplemented by ongoing star development. It's just a, it's, it's a, it's a rare thing and a cool thing. You shouldn't have to celebrate it because we all, you know, those of the Gen Xers, we all grew up with baseball teams. That was the core, and that's what it is, and that's who it was. You know, even in football, you had your quarterback, and if he was mid, it was still your quarterback, and it was the devil you knew. But I did not see Tom Ricketts deciding to commit, what, a half a billion dollars to a core of players in one season. But he did.
- [29:19]
Matt Abaticola
He certainly, certainly did. And that was quite a surprise to see the extensions of PCA and Horner, which was great to see both. And as it lays out right now, Dan, you, you have your infield through 2029. Mike. Michael. Michael Bush is arbitration eligible. He becomes a free agent in 2030. So you have him through the 2029 season at whatever the minimum cost is right now. 750, $800,000. Miguel Amaya as well. PCA locked up through 2031. So you're infield and up the middle from behind home plate through center field is locked up and will be like this barring any injuries. These are your guys through 2029. That's what you have now. You can lock up Michael Bush, who's 27. You could extend him next year. Miguel Aguaya. Miguel Amaya, if he stays, if he stays healthy, is a guy that you could also lock up at. He's only 27 years old. So you have a really significant core of players that are going to be here for the foreseeable future. And then what happens With Ian Happ and say a Suzuki, you know, if Hap is gone after this year, Suzuki is a free agent after this year. Those are, those are pieces, components that you can find and build, but you're set around the infield and up the middle for the next several years.
- [30:33]
Dan Bernstein
On the other side of town, the story other than that epic meltdown yesterday. Munataka Murakami, your guys, White Sox slugger. And yeah, he can do that. The man has three home runs in three games. So what does that mean?
- [30:54]
Matt Abaticola
That's 162 for a season.
- [30:57]
Dan Bernstein
Very good.
- [30:58]
Matt Abaticola
That should be a record, I think.
- [30:59]
Dan Bernstein
I think that'd be a big number if he can do that.
- [31:02]
Matt Abaticola
So.
- [31:03]
Dan Bernstein
So this is one of the reasons I love checking in with the Joe Sheehan newsletter because a couple of graphs here, he said, I'll be the jerk who throws a little cold water on a terrific debut. Murakami has struck out in four of 13 plate appearances. His three fly balls have all gone out of the park. And one of those things is more likely to continue than the other. So I'm glad this work has been done. Here we ask, what pitches did Murakami hit out of the park?
- [31:33]
Matt Abaticola
Fastballs.
- [31:34]
Dan Bernstein
One was a 92 mile an hour center cut fastball. Okay. One was a 91 mile an hour cutter, heart of the plate. The third was a 93 mile an hour cutter. And he said the questions about Murakami are about his ability to hit major league velocity. Those aren't being answered. The brewers were curious whether Murakami could hit middling stuff, poorly located, and presumably they're not anymore. Murakami saw 26 pitches over the weekend at 95. Plus he swung at eight of them. Four whiffs, three fouls and a one to three ground out. So the questions about Murakami, about hitting major league velocity are remaining. And as, as Joe said, call me when he hits one major league fastball out of the infield.
- [32:37]
Matt Abaticola
I mean, you can talk about his strikeout numbers. He's not as bad as Boba Shet starting in New York. Do you see his numbers?
- [32:43]
Dan Bernstein
It's a tough place to do it, isn't it?
- [32:45]
Matt Abaticola
He was. He's 1 for 14 to start with eight strikeouts.
- [32:48]
Dan Bernstein
Dude. Yeah, I would, you know, and, and,
- [32:50]
Matt Abaticola
and he got, he got booed yesterday by the Mets fans.
- [32:53]
Dan Bernstein
Of course he did.
- [32:54]
Matt Abaticola
And sports radio reaction.
- [32:56]
Dan Bernstein
Sports radio. There's probably, you know, throwing Molotov cocktails at his car.
- [32:59]
Matt Abaticola
Did you see what he said?
- [33:00]
Dan Bernstein
Metaphorically, what he said.
- [33:02]
Matt Abaticola
I'm surprised that it took this long for them to boo me.
