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Mark McCray
You know what's missing. Real talk about what Black men go through mentally and emotionally. Man Listen Mental Health Conversations for Men of Color we're diving into the real stuff. The pressure, the struggles, the healing. No filters, just brothers sharing their truth about navigating life and finding purpose. Whether you're living it, supporting someone who is, or just want to understand, this is for you. I'm Mark McCray and I'm ready to have these conversations. Find us by searching. Man Listen Mental Wherever you get your
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Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Dan Bernstein Unfiltered Unfiltered on 312 Sports
Dan Bernstein
DBU on 312 brought to you in partnership with my bookie. Wow, it's been a wild couple of days here and it's been just an absolute blast. So thanks for all the correspondence that has been coming in here. I'm doing my my best to keep up with everything and there for the gazillion emails and all of it on the Bears stuff. I first of all, thank you for listening and thanks for being a part of everything that we're trying to do here. Trying to cut through a lot of There's a lot of BS out there and there's going to be more BS out there today because what is happening now? What this is turning into the entire bears failure circus. The bears have disappeared, they've pulled into their turtle shell and they're going to try to pretend everything is fine until they at some point have to come out and face questions. I mean, I mean, Kevin Warren should be front and center. Why did this fail? What happened? And he should be explaining why this crashed and burned and why what was building toward one of the most important and impactful moments in the in the history of the business of the bears franchise was bungled and ruined and Set back delayed and is now with every day that goes by. I wish we had a telethon scoreboard here, the old Jerry Lewis muscular dystrophy telethon scoreboard with a giant numbers up there just showing you what the cost is of this project. With every day that goes by in delay with everything. The, the absolute cost. Some of the estimates I read, I, I think I said sort of flippantly yesterday that, you know, it's already half again as expensive and the several people like. No, no, no, Bernstein, you're exaggerating. And yeah, I was hyperbolizing for effect, but the actual estimates that I've gotten are between 30 and 35% more expensive because of the dithering and the screw ups and the mismanagement, if not the sabotage. And it remains the question. What I would want to, the question I want to ask today that I still think is critical has to do with the Bears official statements that came a couple of weeks ago when we were starting to get an inkling from the mayor's office. And he's talking again today. By the way, if you notice, the mayor of Hammond is out there and Brandon Johnson is out there. Today is going to be a big grandstanding day as everybody stands around the smoldering ruins of this effort and tries to point at it and explain what it is and, and in a way that benefits them, this is, this is a big grandstanding day. So as the Bears kind of, I believe, reconvene and wonder why they still have Kevin Warren leading them when it's been just an abject failure, the Bears had to lie because of what was going on with the city. And the huge question I have is, did the, the Bears know they were lying? Did they know they were lying? And we may find out more in the next few days because when you force this team to lie, not just to the other principles involved in this arrangement of these massive deals, when we're talking about lying to the governor, to the legislature, to the public, to the league, to your fellow owners, the level of trust in the Bears has dropped precipitously. And in their behavior, it's the words. And in the behavior where the words are one thing, but then you don't, you know, George is in Springfield for this. Kevin Warren couldn't be bothered to be in Springfield for this. And from what I'm told that when they sent Scott Hagel, their comms vp, he literally stood there in the building doing nothing for the entire day. There were no meetings, no consultations. The highest ranking official representative for the Bears was there and I'm told doing literally nothing.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah.
Dan Bernstein
And that.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
And just be clear, that's not a shot at Scott Hagel or anything negative towards Scott Hagel?
Dan Bernstein
No, that's not his job. That is not his job. He's got other things to do.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Right.
Dan Bernstein
With communications and marketing and all of that. His job is not to stand there. What were the words that I heard used by one observer, quote unquote, like a potted plant? Was the actual description that I got from one of the people in Springfield that said. And I said, did you. What were the engagements with Scott Hagel like? What was he doing? It's one thing if he's running from room to room. He's got this meeting and then he's going to this other and trying to. I understand executives going to solve things and be involved in, in these 11th hour negotiations and they run and they're carrying a slice of pizza and they're going from this room to that room. I've covered owner's meetings. This is. And it's, it's, it can be boring to cover. But you, you can start to see how people are mo. Whom are they talking all this stuff. But I was the description that the highest ranking Bears representative in Springfield was, quote, like a potted plant, unquote, back on May 21. This is published on May 22 after we started to hear from the city of Chicago that, well, hold on a second here. Are the Bears actually reengaging with the city? Is this actually happening? And the Bears couldn't wait to put out a statement as to what was going on. And they said, the Chicago Bears have exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago, which was our initial goal. This past tense was our initial goal. There is not a viable site in the city. As a result, the only sites under consideration are in Arlington Heights and in Hammond. So then what was interesting was the mayor's office said, no, we've been talking to them about a lot of things. This is the first time this happened. Well, we've been, we've been talking to them.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
What was the date of that, that
Dan Bernstein
release from the bears that was May 21st.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
May 21st?
Dan Bernstein
Yep, May 21st. This. It was a statement. The Bears have exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago, which was our initial goal. There is not a viable site in the city. As a result, the only sites under consideration are in Arlington Heights and Hammond. That is official. And the Bears have a. They hired a million comms people. They already had. Obviously, you know, Scott Hagel is, Is there they hired this Ted Cruz from the Chiefs, who apparently was in charge of some of the communications with. For just the stadium effort. And based on some conversations that I've had, I don't want to impugn the people in the Bears communications office because much like what we've learned about the lobbyists and the political experts that the Bears hired to help Kevin Warren navigate these difficult waters with which he's completely unfamiliar, steering this thing through all of these different dangerous areas, and he didn't listen to him. He just ignored advice of experts. The same thing has been going on internally when it comes to communications that there has been. There have been suggestions that he has ignored. There have been best practices to say, hey, maybe we want to do this, or we want to say this. His whole thing has been, I got it, or okay, okay, okay, okay, that he does whatever he wants. And we'll get into that perhaps a little later. I'm also told that that that behavior pattern of either not listening to people or allowing people to do their jobs up to a point and then jumping in at the very end and changing everything is a pattern. There is a pattern of behavior when it's come to saying, oh, you did all this work to get this deal, and it's not even as big as the stadium stuff. There could be things that are. That are sponsorship arrangements, larger partnerships with longtime clients where everybody who knows what they're doing has done these deals, and then he jumps into the ends like, whoa, no, no, no. Well, we're gonna. Let's try to get this deal instead. Or I can make it better by. Okay, great job. Thanks for this. And now it's on my desk, and I'm gonna get. And a lot of things are getting screwed up. So it is. It is a pattern of behavior that was also exemplified by what happened in the last hours of some of this stadium negotiation. So that was the first.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
So. So, yeah, so the first one was May 21st. And also, don't forget May 28th. Then you have Roger Goodell saying that I've spoken to all sides, and there are two sites, one in Illinois, one in Indiana.
