Why is ESPN’s Loudest Voice Urging Everyone to Look Away from the Mike Vrabel Story?

Summary

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Dan Bernstein Unfiltered (312 Sports)

Episode: Why is ESPN’s Loudest Voice Urging Everyone to Look Away from the Mike Vrabel Story?
Date: April 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Dan Bernstein and co-host Matt Abbatacola delve into the ongoing fallout from the Mike Vrabel–Diana Rossini story, examining what they consider a major lack of transparency from ESPN, NFL Network, and the NFL itself. The conversation spotlights the power dynamics between the league, its media partners, and influential personalities like Stephen A. Smith, questioning the motives behind the networks’ near-silence. The show also discusses new developments about conflicts of interest, possible tampering, implications for NFL gambling and journalism, and how the controversy is being downplayed by top ESPN figures. Later, the episode pivots to commentary on the NCAA tournament expansion, the NBA’s new anti-tanking draft system, and a few engaging baseball anecdotes.

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Main Topics & Key Insights

1. The Mike Vrabel–Diana Rossini Scandal and Media Silence

• Fundamental Issues Beyond Infidelity

  • Bernstein clarifies: “This is not just about personal lives... We’re talking about whether or not there’s a level playing field in the way football business is done through their media partners.” (03:15)
  • Compares the media’s handling to Watergate: the cover-up is often worse than the offense, and “everything ends up being more than you think.”

• Lack of Transparency & Corporate Damage Control

  • Criticizes ESPN, NFL Network, and NFL leadership for stonewalling and invoking PR tactics.
  • Discusses the “who knew what and when” fundamental: “Vrabel himself has not spoken since that awkward press conference pre-draft.” (06:20)

• Independent Investigation and Twitter Sleuths

  • Shout-out to Tony Farmer (@TonysMarketTips) for doing “a lot of the journalistic legwork here, trying to figure out how far it goes back, who is involved, what has happened.” (08:15)
  • Noted that the gambling side is “doing more real journalism than the main sports outlets.”

• Potential Tampering and Insider Advantage

  • Explains a 2025 incident involving a deleted Diana Rossini tweet with a Patriots logo that could point to a tampering violation, raising questions of inside information and team advantage. (11:30)
  • “If it’s a personnel advantage, it’s not necessarily a game advantage... but the concept of this being any sort of actual impact on competitive advantage is what the concern is.” (15:38)

2. The Role of Stephen A. Smith and Corporate Messaging

• Strategic Deflection

  • Bernstein is sharply critical of Stephen A. Smith’s commentary, labeling it “corporate policy by proxy,” when Smith said: “It’s none of our business. Kick rocks. He doesn’t owe us an apology.” (13:20)
  • Suggests ESPN is using its top talent to control the narrative while leadership remains silent.

• Quote Highlight:

  • “Having your most powerful forward-facing personality... can also flood the zone with shit and keep your eyes off stuff if they want.” – Dan Bernstein (13:40)
  • “It is more than just a relationship. When you have access that could benefit a team in a material, competitive way and it’s undisclosed, that’s a problem…” – Matt Abbatacola (18:50)

3. Conflicts of Interest and Corporate Ethics

• Undisclosed Benefits and Ethics

  • Emphasizes necessity of conflict disclosure: “Conflicts of interest need to be disclosed in business. You must do that. If you’re running an ethical business... you gotta sign your name on those things.” (15:50)
  • Critiques the pressure on journalists, including anecdotes about reporters withholding what they know to protect jobs. (29:09)

• Quote Highlight:

  • “Both of them got their bosses and larger institutions to misrepresent the truth for them.” – Dan Bernstein, on how both Vrabel and Rossini’s organizations tried to bury the story (27:41)

4. Competitive Harm to Journalism and Reporting

• Implications for Other Journalists

  • Explores how one reporter’s special access could undermine others on the beat and possibly skew information: “All that conversation could end up in pillow talk... That would cause me, if I’m represented by somebody else in that press room... I’ve got a problem with that.” (19:12)
  • Focus lies on lost trust and potentially unfair working conditions for other reporters.