- [33:04]
Dan Bernstein
Good for him.
- [33:05]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, it was. I was really, really happy he said it that way.
- [33:08]
Dan Bernstein
That's understanding it, right?
- [33:09]
Matt Abaticola
Yes.
- [33:10]
Dan Bernstein
That's getting it. So, yes. Nicely done. If you need windows, Russ Armstrong is your guy. And we are, we're transferring over to that time now where we want to hold the cool in the house. And the other thing too that I'm noticing this is this the period of time here where we go from hot to cold to hot to cold. It is a great time to open windows and get the fresh air in the house. So you want the at least my new windows that Russ put in, they slide so nicely. I'm not fighting with them anymore. I'm not fighting with the locks. Everything glides because he put in all these brand new customade windows just like he's going to do for you when you call him at 847-302-9171 and check out his five star reviews at ChicagoNow guys.com it's all Russ and it's his people. There are. It's not like big window offering you these weird deals that sound too good to be true because they are. And Russ will match any price that you get. When you say, wait a second, buy one, get one free. Have Russ explain that actually means when he sits down at your kitchen table and pulls out a pen and starts saying, hey, we can do this and we can do this and we'll match this and we can do this. And then he builds your windows. He makes them all at a factory here in Chicago, custom made for your home. So when you are talking to these other window places, ask who's installing your windows? And they'll say, I don't know, people. And Russ will tell you the names of the people who are installing your windows because it's his crew. So you have that peace of mind about the people in and around your house. As I mentioned, he'll match any price. Call him 847-302-9171. Check out his five star reviews at ChicagoNowGuys.com Good to see you back, Matty.
- [34:54]
Matt Abaticola
Well, it's good to be back, Dan. I'm very, very happy to be back. As much as I love being on vacation. I was excited to get back to doing some shows but had quite the week, quite the week in Turks and Caicos. I'll tell you something, this is something that Natalie signed us up for. And part of our trip there was a option called fast track and we landed the Turks and Caicos Airport. And there's a company that they greet you and they do all of your immigration paperwork for you. And after everything's filled out, they take your passports and your immigration paperwork and they take you outside of the line that people had to wait in. It's like two or three hours. And they get you to the very front and you get. And you. Oh, dude. You get your bags and they get. You have a big Escalade waiting for you, and they drive you right to your resort. Of all the trip we've done, we've done a lot of trips over the last several years together as a family. Just Natalie and I. The absolute best money we've ever spent on a trip was paying for this fast track thing. It was. It was awesome. So we did a fishing charter one day, which I know you would have loved. We did some trolling with some, like, big, big bait and big lie looking for big barracuda. Did that for like an hour. Nothing hit. And so the guys saw the. The mo. The mood of the kids on the. On the boat, so they decided that they. We ditched that and went right to a reef.
- [36:15]
Dan Bernstein
I would have recommended that. I would have recommended light tackle reef fishing.
- [36:18]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. And so we did that for several hours. And the boys were catching red snapper, yellowtail snapper, and jackfish. Like they wanted to come on the boat. They just started pulling them up. Dude, it was great. I was doing some old school fishing. I just had line with a hook tied to it. Was throwing it out into the water.
- [36:35]
Dan Bernstein
Hand lining.
- [36:36]
Matt Abaticola
Yes. Wow. Well, one of the guys was doing
- [36:40]
Dan Bernstein
it on the Old man in the Sea. Yeah. That's like, you're. You're fishing like the natives.
- [36:43]
Matt Abaticola
So I'm watching him and I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, oh, this is old school. This is how I grew up fishing. And so he got me like a big. A big spool like of mine.
- [36:51]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah.