Dan Bernstein
Right. So now we know that's not true. We know that's not true. So the. This was. And again, this is published back in. In a couple of weeks ago where it said this statement from the Bears clashed with recent comments made by Brandon Johnson, who said the Bears met with the city's corporation council to discuss the Lakefront Stadium in recent weeks. So the Bears put out more statements or one more where in Response to the mayor's office, the Bears felt they had to do more damage control. Where it sounds like they continued to lie knowingly or unknowingly. And this is where we're not exactly sure and I'm not exactly sure if the Bears knew they were lying or not because they issued a statement. Any meetings between the city of Chicago and the Chicago Bears were limited to council to council engagement. There were no conversations with team management. Such exchanges are subject to heightened confidentiality and routinely encompass a wide range of matters related to the Chicago Bears tenancy at Soldier Field. Consistent with long standing practice, these discussions covered a variety of topics and will remain confidential. No substantive changes resulted. The concluding line to the statement, there are only two sites under consideration, Arlington Heights and Hammond. Oh really? Well, here's Senator Bill Cunningham. They shifted to hypothetical discussions about what might happen if the Arlington Heights site does not get improved. And those hypothetical discussions included reconsidering a site on the lakefront. And there's more. This is more from Cunningham who said the process has been frustrating and this was yesterday. So the process has been frustrating because they've changed their focus several times between Arlington Heights and the Chicago lakefront. And Cunningham said it continued into the spring session. Cunningham was asked by Fox 32 if he felt the Bears were being dishonest or not forthcoming during negotiations. He said, I wouldn't go that far. I would say the back channel negotiations or discussions they were having with the city of Chicago created a lot of confusion, a lot of cross messaging and that was a real problem for them in Springfield. The city then said, this is Mayor Brandon Johnson's office. And their statement to Fox, the city can confirm several recent meetings between Bears council and management and management and the city's corporation council regarding terms for a new lakefront stadium in Chicago. Now I found that interesting that they added and management because in this Bear statement I read that was the second statement issued a couple weeks ago. There were no conversations with team management that was said by the Bears. Now maybe you think Brandon Johnson's outright lying here. This is one of these rare times where I think I believe Brandon Johnson more than I believe the Bears. Why did they lie about these conversations? Especially then? What didn't they know? Because if they did know and then they actually came out with all of this stuff and they. And they said to the league, roger, no, no, no, Roger, don't. That's not true. Hey man, it's just these two. It's just these two. Somebody doesn't know what's going on. This is the left hand and the right hand. And if there are people, if you. If you worked at the Big Ten and you are nodding along or you're chuckling to yourself about what happened with some television negotiations near the very end of that run over there of. Of how that went down, we say, wait a second. He. He sold what to who? We didn't agree to that. Go back and check that out. Go back and check out what happened about a championship game and the rights to a Big Ten championship game that were apparently negotiated on a different channel with other people. This is a pattern, and it looks like it happened again. But when you force an organization to lie for you, and they kept digging in, when they said, well, no, no, it's just, first of all, there's only two. There's no third site. There is no viable site in the city of Chicago. It does not exist. The Michael Reese site can't be done. The whole lakeshore thing, wherever they want, a dome in the south lot or whatever their plan was, in giant green space. And that's what the mayor's talking about today. Today he's saying that. That they're going to build a dome on the lakefront and that that's alive. While the Bears are saying it's not that at some point, what didn't they know? Why didn't they know it? Who's talking to whom? And if these conversations, if the Bears aren't figuring out what's going on in their own house, it's impossible to take anything they say seriously. Are you telling me the truth? Is the first question I have. Somebody is if George McCaskey walks in and sits down with JB Pritzker, which he hasn't really done because he. That's why he hired Kevin Warren, because he doesn't feel that he wants to do this and he's busy refing soccer games, well, somebody needs to do it. Somebody needs to say, this is it. At the moment, you're only dealing with me. So you're not getting multiple answers and you're not wondering when you make a deal and you're shaking a hand if somebody's got their fingers crossed behind their back and they're dealing with somebody. Because the end management in there is. That is doing a lot. The Bears put out a stick. There were no conversations with team management Brandon Johnson yesterday. The city can confirm several recent meetings between Bears council and. And management and the city's corporation council specifically regarding terms for a new lakefront stadium in Chicago. So the big question to the Bears, which Is it? Why should we believe you? You? And now you're going to try. The same people involved in scuttling this trust are going to try to build something, are going to try to create somewhere a mixed use entertainment district and handle the parceling out of the land and everything else that would need to be done. Okay, I just want to know, did you know you were lying? And if you didn't know you were lying and you feel that you somehow were double crossed in this or within your building, you didn't know who was out there representing the interests of the Chicago Bears. That is a massive problem. And if you didn't see that coming or you didn't have everything structured in a way to do this with all your vice presidents and all your billions of dollars and all your executives and everything that has been spent right here. And the simplest issue in business, who's speaking for the team? Who's representing us? How are we doing these deals? Are we informed? Are we communicating? And this does appear to be a massive failure to communicate. Apologies to Strother Martin.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I thought it was interesting, Dan, when I saw Brandon Johnson talk about these term sheets and he mentioned the word term sheets, he, it was, he was almost laughing that, yeah, of course, of course there have been term sheets we've been going through. I mean, he chuckled like, well, yeah, of course. I mean that, that's how deep the conversations have been.