• Quote Highlight:

  • “As a fan, do not get distracted by the message that this is a personal matter... If it was just that simple, Robert Kraft would not have tried to get this story buried.” – Co-host Matt Abbatacola (27:25)

5. Financial, Business, and Gambling Ramifications

• Why ESPN/NFL Will Not Investigate Further

  • The hosts highlight ESPN's upcoming Super Bowl broadcast as key: “They will not do a thing to jeopardize that. What that will do for ESPN is beyond significant from a financial standpoint.” (22:42)

• Crisis PR and Damage Containment

  • New reporting that Diana Rossini’s agency sought out several crisis comms firms in the wake of the scandal, but few were eager to engage. (23:29)
  • Raises potential of ESPN internal memos coming to light and “retroactive attempts at ass-covering.” (24:00)

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Secondary Topics

NCAA Tournament Expansion

• Expansion to 76 Teams Announced
  • Adds more play-in games, primarily for “power conference” at-large bids. Both hosts agree it’s financially motivated despite NCAA claims to the contrary. (31:48–34:00)
  • Bernstein jokes: “If it’s not driven by money, I just assume then they won’t televise these games, they won’t sell tickets for them, correct?” (33:05)
  • Critiques the increasing irrelevance and weakness of the NCAA as conferences seize more power.

NBA Draft Reform and Anti-Tanking System

• Overview of Proposed Changes

  • Bernstein explains the new “3-2-1 lottery” system: now 16 lottery teams, “relegation zone” for the bottom three, and various ball allocations to discourage tanking. (38:00–43:40)
  • Hosts lampoon the complexity: “I read this 12 times... it’s so confusing, who’s doing this?” (42:10, 45:20)
  • New system expires in 2029; NBA retains broad disciplinary authority to further regulate tanking.

• Notable Quote:

  • “That’s basically saying Adam Silver can just pluck you up here and move you over here. Or say, nah, this doesn’t look right to me. You go here, you go here, you go here.” – Dan Bernstein (47:45)

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Engaging Moments & Notable Quotes

On the Vrabel Story:

• “There are things business-wise that would cause me, if I am represented by somebody else in that press room... I’ve got a problem with that.” – Dan Bernstein (19:12)
• “If Diana Rossini was a schoolteacher in the Tennessee area and that’s when they first met, no one would care.” – Co-host (30:10)

Media Commentary:

• “Stephen A. Smith did the whole thing. ‘Nothing to see. Nothing to see.’ ...Cool, man. Great. Alright. I mean, that sounds a little lonely, but okay, whatever you... That’s your... I'm not gonna yuck that yum.” – Dan Bernstein (29:25–29:47)

Lighter Segments

• Drew Romo’s Big Game:
  • “Drew Romo is a guy. And when I say he’s a guy, I mean replacement level player…” – Dan Bernstein (62:31)
  • “He hit home runs from both sides of the plate in a major league game… The infinitesimal odds of that guy accomplishing that feat— it ultimately doesn’t mean much, but that’s something that can happen in baseball.” (63:37)
• Fishing Net Story:
  • (55:05–58:50) A series of comic misadventures involving broken fishing nets and mistranslations with a tourist, providing a light-hearted break.

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Mike Vrabel/ESPN Scandal & Media Dynamics:
  [03:15] – [30:35]
  (Key moments: Tony Farmer investigation [08:15]; Tampering tweet [11:30]; Stephen A. Smith’s statement and criticism [13:20]; Press room conflicts [19:12]; ESPN’s Super Bowl interest [22:42]; PR damage control [23:29]; Kraft trying to bury the story [27:41])

• NCAA Tournament Expansion:
  [31:48] – [37:48]

• NBA Draft “3-2-1 Lottery” Proposal:
  [38:00] – [49:48]

• Baseball: Drew Romo & Three True Outcomes:
  [62:26] – [68:48]

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Conclusion

Bernstein and Abbatacola argue passionately that the Vrabel–Rossini affair raises pressing questions about media transparency, journalistic ethics, league–media relationships, and the utility of corporate spin. They urge listeners not to be distracted by the “it’s just a personal matter” narrative, emphasizing the professional, competitive, and financial stakes at play. The podcast then provides a quickfire, sarcastic take on the growing commercialization of college sports governance and the NBA’s experiments with anti-tanking measures, finishing on light, humorous anecdotes—the signature “unfiltered” blend of sharp analysis and relatable banter.

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For continued sharp takes and updates, follow @Dan_Bernstein and @TonysMarketTips.