- [36:51]
Matt Abaticola
And tied a hook on it, and I'm putting bait on it, just throwing it out there by hand. He caught like three fish that way. I didn't catch anything. I had multiple bites, though. But it was really fun. So the fishing chart you would have loved. We did snorkeling, we did parasailing, we did tubing. The food at Beaches Resort was just unbelievable. They have a newer section that they built called Treasure beach. And there was a food hall in this hotel. It was called Pinta Hall. It had Caribbean cuisine, Mexican, Italian and Asian. And then a brick oven pizza. And so what you do is you sit down and it's smaller plates, and you just. You order from each cuisine and then they start bringing food out to you. Dan, we. We had to take it. I'll have to show you the picture next time I see you. Natalie took a picture of our table because there was so much food. I'm holding plates. We had plates, like on the seats because there was so much food. I had a meal. Jackie and I. And Jackie, Hank and I went there for lunch on, I think it's Thursday. I had a caprese salad with pesto and balsamic vinegar and then these fresh mozzarella heirloom tomatoes. You would have loved it. Marinated olives over a bed of whipped ricotta with crostini. Dude, I. I thought. I thought of you that you would have. You would have loved that. The food was just great. There was a Mac and cheese truck on the resort that we ate at pretty much every day. Could just walk up, order their own stuff and.
- [38:21]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, see, my thing on those vacations as a kid was always the ice cream. I would. I would just follow the ice cream truck around.
- [38:28]
Matt Abaticola
So they had a frozen yogurt shop. So it was. It was half coffee house, half frozen yogurt shop. We were there every day. The kids were there probably two or three times a day getting frozen yogurt. Had snapper tacos, which are great on the beach. Had steak and eggs for breakfast pretty much every day.
- [38:42]
Dan Bernstein
Let's go.
- [38:43]
Matt Abaticola
There was like three different restaurants that did like a sit down menu for breakfast. Others were buffet, and so I got steak and eggs four times during the week when I was there.
- [38:52]
Dan Bernstein
Did you exercise at all?
- [38:54]
Matt Abaticola
Well, dude, we were walking between like 18 and 20,000 steps a day.
- [38:58]
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
- [38:59]
Matt Abaticola
So we were. We were moving a lot. But three of the restaurants did filet for their steak and the steak and eggs. The fourth one was a flat iron, which was great. What else did I have? Oh, three. There was three different brick oven pizzerias on the resort. So we had multiple pizza, which was good. Oh, a lot of mocktails. And there was Heineken 0 at every bar, so I was. I was set. Even the swim bars had Heineken 0. So I was good to go. One thing I did, though, I did something that you did on a previous trip with your wife.
- [39:31]
Dan Bernstein
Archery.
- [39:32]
Matt Abaticola
No, not archery. I forgot to pack something.
- [39:37]
Dan Bernstein
Yes, you're part of the club now.
- [39:39]
Matt Abaticola
I'm part of the club.
- [39:40]
Dan Bernstein
Part of the no undies club.
- [39:41]
Matt Abaticola
I forgot to pack underwear.
- [39:43]
Dan Bernstein
Yep. I did it in Paris.
- [39:45]
Matt Abaticola
So I met. So we're in Beaches Resort in Turks and Caicos, and I'm unpacking, and I'm like, oh, no. And I'm starting to panic, and I'm like, oh, no, no, no, I didn't. And sure enough, yes, I didn't pack underwear. So I went to the resort shop and I wanted. And like, at. I was like. She's like, what are you gonna do? And I'm like, well, I don't know. I'll. You know, maybe. I don't know, maybe they have speedos. And I'll buy like a.
- [40:08]
Dan Bernstein
That's true. If you're at an all inclusive. It's not like you can just walk down the street and buy what you need. When. When I was in Paris, like, what am I going to do? And I think it was Zoe who points out. She goes, dad, there's a gap, literally, you know, across the street, go to the Gap.
- [40:22]
Matt Abaticola
So you went to the Gap?
- [40:23]
Dan Bernstein
That's what I'm going to do.
- [40:24]
Matt Abaticola
I went to the resort shop and they have these things. They were little packages by all the medical supplies and stuff, all the aspirin. And they're called emergency diapers. Emergency underpants. No, it's like one pair of boxer briefs and, like. And two wipes that come with it.
- [40:39]
Dan Bernstein
Emergency underpants.
- [40:40]
Matt Abaticola
It was like, in case you forget underwear or have, like, an accident. So in case you sh.
- [40:44]
Dan Bernstein
Your pants. I should have those with me all the time.
- [40:47]
Matt Abaticola
You should. You really should get a package for your, like, carrying your bag with you.
- [40:50]
Dan Bernstein
I endorse those. Yeah.