Dan Bernstein
And I don't think Brandon Johnson is motivated to make the Bears look stupid if he wants to do business with them. It's not in his best interest to clown the Bears. No, all he wants to do is clown Pritzker because there's still that issue that's, that's bubbling under all this too. And just keep that. Pritzker and Brandon Johnson do not like each other personally. There's stuff in there and getting to the bottom of it is going to take a lot of unwinding. But there is some deep seated enmity that exists between the big fella and the mayor of Chicago. And when the story is finally told, we're going to know more about the whys and wherefores of that. But this is, this is the, the, the beginning of another act in the farce that we're watching. And I have to say too, part of me, I know there's been a couple serious shows and we, I, I hope by the end of this one to be. To go back to a little bit of silly and, and I know you're often here for silly and I'm not going to pound you over the head with seriousness because I don't want to do that either. It's, there's a time and a place for it, and this has been one of those times and places. But I do think the part of me that sees this whole thing as farcical, as slapstick, If you just watch this thing entirely as a comedy, it's pretty damn funny. This entire three and a half years and now just everybody who comes out of the woodwork and you hear you've got the poor mayor of Hammond, this, this little lightweight in there who has absolutely zero power in anything that's going on. It's like, well, you know, we'll know something at the end of June. Is it, is it, is it a leverage play? Maybe, but, you know, there's nothing we can do. I, I'm not really negotiating, you know.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Also, keep, keep in mind too. Dan, the, the Bears themselves released another statement early Monday morning after everything failed. They released a statement in the middle of the night saying there are two options and we're going to evaluate, we'll continue to evaluate Arlington Heights and Hammond, Indiana.
Dan Bernstein
And, and then Mayor Johnson has decided he's going to embark now on a public grandstanding tour saying that essentially the Bears are lying.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
So grab, grab popcorn. Just grab some popcorn. And if you want to just dream your dreams of Caleb Williams scrambling around and chucking it down the field to a wide open Luther Burden iii, and that makes you happy, you can go to your Bears happy place. But the part of me that enjoys the schadenfreude of this and a well executed theatrical farce of, of slamming doors and mistaken identities and one person pokes ahead out just as somebody else is turning the corner that we're, we're getting every bit of it and the slapstick to the point of having the giant two by four over the shoulder and turning and knocking the guy in the head and he falls down the stairs. So I, I, I'm not the, the, the comedy, I promise you, is not lost on me. I just haven't quite been as tuned to that as trying to keep my head around everything that's going on.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
There's been so much going on and so much. Yeah. And so much back and forth and deception within the organization and confusion and not knowing. And keep in mind too, if something were to happen in the city proper, something new, this dome stadium on the lakefront, the Bears wouldn't own it, though. The whole idea is it's owned by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns guaranteed rate, Soldier Field now. And the benefit to the Bears is not paying taxes on the building because they don't own it.
Dan Bernstein
Well, they also don't get the revenue.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
The whole idea of building the stadium was to own it and get revenue. Right.
Dan Bernstein
So you're like naming rights and all the licensing deals and everything else that you would do and all the mixed use stuff.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
So at this point then just stay at Soldier Field.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. The best bet might just be to kind of. I just don't know what you do with that land. You open up the lemonade stand out there and. Or George can make soccer fields out of it. And he can. He can referee all the games, soccer fields and baseball fields. And if that's what he wants, that's what's going to make him happy. But until they fire Kevin Warren, what you're going to have here is a massive shit sandwich and everybody's taken a bite. Is that Full Metal Jacket? I think that's. I think I owe Kubrick that one.
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Dan Bernstein
You know, whenever the stakes are high, my bookie is where you turn bets into bankroll. There's always a big matchup on the schedule. Everybody's watching, everybody's got to take. No matter the sport, the props, as you know, I find them just as much fun as the final score. My bookie is there for you. The prop board is deep and fun to play. Player performances, game milestones, everything in between. The kind of action that keeps things interesting all game long. Whether you're talking NBA finals tonight, you've got the Stanley cup final and all these baseball games, you have the world cup coming. So get in. One account, one wallet. Bet the spread live, bet during the action. Jump into the casino during halftime. Or between games. Everything's in one place. Go to my bookie.ag now, and you will get a special bonus just because you're listening to this show when you use the code dbu. So make sure my bookie, AG Use the code dbu, and then you're set. Don't just watch the action. Make it pay with my bookie.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
The Stanley cup finals started last night. I got. I got a win for the Vegas Golden Knights. They won five to four. So they're up one. I'm three games away, Dan, from winning my pick for the Stanley cup of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
All right. Do you have a hockey thought for us? Who's your favorite player on your. On your Vegas Golden Knights?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I couldn't tell you one player.
Dan Bernstein
You can tell me. No, it's okay.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
No, no, I couldn't. I. I can't. I can't tell you because I don't know. I just know that game two is tomorrow night, so. Game two, correct. Thursday nights.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
So then. Yeah, so then we're all set, and we're three wins away from Vegas, hoisting Lord Stanley's cup and me celebrating another win.
Dan Bernstein
I hope that happens for you.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I do, too.
Dan Bernstein
We're all counting on you. Yes. I'm very excited for you. Meanwhile, I. Something just that I felt last night, and I know we discussed this a little bit on. Off the Ivy League. It merits some space here, too. And that's just like the. That Cubs game last night, unfortunately, was a. An all too perfect distillation of. Of just how everybody feels. And I do tend to think about that atmosphere at Wrigley Field is you. Boy, if you. If your antenna can be tuned in to Wrigley vibes, and I think mine's pretty good. I know yours is good, because if you spend enough time there. And I'm only. How far am I. How far is Western Avenue from Clark? A mile and a half.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Most.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, like, I feel it in the air. It's like there's a. There's a. I do. There's like that. That tension, that nervousness. And especially early when the Cubs have these awesome opportunities, that feeling was like, all right, here we go. Here's a stretch against some beatable teams. You're outside the division. They're getting healthy. Let's.
Commercial Announcer
Let's. Let's.