Transcript

[Dan Bernstein]

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[Co-host or Guest]

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[Dan Bernstein]

unfiltered unfiltered on 312 sports it's DBU on 312 and we are brought to you in partnership with my bookie today also by Russ Armstrong and the Chicago window guys at 847-302-9171 and by our friends at auraframes a u r a frames.com promo code DBU. At some point we are owed a forensic explanation and if nothing else, a policy statement at the very least from executives at ESPN and now ESPN and NFL Network, which are one and the same that the the damage control mode that is being enacted here in large part by the powers that around the NFL and within the NFL is is full blast right now. Just want this clear. We are not just talking when it comes to the ongoing fallout regarding Mike Vrabel and Diana Rossini. And this is not just about personal lives. This is not just about extramarital affairs and the messy kinds of things that, that powerful men have been involved in going back to time immemorial. We're talking about whether or not there's a level playing field in the way football business is done through their media partners. And it remains, as always, there are fundamentals at work here when it comes to these things that we, that famously those of us old enough to remember the, you know, Watergate. It's why everything gets that, that little, that apostrophe or a hyphen gate on the end of it, which is obviously very silly. But it's, it's a couple things. One, the COVID up is always the worst part. And second of all, it is that the. It's always for. The COVID up is always worse. It is always more than you think at first blush. Everything ends up being more than you think. And it comes down to the fundamental question, who knew what and when? We all know when we knew, oh, there had. They were probably having an affair for eight years. Okay, great. Like take that as a given. We probably, that's clearly probably at the very least what this was. Okay, fine. Now the question is who knew this was going on? Particularly if we're talking about the league owned or partnered controlled network that is in charge of disseminating information that isn't just for the public. The dissemination of information affects the business of the league. And that's where the big questions arise here as we ask the same questions. What did you know? When did you know it? And the fact that everybody's gone quiet. Vrabel himself has not spoken since that awkward press conference pre draft. And remember what's happened after that? It was after that that the pictures from 2020 came out of them in the Tribeca bar kissing. It was after that that there has been some social media forensic work done, a lot of it actually. And props to a guy named Tony Farmer, who, I don't know, I remember a basketball player named Tony Farmer from years back. But this guy apparently works for Circa. He's got a gambling based podcast and he's really been doing a lot of the journalistic legwork here, trying to figure out how far it goes back, who is involved, what has happened and what has happened in the media ecosystem that affects the business of the NFL. Which is why it's interesting coming from the gambling side here. And I urge you to check out his feed as. And it's just, it's at Tony's Market Tips and he defines himself. It just says 49ers talk. The creator host of a pod called Last Men Standing that he does with with circa Sports and he's been like a circus sports survivor Pool Guy. But it's, it is, it's, it's not ironic that some of the interest in this, the digging on this story is coming from the gambling side. And this is when a league is as deeply in business and embracing this as we are as the entire sports media ecosystem is. We're all doing it, we're all a part of it. I think the least we can do is try to be honest about what matters and what doesn't matter. That's the least we can do. There's been a huge lack of transparency and lack of honesty around this story from the most powerful pieces from the most, the most powerful outlets, the most powerful people who are afraid of this, terrified to investigate things publicly and also probably terrified of asking questions of did you know that they were probably together for a while and that you were benefiting from, from it and your shareholders corporately were benefiting from this. It really struck a chord when on Friday Stephen A. Smith launched into it's none of our business kick rocks. He doesn't owe us an apology. It only is part of his wife and family. And I found that interesting last Friday. First of all, to do that on a Friday and then to come in here and say, well, ESPN hasn't talked about it, but their mouthpiece has made a statement. You haven't had a. This is where we get into the finite differences of corporate policy. And having your most powerful forward facing personality, the person who by his very existence makes you know, half of your content. It is Steven A. Smith says something, somebody reacts to what is said and then here is the story about the reaction to what was said. They, they can insidiously, in a lot of ways really drive and they can also flood the zone with shit and, and keep your eyes off stuff if they want. Now it would take a lot of and I mean I'm not going to go down a conspiratorial rabbit hole here, but there this is way bigger and more important than the Patriots, the league and its media partners would have you believe because in, in a lot of respects trying to tie specific timeline statements, tweets, etc. To stories that are posted. And one, there was a tweet that disappeared that is significant too where there was a, maybe a tampering issue that was possible here that maybe when the, when Diana Rossini begins tweeting out the fact that there is a signing by the Patriots that is coming. And she put a Patriots logo on a player's name. And they said, oh, it was a mistake. I deleted the tweet because I accidentally select. This is what her explanation was, apparently that she. She accidentally selected Patriots or New England instead of NFL because they're right next to each other. When you look at where the. Let me just read it. Specifically, Morgan Moses is the jets player. And in 2025, Diana Rossini tweeted out what she called a bad mistake by her graphics team. This was a tweet regarding the signing of Moses. It depicted him with a Patriots logo, even though the Patriots were