- [40:52]
Matt Abaticola
So it. So I had to buy some of those to wear. Luckily, I mean, you're at a beach and a pool all day long, so it wasn't like I needed a whole. A whole bunch. But, yeah, so I forgot underpants, and I immediately thought of you and you're. I thought it was Paris. I remember correctly. It was.
- [41:06]
Dan Bernstein
You're part of the club. Welcome to it.
- [41:09]
Matt Abaticola
So then. So this is. This is what's crazy, too. The start of the trip starts off with my father passed away.
- [41:16]
Dan Bernstein
I'm so sorry to hear that.
- [41:17]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, I know, buddy. I know. Thank you. So that's. So we get there Friday, Sunday morning, and he's. He's been sick and, like, I've been, you know, waiting for my brother, who's. Who's there with him daily for that. That phone call. So it happened Sunday morning. So it's. He's better off. He just. He wasn't doing well for a long time. And then my grandson, my first grandchild was born. The Next day, I didn't even know
- [41:41]
Dan Bernstein
how to react to your text. I don't think I'll ever again get a text from anybody I care about that says, hey, how's it going? My grandson was born, and my father died. So I think I was like, congrats, and I'm sorry. Like, what the hell? It. Text back to that.
- [42:00]
Matt Abaticola
I was texting you to share the news about my grandson because I was super excited. Yes. And then. Yeah, and then. I know. I paired it up there. Paired it up there for you. Like, hey, my grandson's born. My dad passed away. How's the week going?
- [42:12]
Dan Bernstein
I was like, hey, I know, I know. Like, what am I supposed to do?
- [42:18]
Matt Abaticola
No, it's. It's fine. I appreciate it. You know, my dad and I, we had a interesting, complicated relationship over the years as. As. As. As I was an adult, so. But, yeah, I'm. I'm. I'm relieved for him because, again, he has been doing well for a while. And then the fact that my grandson is born healthy, 8 pounds, 5 ounces. Abigail's doing good, and they're just kind of trying to adjust to life now with having a newborn as. I don't know if you possibly can adjust. No, just.
- [42:48]
Dan Bernstein
No, you kind of.
- [42:48]
Matt Abaticola
You hop on that ride, and it just. It flows, it flows whether you wanted to or not. So, yeah, so it was. It was quite the week. Got, you know, just a great trip, and if you ever have a chance or you think about Turks and Caicos for a trip. Beaches is huge. There's multiple resort names. So, like, we. We were in. French Village was the name of our hotel. And it's, like, the furthest away from all the activity, which is why we chose it. Like, the Heart, of course, is that, like, the heart and soul of all the activity is the Italian Village. My people. There's also key. Yeah, there was Key West Village, There's Caribbean Village, and there's this new one, Treasure beach, which just opened, which, you know, I just looked ahead for next year. Not that we're going to, but it's already sold out, like, a year from now. Yeah. So it's quite the place. And the hospitality, the food is just great. 25 different restaurants on the resort, but we had perfect weather. Dude, it was in the upper 70s and humidity was like 60%, 60 to 65%. So it was perfect.
- [43:47]
Dan Bernstein
It's all you need.
- [43:48]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah.
- [43:49]
Dan Bernstein
A couple of notes here from over the weekend that I found interesting that I think you may as well. I've been following as you Know the saga of Michael Jordan's Highland park mansion right off of Route 22 up near where I grew up. And it started out at $30 million. There were some reports initially that was over $40 million. It started out that Jordan was seeking $30 million, and this is more than a decade ago. So whatever that money would be now with inflation, it's 8.4 acres, and it's 37,700 square feet.
- [44:35]
Matt Abaticola
That's insane.
- [44:37]
Dan Bernstein
And it's. It's not really usable for anything other than being Michael Jordan's house. It's all kind of designed for people of his height. There's. And it's there, you know, cigars. It's. It's. It's totally dated. And they couldn't sell it until they dropped the price all the way down to $9.5 million.
- [45:06]
Matt Abaticola
That's crazy. Also. I mean, 30 to 9.5.