Dan Bernstein
Let's just go get this now, okay? Enough bullshit. Go win some games. Get back to being what we thought this team was. And then they get singles to start. Here we go. And then they run into an out. And then the innings over.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
And then all of a sudden it's like somebody hit pause. And the air just got taken out of the game. And then the Cubs are never up, and then they're not grinding at bats. And it's like, oh, there's another pop up. There's a lazy fly ball. Oh, they're, they're out again. I guess I'll get something. And then. Okay, it's still. It's two one. Was it okay? Tie on pitch fine.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah, he had a good outing. He went six and a third, gave up just the two earned runs, one solo home run. He pitched good.
Dan Bernstein
It's great. And, and then later there was a restlessness. And I thought that restlessness was emblematic of more than just one game. And you heard, if you listen closely to the way they've got the mic there, you can hear a little bit of dissatisfaction. There's not any outright booing, but you can hear the people talking to the game like it's on their television. Like, I was like, come on. Like, oh, let's go. Come on. Well, they've won.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
They won 15 games in a row at Wrigley Field. And now they have currently lost seven games in a row at Wrigley Field.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. So it's. What a weird season. What a bizarre, bizarre season. And there will be more twists and turns, we know that. But it was, it just hurt. And then late in the game and. All right, okay, here we this. Okay, let's just get out of here. Let's steal a win. Got no business winning this game. The rookie pitcher tied us in. Nazis out of here. These guys can't find the strike zone. And, and when, when Alex Bregman just, just waved over that curveball, clearly guessing fastball that. And exposed the, the guesswork, he didn't look at that pitch and read fastball. He didn't wait to see it. You don't. A major league hitter does not look like that against that lollipop of a curveball unless he's absolutely 100% selling out on the fastball. And I found it a little scary. So my, my, my long term worry meter that I always sort of keep to myself is, is very concerned about decline, risk and the, the just how steep the curve is for decline for Bregman and Swanson, specifically where they are on it now and what that means not just for this year, but for the Cubs immediate future.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
And yeah, and I've been very, very patient with this team this year in preaching the length of the season and the schedule and the games and, and if you're looking at my meter, it's the first time I've slipped into that concerned area.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, I guess it is, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Where you've been the voice of what I think is reasonable optimism for a team that proved capable of doing what it did. And that's fine to still be there. And I, John Chombie said it last night, he said, I just can't believe that the epitaph of this team will be they didn't score. It's how he put it. It's how he put it. He said, I just can't believe that the epitaph of this team, when it's written is going to be like, what was the 20, 26 Cubs? They just couldn't score.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah, it's as you said, it's so weird. I mean, you have the two 10 game winning streaks. You're in a stretch of 23 games where you go 20 and 33. You've won 15 in a row at Wrigley Field. You had a 10 game losing streak. You're now seven losses in a row at Wrigley Field. You're one of the best offenses in getting guys on base. You are one of the best offenses in getting guys in scoring position, yet you're one of the worst offenses in hitting the ball with runners in scoring position. You're one of the worst at striking out with runners in scoring position.
Dan Bernstein
It was conceived. It's as if they conceived a baseball team to make you miserable.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
It's not, not even miserable. It's just my head spinning because I can't, I can't understand it. I can't figure out. It's, it's such a weird extremism of both sides of it and the good and the bad.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, they're really, they're really good at setting up your expectations and dashing them.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
And what are we, 11, 61 games into the season and my head is spinning. We're trying to understand this team.
Dan Bernstein
Yes. I don't know that they understand themselves. I don't, I, I really don't. I, I don't know that there's, there's a way other than what we can get out of the data and keep pulling out of the data of, of how are they being approached, how are they being scouted or what? And for each hitter, how are they working you over, how are they getting ahead of you in it at bat? They gotta hit their pitch and they may have to redefine what Their pitch is. Because it's not going to be a fastball, and, and that's been pretty clear that I may give you something in the zone, but it's going to be moving, it's going to be spinning, and you better find a way to hit it. Three games over.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
500 now. Yeah, three games.
Dan Bernstein
That's it.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
That's it. That's not, that's not. Okay, that's not acceptable.
Dan Bernstein
No. All the numbers reflect it. All of the, all the projective numbers, everything that, that bakes this all in down to about a 50% playoff possibility now from 99. So it's, it's. They're, they're tough times. And the only thing that's going to make it better is. Is putting the bat on the ball, hitting it out of the park real nice.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah, I'd like to see.
Dan Bernstein
Make sure life so much easier.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I'd like to see. Well, don't tell John Smoltz. I'd like to see Suzuki get these next two days off.
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Just to sit the rest of the series. And if you want to. You want to throw El Contra out there, I mean, I, I prefer. Well, Shaw's down in Iowa. That's right.
Dan Bernstein
That's right. He's rehabbing Iowa. And I'm thinking now he, he might matter more than we thought. If you're pinch hitting for Dansby Swanson now, you're pinch hitting for him right now. So, so I don't know.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
If you throw Confort out in right field, you can let Ramirez D H. You can let. You know Alcantara play right field. I know, I know. But, but he hits the ball, Dan. Yeah, he's making contact. He doesn't look lost.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah, it's true.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
He's not chasing balls that are 6 inches out of the zone.
Dan Bernstein
I want to talk about the tonight's NBA Finals start. This is. I am, I am. Just as a fan, I'm counting down the hours if, if this finals can outstrip my own expectations and the Knicks could be more competitive than I think. And this is. It goes more than five games. This thing goes six or seven. This could be just, just perfect entertainment because not just the storylines, not just the fact that it's New York and that you're going to look at the sideline and see all the famous people and hear the Madison Square Garden. It's. It feels like basketball.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I can't wait.
Dan Bernstein
I cannot wait. There's also the, the coaching chess match that's going to take place here and so many things regarding Victor. Wembanyama and when they met earlier this year, he had one of his worst games of the year. He had like seven turnovers and shot 1 of 8 from 3 and they kept slapping the ball away from him. So how these coaches handle the first game is interesting because this is going to tell us. This is, this, this is the start of things. This is going to be okay. Here's what we're running. What do you do? Why I'm going to show you this early? Why am I showing you this early? What do you need to see? What do I want in the back of your head? In large part. And this is. Basketball isn't really that hard. Where is Victor Wembanyama and what.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I mean, he's, he's very hard to spot, but that's.