not allowed to talk to him until the prior day. And he did sign a three year, $24 million deal before 11am with the new England Patriots. But she had sent out a tweet, deleted it immediately. And now that we knew this was five years after the photos of them kissing in a bar, this is a tampering violation potentially. And all of the excuses, oh, the Patriots logo and the NFL logo are there alphabetically in my graphics software because both New England and NFL Start. And if you buy that. All right, if that's a valid explanation for why this was out there. And this is just one example of the kinds of things that this guy, Tony Farmer is pulling up here. You need to talk to the GM of the Patriots, you need to talk to the GM of the Titans. You need to sit down and espn. Remember, this is a publicly traded company. There are rules that involve the way if you are making money for your shareholders. And some of the aspect you are, you're benefiting from this relationship in a way that you clearly know that you're benefiting from the relationship. And there isn't disclosure of the relationship. It's internally. Also there. There were tweets by Sam Ponder, tweets by Steve Levy of ESPN during COVID that pointed out, wow, what a get. How did. How did she. How did Diana receive. That's a pretty incredible get in the middle of COVID to get a personal one on one with this NFL head coach. And there were. And when we look back on it, we wonder about the tone. Did they know? Was there a wink wink? Was there an understanding internally, like, gee, I wonder how that interview got done. I wonder how she got that kind of access. And when it has to do with information that hits the market that might benefit the Patriots. Were the Patriots in a better competitive position than other NFL teams because of A relationship between a national insider and a head coach. I think that's a pretty easy question to answer if we're being honest about it. The question is, does it matter to whom does it matter? It may matter to gamblers. Were they already gaming that in? For how long was that known in that part of the market? Say, well, they might have an advantage here, they might have an advantage there. If it's a personnel advantage, it's not necessarily a game advantage. I don't know if it's moving the markets when it comes to futures betting, but the concept of this being any sort of actual impact on competitive advantage is what the concern is and don't lose sight of that. So I, I raised an eyebrow when I saw that. Stephen A. Smith, like, it's personal, he doesn't owe us anything. And that would be in a way of ESPN saying, this isn't any kind of official statement, but by far the most powerful person in our organization, certainly the most powerful public facing person is, is saying, it's a nothing, forget it, don't worry about it. It's a nothing. She's gone. He's coaching here. The damage control that's coming out of New England right now has. Robert Kraft is like, well, I'm not going to fire him and I hope he doesn't resign. And the players I, well, it's just football. We're only going to talk football, football, football, football, and it'll all go away. There hasn't been anything on the record from anybody about the length of this relationship. Now, remember when Vrabel last talked, all that we knew was the stuff in Sedona, that was based just on the stuff in Sedona, not all the other work that's been done connecting dots here, all of it. And I'm not going to get into even the more salacious stuff because I think we can stop where we're all kind of agreed what's obvious here. But with every day that goes by and I'm wondering if, look, I know the suits at ABC and ESPN are. The comedy police are coming back. Obviously they didn't work the first time, but the comedy police are regrouping. And even though another timeline doesn't quite add up that they have to figure out and we haven't heard from them, we haven't heard boo from them on that. If they're supporting their employee once again as they're sort of reworking all the Jimmy Kimmel stuff here and, and trying to run that playbook again and we'll see if the Response is the same. Or if the power has shifted a bit since then, my guess is it has. And we'll get some kind of statement from them. But I know they're busy right now. But you're not too busy to figure out who knew what and when, when you were benefiting, when you were making money, when you. And we should go back and time this with what. What ads did you sell to whom based on what numbers? How were your own numbers inflated? By getting this behind the scenes access that was undisclosed. What are your own internal rules? How often do we have to sign off on. And we're not a publicly traded company right now. And I'm going back to when I spent 30 years working for one. But conflicts of interest need to be disclosed in business. You must do that. If you're running an ethical business and you have to fill out paperwork that says this will not benefit me or I have no relationships that could be, that could affect the work that I do to the best of my ability. Where I'm not serving multiple masters here, I'm only serving the company that's paying me that you got to sign your name on those things. And when you don't, you, you. And when people know what's going on and ignore it for years, then what do you do? And I think what we're finding out now is you hide. Because it does certainly seem like there are people who just can't wait. Move on, move on, move on. Doesn't matter. Schedule release is coming. When the schedule release comes. They're just, that's what the crisis PR people there probably are looking at the various news cycles and when different things are going to hit and when things will hit in sports, et cetera. But for, it's. You can flip switches if you're Roger Goodell and your, your sway with the combination of ESPN and NFL is, it's just immensely powerful right now. And the fact that it's taking some of these amateur sleuths to start saying, well, hey, this is, this is an odd coincidence. And this is an odd coincidence. And this is an odd coincidence that this, this tweet came out here. Oh, but this, this tweet was deleted. And that's just, it's just coincidence that New England and NFL are right next on her graphics software. Okay, all right. Well, there, there's been a lot going on and I think a lot of people, a lot of people know a lot more than what they're saying. Knew a lot more than what they're saying.