- [45:10]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. And so the guy who bought it, if you remember John Cooper Mellencamp, the guy who bought it first, tried to make it into, like, an Airbnb. That was the pitch that was, oh, for $250,000, for a week, you can stay in Michael Jordan's house with and have a bachelor party there during the tournaments and watch basketball games. And that didn't really sell. So now he's wondering why he threw even $9.5 million at this completely useless property. So here's the next step. His new concept that this has been pitched to Highland Park Local Government. He wants to rename it Champions Point. And this is going to be what he says is converted into a museum. He envisions tours of the mansion and its surrounding property as a way for people to have introspection. Quote, they can look inside themselves and think about, what does it mean to be a great person? Am I living that life right now? And if not, what could take me from there to here? I want people to leave this experience better than they came.
- [46:39]
Matt Abaticola
Wrong house, bro.
- [46:41]
Dan Bernstein
Well, this is the best part. He can't directly refer to Michael Jordan because of trademark or right of publicity claims. So it has to be this nebulous idea about greatness by walking through a house. So this house had sat on the market for more than 12 years. The plan is aimed at minimizing its impact on the neighborhood. He wants people to park at the Heller Nature center and that visitors access the property from a path extending south. Visitors will park off site and take buses to Heller Nature Center. He said, I don't want to disrupt the character of the neighborhood or my neighbors. Good Luck with these neighbors. I want to be able to do this in a way that isn't disruptive and actually gives back a lot. He is proposing removing Jordan's uniform number from the south gate of the property, which he believes would lessen the number of visitors on the street. He believes the Property would attract 300 to 500 visitors per day. Oh, God, no. That's. It. Wouldn't even attract three to five. He'd be lucky for a year to get that many. He's proposing free admission to all Highland park residents for the first year. Annual field trips for free for every Highland park public and private school student. A pilot curriculum for use in Lake county public high schools, 48 days per year of donated use for youth and community programming and the creation of new local jobs. Okay. Put simply. No, no, no, no, no, no and no. You messed up. Yeah.
- [48:25]
Carvana Ad Voice
You.
- [48:25]
Dan Bernstein
You spent $10 million on this thing. It's not of use to anybody. You're paying a redeemer, ridiculously high tax bill for this. So what? Just. You own it, keep paying the taxes on it. And that's going to help the Highland park schools more than a tour of the house. Just you paying the taxes. But this is no, this isn't. This is a big old no from a business perspective. It is a no from a community perspective. And whatever you envision this being when you bought it, you screwed up. Take the link.
- [48:56]
Matt Abaticola
All right. This is perfect because it leads right into a question I wanted to ask you. So, yes, on my trip over. Over the last week, every time I spoke to a local, whether it was through the fishing charter or people that
- [49:10]
Dan Bernstein
working on the resort, they said Chicago, Michael Jordan.
- [49:13]
Matt Abaticola
So, yeah, there were three things that were said to me, Dan. When people asked me where I'm from, there were two things that were said most commonly. And then there was a third thing that one guy said by that was it. There was one response. Where are you from? Chicago. What are the things that they would say?
- [49:28]
Dan Bernstein
Can I guess?
- [49:29]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, guess.
- [49:31]
Dan Bernstein
Italian beef slash the bear.
- [49:34]
Matt Abaticola
No, no, you. Okay, you said one right there.
- [49:36]
Dan Bernstein
You had Michael Jordan.
- [49:37]
Matt Abaticola
Michael Jordan was said. The second thing that was most commonly said was
- [49:43]
Dan Bernstein
William Refrigerator Perry.
- [49:45]
Matt Abaticola
No, the second thing was the Chicago Bulls. So it was Michael Jordan or Chicago Bulls. Okay, so where are you from? Chicago. Oh, Chicago Bulls. Oh, Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan. The third thing. So seriously, I'm not. I'm not exaggerating. I'm not lying. Every person said, you know, Mike North. Every person said those two things. Either the Chicago Bulls or Michael Jordan. But one Guy said one other thing. Can you guess what someone from another country would think about Chicago?
- [50:15]
Dan Bernstein
Okay. Was it sports related?
- [50:17]
Matt Abaticola
It was not sports related.
- [50:18]
Dan Bernstein
Was it local politics related? No. City government in any way?