Dan Bernstein
Well, it makes it kind of easy. Are when Jalen Brunson is involved in ball screens, are they using Victor Wembanyama's man as the screener? Do they want Wembanyama out on the perimeter involved in that pick and roll action to have him not changing the game at the basket? Now, there's some. There's a lot of risk in that because he's also quick and he. It doesn't take him long. It takes him two strides. And with his reach, he can get back to the basket fairly easily and still affect once whether it's the 45 action or horns action or whatever. All the teams are using the same thing. A lot of these are three man pick and rolls or pick and pops. Can a 62 guard lead his team to an NBA championship? The answer is almost always no. And if you say, what about Isaiah Thomas? Okay, that was 40 years ago.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I mean, it's, it's a really good question about what, what they're going to do, how they're going to position it. Me personally, for the first game, I'd like to see the Knicks not use Wemby's guy to create those opportunities for Brunson. I'd rather see Brunson as far away from Wemby as possible and trying to create and either get to the basket or, or get some shots off. I don't want to see Wemby out there on the perimeter around Brunson. I just, I, I don't, I don't want to take the ball out of his hands. Not saying that, that he can't score, wouldn't score, but I don't want to do that. That guard against that guy at 75 out in the perimeter. I'd rather see Brunson with the ball as far away from Wemby as possible to start game one and see where it goes.
Dan Bernstein
Well, we're gonna see a lot of. If you think about it like a boxing match and there's going to be dodging and parrying and testing, probing. If I do this, what do you do? Okay, noted. If I do this, what do you do? Okay, noted. Generally, the rule is that your bench players and. Or your young players play better at home unless they're very, very special young players or bench players, which I think a lot of these spurs might just be. But the play of Champagne, the Cell, Castle, Keldon Johnson may determine Harper several games. Thank you, Harper. Rookie. A rookie. Yes. And by the way, I want to say at. Over the weekend at Clark Park. Yeah. Right near me by Kerry Wood Field at. What is that? Addison and California. Stefan Castle jersey. A guy.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Oh, seriously.
Dan Bernstein
Cargo shorts and a Spurs Castle jersey. The number five. I think I almost said something to him. I almost gave him like, the point and the nod, like he's going to be very happy he bought that jersey. Really. He's going to be really happy he bought that jersey because that, that, that's a really good player. And those guys, if, if they're good, the Knicks are in real trouble if, if they're able. If, if the Cell is continuing to shoot with his level of confidence and shoot through some of these little slumps that he has. I'm waiting to see how these guys perform. Big stage. And I know Gregg Popovich is talking to him and the. Apparently he's much more involved than I thought that the number of people that go to him like an oracle just because he's there, he's around, he's always. He's not invading any space, but he's. He is. He's still got a lot of basketball thoughts. Helping out a young coach in Ms. Johnson.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Hey, what do we get? What do we get on ABC tonight for the broadcast team? Who is it?
Dan Bernstein
I think it's Mike Breen, Tim Legler and Richard Jefferson.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Now Legler in his old age has gotten this. He's really sort of embraced a little more regionality in his sound. Where is he from originally? I know he went to LaSalle, I think, but because Legler has gotten. He's needed a little age on him, even though he's a former player. No, I'm serious. Like, he's got a scratchy coachy sound to him.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
And Eugene Legler was born December 26, 1966 in Washington, D.C. oh, okay.
Dan Bernstein
But he just, he's got a real coachy sound that has been great. And I'm, I think that the Mike Tirico, Reggie Miller, Jamal Crawford booth has been outstanding. And the whole NBC production. Yeah, the whole NBC production has been outstanding. But I know we're going to get a professional call. But Mike Breen does the Knicks games. He likes the Knicks. Of course he does. You know what else? Mike Breen is a pro. Mike Breen is going to do his job and you are not going to notice him rooting for the Knicks.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah. Legler grew up in Virginia. Okay. Went to school in Richmond, Virginia, as a kid.
Dan Bernstein
All right. I don't know. But he's got, he's developed kind of a nice basketball sound. And I think he's. He's better at this than he was at the studio stuff.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
In 2002, he earned his MBA from Wharton School.
Dan Bernstein
What? Yeah. Legler got a Wharton MBA. Yes, he did.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
No. Yes.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I'm reading it right now.
Dan Bernstein
Oh, wow. Okay. I didn't know that. Yeah. I just know that when, when Tim Legler. This is a apropos of nothing, but when, when he was in show for really is actually. I take that as a compliment.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
When Tim Legler was in the cba, when he was toiling for the Omaha Racers and our. Our coach had a meltdown before a game, he had a meltdown because it was pre game warmups, like early pregame warm ups. Not like official layup lines or anything. And our guys are just being idiots. Like, the guards are all trying to dunk, the big guys are all shooting threes. And he's standing with me and we're watching Legler warm up and all he's doing is taking game shots over and over and over again. All he's doing, he does like 20 of the same up, fake, circle to the right, lean back and shoot 20 of that same thing. Then he moves to the other side of the floor and he does it with his left hand. And then he does all of the. He brings an assistant coach over and he does back down, back down, back down, step back over. And all purpose, everything, everything with a purpose. And then I look over at the other side and these guys. And then we were good. And we're all like, good players. It's like. And. And our moral panagio goes, hey, you guys are out here. You're not going to be taking a three in the game. You're not going to be dunking in the game. Look at that guy. You want to know why he's going to be in the NBA. He's working. He's not screwing around. He's working.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
What was the life expectancy of a CBA coach? They all die young.
Dan Bernstein
No, Morrow died at like 89.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Because every story you tell, it's one guy is waiting for his jugular to explode.
Dan Bernstein
And amen. Bill Busselman finally went but. And you know what? And Flip Saunders didn't live long either. A lot of these guys. Eric Musselman is going to live to 106. And Morrow lived a long, healthy rel. I guess, relatively happy life because he was at his happiest when he was screaming about rebounding. You know, we need. We gotta buy a McCall's rebounder. If I had the money, I'd buy a McCall's rebounder and I'd fill it with basketballs and I'd make you whole rebounds off of that thing for a whole practice. Coach, we, we don't have a McCall's rebound. I know we don't.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Is Muscleman. Is he. Is he well pickled or what's.