[Co-host or Guest]

Nothing is going to happen to Mike Vrabel. Unless Mike Vrabel steps down, Period.

[Dan Bernstein]

Gonna happen either.

[Co-host or Guest]

The NFL is not going to enforce anything. They're not going to do anything. And we said this yesterday, and I'll stick to this. No one is saying anything, and no one's going to say anything because they don't want to open themselves up to any kind of scrutiny or discovery, period. It's just. It's just that simple. Okay?

[Dan Bernstein]

And I think Scott Zolak said that quiet part two, when he's. When it's like, oh, of course I. I've got things I could say, but I can't say anything because I like my job. Because I like my job, right?

[Co-host or Guest]

So that it's very clear it's out there. And no one's going to open themselves up to. To be scrutinized at all. Stephen A. Smith is right about one thing. Mike Vrabel does not owe us anything. Does not owe us an apology. Here's the thing. If Mike Vrabel wanted to go out and bang a different girl every day of the week for the rest of his life, he has that opportunity to go ahead and do that.

[Dan Bernstein]

Go ahead and do it.

[Co-host or Guest]

The fact that he chose to get into a relationship with a, an accredited, recognized national reporter for the National Football League, that's why this is a problem. And people who refuse to understand that either, A, just don't care about the implications of what this could lead to, or B, you're just too plain stupid to think it through.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I also, if. If I am an outlet covering the Patriots and sending my beat reporters there to compete with everybody else, to get information, to ask the right questions, to draw eyes and ears and clicks and whatever it may be to my organization. And I found out potentially that there was somebody on the beat that had all kinds of access and all kinds of backdoor opportunities to undermine my work. Think about when you sit in a press room with people and you talk about stuff and people know who's working on what stories. And you can tell. You hear the. You're sitting at these little cubicles and you hear the conversations with editors and with producers. You know what everybody's working on. And maybe there's a reporter there who's got some questions for Variable and they talk it through. And you spend a ton of time with your counterparts and your competitors. You just do. When you're on the beat and you share stuff and the fact that all that stuff, that that conversation could end up in pillow talk and say, hey, by the way, so. And so from Channel 6, she went at that interview you have scheduled tomorrow, you're going to be asked about this. You're going to be asked about this. You're going to be asked about this. Like washing all these questions with the subject of your interview, who's got access, who's sleeping with somebody, who has allegedly, who has access to all that information. You know, there are, there are things business wise that would, would cause me, if I am represented by somebody else in that press room, knowing that there's a lot of stuff that has now got multiple pathways to get to people who aren't supposed to hear it. I've got a problem with that.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, no, I agree with that. It's a good point to bring up, Dan. But that benefits Mike Vrabel personally and it doesn't really. That's not my area concern, and this is where the NFL should be concerned, is how did this impact the actual market of the NFL? And that's where the concern is now. The NFL does not want to step into this because it opens up too many avenues to people being scrutinized and that's why they're not going to do it. Yeah. If she can say, hey, hey, this reporter is going to do this. There's a story coming up here so they can get ahead of it, that benefits the Patriots personally, it benefits Mike Vrabel personally. But how it impacts the NFL is what information was being shared? What information was he learning because of this relationship? What information was she putting out there that was misleading because of this relationship? That's where the NFL needs to look into and that's why this is important. But again, they're not going to, because it's going to open up too many pathways for people to be scrutinized and examined, which will lead to more implications. And what we're also not saying is why this is so important, the most important season for NFL coverage for espn. Why is that? Why is this the most significant, important season for ESPN? Because they have the Super bowl in 2027. They will not do a thing to jeopardize that. What that will do for ESPN is beyond significant from a financial standpoint.