- [50:27]
Matt Abaticola
No.
- [50:28]
Dan Bernstein
Weather related?
- [50:29]
Matt Abaticola
Not weather, no. You're on the right track.
- [50:32]
Dan Bernstein
Do with Windy City? Something about wind?
- [50:36]
Matt Abaticola
No.
- [50:38]
Dan Bernstein
Does it have to do with the arts? The bean?
- [50:42]
Matt Abaticola
No.
- [50:43]
Dan Bernstein
Architecture? Nothing. Arts, nothing. Politics? Entertainment?
- [50:47]
Matt Abaticola
Nope. I'll give you a clue.
- [50:50]
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
- [50:51]
Matt Abaticola
Crime.
- [50:53]
Dan Bernstein
Oh, murder.
- [50:55]
Matt Abaticola
Okay, you're on the track. So What?
- [50:58]
Dan Bernstein
Al Capone. St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
- [51:01]
Matt Abaticola
What? What did he call Chicago?
- [51:04]
Dan Bernstein
He called Chicago. I don't know. The Blues Brothers. I. What?
- [51:12]
Matt Abaticola
Chirac.
- [51:14]
Dan Bernstein
Oh, great.
- [51:15]
Matt Abaticola
Yes. So everybody, seriously. Two responses were given. Michael Jordan or Chicago Bulls. Except one guy. We're doing the tubing for the. For the kids there. It's a big inflatable. Look like a big inflatable couch. So all four boys are on the tube at one time and they're getting pulled. And so one guy comes off the boat. Natalie goes on the boat to take pictures.
- [51:34]
Dan Bernstein
Did you do parasailing?
- [51:36]
Matt Abaticola
We did parasailing. I was on the boat for parasailing. Got great pictures of the boys parasailing.
- [51:40]
Dan Bernstein
Okay. They didn't slam into a side of a building or anything like Cocoon?
- [51:43]
Matt Abaticola
No, there's buildings in the middle of the ocean. But luckily I checked that for sure.
- [51:47]
Dan Bernstein
Good.
- [51:48]
Matt Abaticola
So the guy comes off the boat, and him and I are standing on the beach and we're talking and we start chatting. Really nice young kid. And he's like, where are you from? And I said, chicago. And he goes, oh. And in my brain I'm like, all right, Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls, Chiraq first.
- [52:02]
Dan Bernstein
Bang, bang, bang.
- [52:03]
Matt Abaticola
First different thing that I heard all week. So it was either Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls, which I thought was really funny, that those are the two most common things. And then the third one was being shy rack. But that was only one. One comment.
- [52:16]
Dan Bernstein
March Madness is already delivering upsets, blowouts, buzzer beaters. If your brackets busted, it doesn't mean you're out by the busted bracket if you're in our tournament. By the way, you know, you're. You're certainly beating the hell out of me. I had Duke winning at all. So that's that. And I'm never, ever picking that again. As long as John Shire is head coach, your bankroll does not have to be busted. However, final four live bets. Catching that swing before the odds adjust. You don't need a perfect bracket. You just need to be right spot, right time, your right hunch your right read. If you're going to be in it, be in it to win it at MyBookie AG. Where the promo code DBU, just those three letters, get you your first bet covered up to 500 bucks. If it misses, activate your bet back, bonus token. Boom. And you run it back like it unhappened. Here we are. The tournament has heated up. We are in this final weekend. Don't just watch it go big. Win from it and get that $500 bet back bonus token with the promo code DBU@mybookie.ag. go big only at my bookie.
- [53:26]
Matt Abaticola
All right, so just looking at our busted brackets, Dan, So as far as you, me, and Cody are concerned, I don't know how these points, how the points work, But Cody has 74, I have 73, you have 72. Well, okay, so we're all there, competitive with each other. I think I had Duke also winning. So let's see what Cody, if he can keep this lead.
- [53:48]
Dan Bernstein
Who's leading the bracket, though?
- [53:50]
Matt Abaticola
So our top 10 leaderboard. James Brunke. He's number one with one. He has 100.
- [53:57]
Dan Bernstein
Not the James Brunke.
- [53:59]
Matt Abaticola
I don't know how the points work, but he's. He has 100. Also.