Dan Bernstein
What's his. Eric?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah.
Dan Bernstein
No, he's an unbelievable shape. Yeah. I think he stopped drinking. He had. When he was an NBA head coach and had some. Kept getting picked up for things he shouldn't have been doing. And then he. I think, I think he's much better now. Yeah. And he's, he's, he's. I asked him about it. I said, why aren't. You know, you're not like your dad at all. I mean, other than being a great basketball coach.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah.
Dan Bernstein
He's like. Yeah, I guess I got it from my mom or something. He's got. He's different. He smiles every once. I don't think I ever saw Bill Musselman smile unless he was, you know, even maybe immediately after a victory. But when he did smile, it scared the out of you because you thought he was gonna kill you. It was, it was. It wasn't a friendly looking. No, it was like. It was more of like a. A rictus than a smile. I don't know. I don't know. But yeah, Tim Legler, he'll be on the call. Everything will be fine and everybody will be happy. I also have realized we have an opportunity and we got to figure out how we do it to do the funniest thing ever. Okay, I'm just gonna read you the story and then I want your mind to stop working. To start working, I should say about how we do the funniest thing ever. This is from the Chicago Tribune on May 30 I've been waiting to do this story, and all the urgency and everything we were doing has prevented me from. From doing it. Okay. For nearly two years, gun related arrests were a monthly and sometimes weekly occurrence at the Top golf parking lot in Naperville. Police officers would do patrols of the lot at 3211 Odyssey Court, spot a firearm laying on a car floor somewhere else in plain sight, wait for the vehicle's owner to return and arrest them. Sometimes it was the scent of cannabis or the sight of open alcohol that would attract them. But as out of the blue as the cases began at the venue, so too did they stop. The last arrest was made. Take a guess, Maddie. When was the last Naperville Topgolf gun arrest? All right.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I. I don't know. I didn't see the story. We haven't discussed it. I know you've been wanting to talk about it. I'm gonna just say where.
Dan Bernstein
So where we are.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
We're June 3rd.
Dan Bernstein
We are June 3rd.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I will say. I will say, Dan, that the last arrest came sometime in 2025. Have they gotten clean through the year 2026?
Dan Bernstein
The last arrest was made in November. Yes. So what happened?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Congratulations.
Dan Bernstein
Naperville police commander Rick Krako. Cracko. Crack. Could not pinpoint a specific reason for the sudden end to the gun related incidents, but speculated a number of factors may have contributed, including a combination of active police patrols, security enhancements by topgolf, and media attention. Yes, thank me later. My check is in the mail, I hope. Come on now. Come on now. I think. I think the Naperville police and topgolf, you know, because when you think who's. Who's been most consistent at pointing all this out, you. So Krakow said, we're very proactive up there, and hopefully the message got out that we're going to be over there and enforcing the laws and holding people accountable for bringing illegal weapons to that parking lot. I picture him also spontaneously growing a Sam Elliot mustache while he was talking. Topgolf did not respond to requests for comment. The sports entertainment complex opened in Naperville in 2015, but incidents related to guns being found in cars did not appear on the police department's radar until August of 2023. In the ensuing months, a total of how many gun arrests were made in or near the Topgolf parking lot? How many total, you think?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
What's the time frame?
Dan Bernstein
This is from.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
So November 2025.
Dan Bernstein
August of 2023.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay, so we're almost over two years.
Dan Bernstein
Oh, boy.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Let's say, how about 2246? Holy.
Dan Bernstein
In honor of Doug Plank. 40. 46. Gun related arrests were made in or near the top parking lot, all but two of which resulted in charges. The vast majority of people cited in the cases were not from the Naperville area. Many had addresses in the south suburbs and northwestern Indiana. Oh. Oh, no. Antonio Billups of Peoria was the last person arrested near the lot, charged with aggravated unlawful use of a loaded weapon and unlawful possession of cannabis by a passenger. His case is still pending. Police have been diligent about doing foot patrols of the topgolf lot when time allows. Although Krakow could not say how frequently such searches occur in a week or a month, he stressed they have not changed their approach in how they keep an eye on the venue. A patrol can consist of walking through the lot and looking into vehicles or driving through the lot and keeping an eye out for alcohol consumption, cannabis odors, or other things that draw suspicion. And I always wonder this too. Wouldn't you. If you were involved in something untoward or illegal, wouldn't you go out of your way to not smoke smelly weed?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
You would think you don't want to draw eyes on yourself.
Dan Bernstein
Right. Like, if you want to get high, there's all kinds of fabulous products out there that aren't what my son and his friends would refer to as noisy boof. That's apparently their term. They.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Noisy boof.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. Just because his friend, my son's friend, was like, oh man, somebody's got some noisy booth going.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah, I don't, I don't. I don't get the correlation between the guns and a topgolf driving range. I don't like that wouldn't mix with me.
Dan Bernstein
What I understood, I understand it to be was this was. It became. Because of its proximity to i88, it became a place for certain deals to be done between the fertile sales ground of suburban youth with disposable income not wanting to make a trip into the scary city to buy things that they would otherwise get there. And it just became a rendezvous point.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
All right. I mean, doesn't that sound more like bowling alley parking lot to you?
Dan Bernstein
That's the new. It's the new bowling alley parking lot. Right. It really is.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
But. And also, aren't there dispensaries everywhere you can just go if you're trying to buy weed. Yes, Unless you're buying more than weed.
Dan Bernstein
That's the thing. I think it's probably. There's probably stuff that you're not going crack, crack, crack. But. But why why. Why smoke smelly weed if you're doing illegal things? Go to the dispensary for yourself and get vapes that don't smell or edibles that have no trace whatsoever. I'm just advising you on your cannabis consumption.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Or, I mean, if you're the one selling the products, keep up on the news and realize that that's a hot spot of, like, police activity. Maybe stop going there and smoking your weed while selling it.
Dan Bernstein
It's so funny. It's so funny why you say this. Because it's. When you say a hotspot, that was used that term. Police never determined why topgolf became such a hotspot for people carrying guns.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
That's just a coincidence. I am not involved with Naperville law enforcement at all.