[Dan Bernstein]

They're already using it. And if you notice during the draft when the, when Roger Goodell is like in the room and he's being hugged by the mascot, whatever mascot that was. And was it like a YouTube? I don't know what it was. Yeah, whatever it was, he's being hugged by the mascot and they're talking about having the Super Bowl. That's the, that's the commissioner of football pushing that directly for ESPN.

[Co-host or Guest]

And Joe, we have selected for Super Bowl 61. We select ESPN.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it was ESPN logo. That's what it was. Yes. Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest]

So that, that's why this is very significant for espn, why they're not going to rock the boat at all on this. This is, I mean, this is their first time having the Super Bowl.

[Dan Bernstein]

There's also a note here on Tony Farmer's Twitter. He says that per an industry source with Direct Knowledge Creative Artist Agency that represents Diana Rossini reached out to multiple crisis communication experts. Within hours of learning of the Sedona photos, CAA received a tepid response from one that wasn't eager to work with Rossini and offered cursory advice to lay low and not work for the next year. ESPN reported that Rossini had reached out to a crisis communication team. But this is the first we're learning that there was an attempt to reach out to more than one. And there are also some questions about internal ESPN memos and if those exist, they're going to come out. If there ever was a time when ESPN engaged in some retroactive attempts at ass covering to the too little, too late kind of feudal saying, well, hey, you got to sign off on these conflicts of interest, et cetera, where they had to shuffle papers around to make sure that they're doing everything correctly or close to correctly or, or trail covering because you got in too deep and because you get addicted to the insider information that you're getting. Right. You know, it's one thing about, about her. It is clear that she was able to move on to the athletic and got the big payday and was and translated all of this access into money and power. That's obvious. And eventually she may, it will probably take a year off and go through the PR washing machine, the big, you know, the big car wash and come out the other side and work that. And that's okay. No one's taking away her right to work.

[Co-host or Guest]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. You know, you go away for a while, you come back, it's okay. This is bad though, and it might, it's probably going to get worse before it gets better still. It's still probably going to get worse before it gets better. And that's the question you're asking, what other photos? What else is out there? And the questions you would have to ask if you're hiring her, Are there photos with you and anybody else? These are all, these are all honest

[Co-host or Guest]

questions that need were there other relationships that you know about?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes, what you've got to tell me everything, absolutely everything. Bear your soul. And it's also why Vrabel has to talk again. And whenever that is, whenever you would otherwise normally make your coach available. Is that rookie minicamp is it schedules. Your coach is your frontman. This. You hired him to talk. Think about this too like that. You hired him to be your figurehead. That's your coach. And you got the last time. You got. You got the. Oh, I'm very sorry. I'm ashamed. I'm very sorry. Which is fine. But. But then there's more news because you didn't get ahead of it. Now there's all kinds of new questions that he's got to face about when did this start? Does it go back to Nashville? What happened with this player and those tweets and whether were you trying to move markets around because you had an NFL insider in your pocket? What? When? Where? Why? Like the actual nuts and bolts of the journalistic questions now, what advantages did you get? What competitive advantages did you get? And then it's the same question sort of for espn. Are you okay knowing that you got competitive advantages that affecting your stock price or the value of the assets of this company that were inflated by. Because of this relationship, you'd like to know these things, right?

[Co-host or Guest]

As a fan, do not get distracted by the message that's out there, that this is a personal matter between a husband and wife and it's none of your business. Don't get distracted by that. If that were the case, if it was just that simple, Robert Kraft would not have tried to get this story buried.