- [54:02]
Dan Bernstein
Carl
- [54:05]
Matt Abaticola
Engeman has 100.
- [54:08]
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
- [54:08]
Matt Abaticola
And then from there it goes 96, 95, 95, 95, 94. 94, 94. So, yeah, the listeners, our community of friends, just kicking our asses.
- [54:17]
Dan Bernstein
All right. Leave it to the firm of Brunky and Engerman to be topping all of us. Nicely done, gentlemen. Keep it up. Can I leave you with something terrifying? May I?
- [54:29]
Matt Abaticola
If you have to.
- [54:31]
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
- [54:31]
Matt Abaticola
I don't want to be terrified. I'm really good. I'm in a really good place. I came home from vacation. I'm happy, I'm good.
- [54:37]
Dan Bernstein
But you're gonna have to deal with this because I. I need to inject this into. Into the bloodstream here.
- [54:42]
Matt Abaticola
Oh, no.
- [54:44]
Dan Bernstein
This is. Was reported by cnn, but I'm sure elsewhere. I just have the copy here. A small amount of anti matter.
- [54:52]
Matt Abaticola
Okay.
- [54:53]
Dan Bernstein
Took to the road last week. Oh, no. Representing the first time any quantity of the world's most expensive volatile and rare substance has been moved. The breakthrough opens the door to new possibilities for the study of the elusive material. Antimatter is the mirror image of regular matter. It has an opposite electric charge and reversed subatomic properties. When matter and antimatter come into contact, they annihilate each other and disappear in a flash of energy. As a result, antimatter is at the core of one of our Universe's greatest mysteries, I.e. the Big Bang, should have created equal amounts of matter and antimatter, leading to either a universe with no matter left at all due to total annihilation, or a universe with equal amounts of both. Our universe, however, consists of matter but almost no antimatter, which exists naturally only in small quantities created by radioactive decay and the collisions of cosmic rays. Physicists call this problem the matter antimatter asymmetry. Studying this can help scientists understand the nature of this asymmetry. But doing so isn't easy because the instruments used to make antimatter create interference that hinders its study. It's a common problem in science of your actual instruments of study affecting the study itself. So transporting antimatter away from this interference would allow scientists to take measurements of the substance more accurately. And I'm looking at a picture of the container that they had to use to transport the antimatter.
- [56:38]
Matt Abaticola
This doesn't sound like a good sign.
- [56:40]
Dan Bernstein
It had to be kept stable with a powerful vacuum and magnets operated at negative 470 degrees Fahrenheit, which is minus 268 degrees Celsius.
- [56:55]
Matt Abaticola
That's cold.
- [56:56]
Dan Bernstein
The antimatter transport took place at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. CERN, you've seen it before. The site of the world's largest particle physics laboratory. Said the facility is producing fluctuations. He said it's like looking through a microscope. The object you're looking at is vibrating. The picture gets blurry. Transporting particles out of this environment will enable us to obtain much sharper pictures. So a truck moved the Cargo over a six mile route within the CERN facility, taking 30 minutes in this specially constructed container. You've got to see this thing. It weighs 1,760 pounds, it measures 6ft tall, and it successfully moved a payload of 92 antiprotons. It appears to be something that would have been at home in Ghostbusters. They're calling it a portable Penning trap. And it is a. It looks like an aluminum box with the black and yellow hazard tape on it. Like you, you remember when Dan Aykroyd's character is walking out of the hotel ballroom.
- [58:17]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah.
- [58:18]
Dan Bernstein
And he's holding up the, the trap and it's hissing and shaking and steaming and he's like a free roaming vapor. Real nasty one too. This one is significantly bigger than that. But looking at the wires sticking out and the tape and the fact that some panels seem to be missing from it.
- [58:37]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, I'm looking at It. Right now I'm seeing a picture.
- [58:39]
Dan Bernstein
The portable Penning trap.
- [58:41]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah,
- [58:43]
Dan Bernstein
like, I thought it would be something a little cooler looking. And then I was thinking, you can't do this unless it's guarded by Thor or Hulk.
- [58:57]
Matt Abaticola
No, there's this dudes and just hard hats. I know.