Dan Bernstein
Just. Okay, I thought it was a coincidence that you're carrying a gun. So like I say, we have the chance to do something really funny here.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay, what should we do?
Dan Bernstein
Because they've got a giant clock that says we've gone this many days without a gun arrest at topgolf.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Oh, so it's like a workplace with, like, avoiding days of, you know, 365 days without an accident.
Dan Bernstein
Without the OSHA thing. They said without a workplace incident. Yeah. So what. What should we do? Like, should we just like, drive and sit there as. As you know, in the 312 sports van and be there like, oh, I'm sorry, we. We left our Desert Eagle on the floor? Well, no, I'm sorry.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
No, I think we should. If it gets to a certain number of days without incident, we should. We should rent a bay, go hit some golf balls and. And record a special 312 DBU episode right there from the bay.
Dan Bernstein
But it has. But then we've got to.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
We want to celebrate. No, we want to celebrate the lack of guns and we go and smoke some big. What is it? Noisy, Noisy booth.
Dan Bernstein
Yeah. All right. Over, under.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Over, under. Now this is because, remember the Dan Bernstein rule. The moment I said, you realize Craig Counsel's manager of the year, right?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
They've started to suck.
Dan Bernstein
The moment I said, this is this. This managerial job. Look what he's doing. Everybody's hurt and they're still winning all these games. They've had two ten game winning streaks. One of the great managerial jobs we've seen. And all of a sudden the. The switch flipped and the Cubs started to suck eggs immediately, right? So by me bringing attention to this, when you think about the larger cosmic forces at work, it's. It's going to be Today, Right.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Today or tomorrow, someone gets shot in the leg.
Dan Bernstein
No, no one's getting. No, we don't be hurt. We don't want any of this to happen.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I'm saying I want it. I'm just saying you've given it the Dan Bernstein kiss of death.
Dan Bernstein
Or let me have an alternative interpretation to that. Where the fact that they're now saying that. Let me read the quote here. When it gets to the point where you go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and there are no arrests, there's no illegal activity that you're identifying, you feel comfortable in reducing your patrols and identifying another area of town that needs help. See, he said that.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I don't. I don't get it, though. Because if the. If the uptick in patrol and boots on the ground is doing this, why take it away?
Dan Bernstein
This is my point.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay, this is my point.
Dan Bernstein
Then now, now that it's out there, like, wait a second. The heat's off.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah. It's no longer a hot spot.
Dan Bernstein
Right. The heat's off. So now they're going to go back there. Now the gun arrests are going to start again because they're too publicly celebrating it. We did it. Now we don't have to patrol anymore.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
All right, let's. Let's do a quick immediate bet here. June 17th. So 6:17.
Dan Bernstein
Okay.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
You want to take the under over. Do you think there'll be an arrest? The first arrest will come before June 17th or after June 17th. So that's two weeks away.
Dan Bernstein
So I just. We just need one gun arrested topgolf within the next two weeks. Now that it's public that there are fewer patrols. Yes, I'll take the under.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
All right, so then I'll go over it.
Dan Bernstein
So we have.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay, I'll go over.
Dan Bernstein
All right, so we're marking June 17th. Just arbitrarily picking two weeks.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Two weeks away.
Dan Bernstein
Okay, Done. Okay. I'm just. I just think it would be funny.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay. Next step is if they go an entire year without. Without a gun related arrest. Entire year. We will rent a bay. We will do a special live episode of us recording a show of Dan Bernstein unfiltered and. And hitting golf balls at topgolf and enjoying some of their delicious food.
Dan Bernstein
In. Okay. In. If they can go an entire year.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
One year.
Dan Bernstein
Okay. Yep. Just make sure you mark the date in your calendar that we don't forget about it. On the big calendar.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah, big calendar.
Dan Bernstein
Just keep an eye on it and then that I will absolutely adhere to that pledge.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Done. Love it.
Dan Bernstein
The NBA finals are easy money. At my bookie, if you stop overthinking it, you don't have to do a crazy parlay. You don't have to do spreadsheets. You just need that one team that you trust. You've got the Knicks, and you've got the Spurs. No Bulls.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
No.
Dan Bernstein
No Bulls, but we are recording.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Rooting for the Knicks. Oh, my God.
Dan Bernstein
Are you.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah. Why east, baby?
Dan Bernstein
What, do you have conference pride now?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I do. I have. I have a lot of conference pride. You just. I have an Eastern Conference logo tattoo on my back.
Dan Bernstein
Go Eastern Conference.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yes.
Dan Bernstein
East is best, west is least. Playoff basketball hits so well, at my book, you got a clean board, you can keep it simple. Back the Knicks, back the spurs, and then just let the games do the rest. If you're new to my bookie, if you've never made a deposit, there's less reason to sit this one out. Enter the promo code DBU right now, and you're going to get a very special arrangement just because you are listening to this program. So pick your squad, take the shot. Use the code DBU at MyBookie, AG. Don't just watch the playoffs. Cash in on them. Only at my bookie.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
All right, let's scratch that. Hang on a second. Emotionally, I'll be rooting for the Knicks, but I already made my bet on
Dan Bernstein
the stage spurs, so, you know, I. I took the spurs as one of my DBU picks. I got this. I. I got the spurs at 15 to 1.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Oh, that's right. 15 to 1. And then you also have the spurs winning in five.
Dan Bernstein
I have the spurs winning in five. But months ago, I took the spurs and I got them at 15 to 1. It might end up being the. My. My best bet in the history of DBU picks.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Yeah. And I. I cut you off there, too. There will be a new episode of OWC Organizations Win Championships, released later this afternoon.
Dan Bernstein
You bet. You bet. And I'm going to talk about this game that I've been playing on my phone. Have you played 82. Zero?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
No, I'm still playing Candy Crush.
Dan Bernstein
No. Have you seen 82 0?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
No, I don't know. I have. I don't play games on my phone.
Dan Bernstein
I was kidding.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Well, I. Last night, I lost sleep because I couldn't stop playing 82 and 0.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Never even heard of it.
Dan Bernstein
Look it up.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
All right, I'll do it after.