[Dan Bernstein]

Of course, he. He. And. And that's the other thing that both of them did. They both got their bosses and larger institutions to misrepresent the truth for them. Yeah. For her, it was Steven Ginsburg and the Athletic, which is owned by the New York Times. You got the Gray lady, the New York Times to lie for you to

[Co-host or Guest]

say that you don't understand the context of those photos. And those photos were just the tip of the iceberg. And it keeps going and going and

[Dan Bernstein]

going and both of them. And you got Robert Kraft, you got Rob. And this was reported that Robert Kraft tried everything he could do for some kind of catch and kill. So he needed David Pecker or whoever else was. Was skilled at the old catch and kill to get a story, bury the story. And he's. He tried to spend that capital. You got him to do that for you. That tells you that people are scared, right?

[Co-host or Guest]

Because if it was just between a husband and Wife. No one would have done any of that. That wouldn't have happened. There's more to it. The NFL is not going to expose themselves or their vendors or their partners to it because there's much more to it.

[Dan Bernstein]

So who asks the questions when Variable's available? Next, who. Who asked these questions? Media critics can delve into all the media stuff and the football people are going to be cowed into just going back to their football things because they get uncomfortable going anywhere else. Hell, you got people saying openly in Boston, I gotta lose my job. I can't talk about this stuff. Someone's going to fire me.

[Co-host or Guest]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right. Well, first of all, that sucks, and I'm sorry to hear that. That's too bad. Stephen A. Smith did the whole thing. Nothing to see. Nothing to see. And then of course, he says something to the effect of, that's why I. I didn't get married, because I knew that I couldn't take those vows with the life that I lead. Cool, man.

[Co-host or Guest]

Great.

[Dan Bernstein]

Great. All right. I mean, that's sounds a little lonely, but okay, whatever you. That, that's, that, that's your. I'm not gonna yuck that. Yum. If that's how you want to live, that's cool, that's fine. But that isn't what we're talking about here. That really isn't. The situation is our competitive advantages.

[Co-host or Guest]

If Diana Rossini was a schoolteacher in the Tennessee area and that's when they first met, no one would care. We would not have spent several days now talking about this.

[Dan Bernstein]

Correct.

[Co-host or Guest]

And, and, and the NFL, the Patriots, espn, they want you as the football fan to be distracted by the whole fact of this is not your business. It's a personal matter. Walk away from it now.

[Dan Bernstein]

You know, whenever 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 has a take. And no matter the sport, the props can be just as fun as the final score. That's why my bookie is for you. The prop board at my bookie is deep. It's fun to play. You've got the game milestones, you got player performances, everything in between. The kind of action that keeps things interesting all week, game long. And you're certainly not hurting for activities right now because the NBA playoffs are going, there's baseball all over the place. I don't know if you bet hockey playoffs, but that's all there too. 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 lives in that one place. Go to my bookie AG right now and armed with the code dbu, just those three letters, you're going to get your first bet covered, up to 500 bucks. If it doesn't hit, you've got the bet back, bonus token. And that way you can run it right back. It's like it unhappened. The code DBU at MyBookie AG. Don't just watch the action. Make it pay with my bookie. So the NCAA tournament is about to change.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

And I do think that there might be some unintended consequences here. And I'll tell you what I want. The NCAA is going to extend the tournaments, plural, men's and women's, to 76 teams. And this has been talked about for a while. They got to go through all of these NCAA committees that still exist as long as we have an ncaa. And this is the only reason the NCAA exists, is for the tournament. That's it. That's, that's, that's pretty much their whole business. That's how they pay for everything. And when this is the, the kind of last aspect they have, they can. Why not make it bigger? Because this is the money maker and this is one place that the NCAA as an organization can still exercise some meaningful control with all their various bureaucracies. And they're going to add some. Some money for spending because they're going to need to travel. There's going to be logistics and hotels and obvious. But they, they think that they will make money. They referred to it as a modest financial upside.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, okay, please. They said that the primary driver of this is not financial.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's not the primary driver access for at large bids for power conferences.

[Co-host or Guest]

So they're adding eight additional at large bids. So that will. The play in Games will be 12 games of 24 teams now at two different sites, Daytona and a second site. So if it's not driven by money, Dan, I just assume then they won't televise these games, they won't sell tickets for them, correct?