- [59:00]
Dan Bernstein
It's just Hard hat dudes look like they're begging for a super villain to show up with what Vibranium? And be like, yeah, we're taking that because that's the tesseract or that's the antimatter. And now we're going to go do horrible things with it at our moon base or our secret lair in the side of a mountain. But don't. Don't move this stuff around without the help of. Of Thor or Spider man or something.
- [59:26]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, you need the Avengers.
- [59:27]
Dan Bernstein
Somebody. Somebody. I just. This. This worried me. Apparently we're. We're hearing about this after the fact and everything so far was okay. But if you are rooting for something, you know, horrible to happen and swallow us all up and take us to whatever's next, that's it. It might not just be the Yellowstone Caldera or the. Or the great meteor of death, it might just happen right here over at CERN. Where they're deciding to move 92 antiprotons around.
- [59:55]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. They take it to a lake somewhere and the lake just like evaporates and goes. And then a door opens and then
- [60:01]
Dan Bernstein
they go to their secret lair.
- [60:03]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. I don't know. It doesn't sound like something you should be doing, moving anti matter.
- [60:07]
Dan Bernstein
No, but it's. Have a good day at work, honey.
- [60:10]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah. What are you doing today?
- [60:12]
Dan Bernstein
You're like the night. The night before. I'm just saying. You know, I really should go to bed. This is a hell of a game. But I got a big day tomorrow. What are you doing at work? Yeah, I know. We got 92 antiprotons. We got to move them like six miles. I gotta call Steve because he's got to have the truck there and I don't even know. He's probably out. I know it's his birthday, so we got to figure this out.
- [60:34]
Matt Abaticola
Yeah, it doesn't sound like a good
- [60:35]
Dan Bernstein
idea, but so far everything is okay.
- [60:41]
Matt Abaticola
We're all still here, so.
- [60:42]
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, we're. We're still here.
- [60:44]
Matt Abaticola
And.
- [60:44]
Dan Bernstein
And you know what? More importantly, Modest Bouzelis has been kind to me in my recent DBU picks. I've been rolling because I think I'm on a. I've got a mind meld going with my Guy Modest Bou Zealous. So I'm going to keep it going again as my bookie presents DBU picks. The Bulls are taking on the San Antonio Spurs. I had Modest Bou Zealous over the points in one game. Then I had him under the three point attempts in the most recent game. And that cash because I think he was one of seven for three point range. Well, you know what I'm doing? I'm going back to the well. And DBU pick is betting on a bounce back from rising star. Modest Bou Zealous. I have him over 2.5 three pointers.
- [61:33]
Matt Abaticola
Okay.
- [61:34]
Dan Bernstein
In a game I believe the bulls are getting 18 and a half points I think is the spread. I don't care about the spread. As long as they lose, they're out of the play in that that's not happening this year. So I want them to keep losing and keep increasing the opportunities of getting that higher pick. But Modest Bou Zealous will have at least three made three point field goals tonight.
- [61:57]
Matt Abaticola
So looking at my NBA picks, I haven't done anything in quite some time since before vacation. I'm currently 41, 21 and 1 in my NBA and then a few college picks there throughout the last couple or couple months. I have three teams, three games tonight that I'm playing all together in one parlay. I am going to take those San Antonio spurs and I'm giving 18 points against the Bulls.
- [62:21]
Dan Bernstein
The Fighting Bulls are going to play Colin Sexton and he's going to end up with 25 points and keeping it close. You know that they're going to blow him up.
- [62:27]
Matt Abaticola
18. Lakers are giving 16 vs. Washington and Memphis Grizzlies and the Phoenix Suns are playing in Phoenix and Memphis is getting 13 and a half. I'm taking those 13 and a half points. So that's spurs minus 18, Lakers minus 16, Memphis plus 13 and a half.
- [62:46]
Dan Bernstein
And those are DBU picks. Lock in your picks now with my bookie bet on anything, anywhere, anytime. And that is our Monday dbu. That has been brought to you by Giordano's Pizza by Ross Armstrong and Chicago Window Guys and in partnership with my bookie Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered unfiltered on 312Sports.
- [63:15]
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- [63:38]
Dan Bernstein
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