Dan Bernstein
I'll. I'll send it to you.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
And do the harder version. You'd probably be bad at it, because if, like, the 1960s Atlanta Hawks come up, you're going to be in trouble. But it's, it's, it's just a hoot. It's.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Oh, is it, it's, it's like NBA related stuff.
Dan Bernstein
It's all NBA and NBA history and NBA stats and you have to build a five man team at the five positions. And then it, and then it calculates what your record would be.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay, send it over. Yep, that sounds.
Dan Bernstein
And the object is to go 82 and.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Oh, that sounds like I'll stay up all night doing that.
Dan Bernstein
You will. It is, it is. Ridiculously. I know it's been around for a while, but I guess over the last 48 hours or so it's gotten this huge uptick and I just. Some of the names that appear there and some of the names you get stuck with. My only quibble with it is it uses the four old positions that don't exist anymore. And some people can be assigned different positions because of their versatility. And it's hard to do that retroactively because the game has changed so much. Like, you know, Pete Maravich or somebody like that. But then LeBron James comes up and you can choose him. He's one of the few people that you are allowed by the game to play at any of five positions.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
All right, do I want to play classic or hoop iq?
Dan Bernstein
Hoop iq.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Okay.
Dan Bernstein
Hoop IQ tests you. Hoop IQ is the one. Yeah. The class Classic's too easy because the stats are all right in front of you. Oh, who'd you get?
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
I got Boston 80s. Let's go.
Dan Bernstein
Well, so, but now, but there's a strategy to it. So you, now your small forward is set. And the problem is when you, you, because you have no choice, you got like I, I built a team on one of them and I had to pick, you know, I didn't know I picked a shooting guard. And then the 90s bulls came up and I couldn't pick Jordan. Oh. So I couldn't put Jordan on my team.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
It's a bad move because you like them anyway, so.
Dan Bernstein
And I ended up with like, I don't know, Bob Curland or something from the 1950s. Is my power for it? I don't know.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
All right, so am I, am I picking one, one guy from each team then?
Dan Bernstein
Yes. Every time you.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
So that's how it goes.
Dan Bernstein
Every time you spin the wheel, it's going to be a franchise and a decade and you will get the list of everybody who's played for that team in that decade. And then you, you must pick one player for your team.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
All right, well, I'm taking.
Dan Bernstein
But you don't know. It's all random, so it's hard to say. Do I. Do I make Allen Iverson my point guard or my shooting guard? All right? And it's only the person's stats from that team that decade. It's not their whole career. So you see a name, you're like, oh, Dwyane Wade. It's like. No, it's. It's 20s or 2010s. Bulls. Dwayne Wade. So you could have a team, like, all the same guy from different eras, theoretically. So enjoy. But, yeah, you want more basketball stuff, we'll have an OWC for you. That is it for Dan Bernstein, Unfiltered on this Wednesday. And we've been brought to you in partnership with my bookie,
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
Dan Bernstein.
Dan Bernstein
Unfiltered. Unfiltered.
Co-host or Guest (likely a sports analyst or commentator)
On three. One, two.
Mark McCray
Sports.
Release Date: June 3, 2026
Host: Dan Bernstein
Co-host: (Executive Producer) Matt Abbatacola
Podcast Network: 312 Sports
In this episode of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered, Dan and Matt take a no-nonsense, incisive look at the ongoing fiasco surrounding the Chicago Bears' stadium negotiations and communication strategy. Bernstein interrogates whether the team’s recent disarray and shifting stories are calculated deception or have simply exposed deep-rooted organizational incompetence. The Bears’ handling of their stadium relocation, public statements, and internal communication breakdowns provide a springboard for broader conversations on trust, credibility, and Chicago sports dysfunction. The episode also features updates on the Cubs’ maddening inconsistency, a preview of the NBA Finals, and a darkly comic detour into gun arrests at Naperville’s Topgolf.
Bears Retreat to Their “Turtle Shell” (01:39–06:12)
Costs of Delay & Communication Failures (04:15–06:12)
Conflicting Statements: Misleading or Mistaken? (07:55–14:00)
Internal Sabotage and Kevin Warren’s Leadership (09:30–12:00)
Did the Bears Know They Were Lying? (13:45–20:45)
Hammond, Indiana as Leverage (23:18)
Ownership, Revenue, and Why Move at All? (24:56–25:42)
Firing Kevin Warren (25:42)
Anticipation and Strategy (37:21–43:29)
Broadcast Team & Commentary (43:29–45:44)
On Bears Organizational Dysfunction:
“When you force an organization to lie for you… The level of trust in the Bears has dropped precipitously.”
— Dan Bernstein (06:45)
On Leadership:
“Did you know you were lying? And if you didn’t ... that’s a massive problem.”
— Dan Bernstein (19:24)
On Stadium Drama as Farce:
“If you just watch this thing entirely as a comedy, it’s pretty damn funny. This entire three and a half years...”
— Dan Bernstein (22:18)
On the Cubs:
“It’s as if they conceived a baseball team to make you miserable.”
— Dan Bernstein (34:37)
On Topgolf Gun Arrests:
“If they can go an entire year… we will rent a bay… and enjoy some of their delicious food.”
— Dan Bernstein (60:12)
On NBA Finals Coverage:
“Mike Breen is going to do his job and you are not going to notice him rooting for the Knicks.”
— Dan Bernstein (44:54)
Candid, sardonic, and intensely Chicagoan, Dan Bernstein mixes scathing critique, gallows humor, and deep sports knowledge. Matt plays the measured foil, clarifying points and keeping the energy brisk. Even at its most absurd, the podcast never loses its keen edge—or affection for the city’s sports psyche.
This episode of Dan Bernstein Unfiltered encapsulates the mess, comedy, and exasperation of Chicago sports fandom. With the Bears as the focal point, listeners are exposed to damning scrutiny of organizational dysfunction, sharp analysis, and the tragicomedy that is dealing with Chicago’s major sports franchises. The spirited sidebars—whether about baseball, basketball, or Topgolf parking lot shenanigans—keep the pace lively while reinforcing the city’s complex, sometimes maddening sports identity. Perfect for those wanting a clear-eyed, honest, and entertaining take on the stories that matter most to Chicago fans.