[Dan Bernstein]

Of course not. They would never do anything like that whatsoever. They're not going to promote any of it. It has nothing to do with money. It is just fairness. It is just what's the correct thing to do is help giant conferences get more teams in the tournament. So a lot of these coaches can continue to arbitrage their salaries in various directions from the pros to the NBA. It really. The other thing I would do here, you got to get rid of the conference tournament, then that's only the smaller conferences should have conference tournaments. It's pointless because all you're going to do is grab an automatic bid, possibly for a team that pushes somebody else out. So maybe things would be more fair if you didn't allow for the possibility at the end of a season that a team that maybe has designs on the Final Four is going to rest some people perhaps for the conference tournament because they want their best players there for the games that matter. Let the smaller conferences have their tournaments that define whether or not they make the tournament. But for something to be done. Oh please, won't somebody think of the massive super conferences and their inability to get enough teams. You're getting 7, 8, 9, whatever it is now you got to get 10, 11, 12, okay? That's who you're benefiting here. Because it is yet the latest sign of the decline of the NCAA itself and the increase in power of these conferences. And this is a step we're getting much, much closer to the NCAA not even needing to exist.

[Co-host or Guest]

So let's take the Big Ten, for example. Would a Big Ten tournament, end of season tournament, do anything to change the opinions or the decisions of the committee based on which teams from the Big Ten will make the tournament? The only way that would happen, minimally, the worst team in the conference wins the tournament at the end of the season, which would never happen.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I also want to know, is it a money maker? Do the. How much money do the conferences make from these tournaments? You know, men's and women's.

[Co-host or Guest]

I don't 10 want that in Chicago or Indy because they benefit so much

[Dan Bernstein]

financially, what's more valuable to them? Getting more teams into the tournament or getting everybody together in Chicago or Indianapolis or wherever it may be? And with all of that expenditure that for people overlook it, people forget. People can't even name conference tournament winners. They can remember Final Fours. So I think there's a lot more that has to be sorted out here. I'm not surprised and I don't care, really. I just find it interesting regarding the dynamic between the increasing power of the conferences themselves and the waning power of the ncaa. And when one eventually overtakes the other and says, look, we don't even need your tournament anymore, why are we doing all this just for you? When these conferences can get together and we can determine things ourselves, and if the small schools want to play for the NCAA tournament, they can. And then if Miami of Ohio wins the NCAA tournament, congratulations. We know it's not the real national championship, because that's going to be over here and we're going to sign our own television deals. So keep an eye on that. Because for a long time, the NIT was the big tournament. Yes, that was considered the national championship. The NIT was it. And then the NCAA did better business and surpassed it. And the lesson to be learned is if and when the giant conferences decide, oh, we don't need this, we're not going to send our teams to the NCAA tournament anymore, we're going to do our own, and it's going to be bigger and better and we'll have our own TV for it. And this will be the new national championship, and we're going to call it that, if you can.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, I just think whoever, like whoever benefits the most financially in. In the NCAA for the basketball tournament will never allow that to happen. The powers that be, the old rich guys that. That benefit from this will never let that happen. Which is why you see football expanding now, basketball expanding. And we're doing it all in the name of fairness. And it's not driven by money whatsoever.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, no, that has nothing to do with it. It is. It's just to. It's just altruism, really. It's just to make the world a better place. That's what it is.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, I feel like the world's a better place today, just reading about this, without question.

[Dan Bernstein]

I mean, just a spring in my step, knowing all the selflessness that is driving is motivating all of this.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, we'll have to wait for the results of those extra play in games, like read about those in the newspaper the next day because we won't be able to watch them to attend because it's not about money. It's about being fair to the kids.

[Dan Bernstein]

And if you are concerned with money, like when you have a big project at home, for example, and you want to make sure you're getting the best price, the best product, and have the best experience. When you're in the market for windows, Russ Armstrong and Chicago Window guys is where you're going to go because they have a price match guarantee. And that protects you from not only getting screwed over on one of these teaser things about buy one get one free or buy two, get one or buy one get one. 50% off. That's just to get you in the door so you can be upsold on things you don't need or end up paying more than you think. That's not how it goes with Russia. He will match any price so you can get when all is said and done and you deal with Russ, the best product, the best price and importantly the least anxiety and the most peace of mind, that's just from my experience because those things are important to me. And Russ makes the windows at his factory. His people come out and measure the window bays. You look at brochures, you know exactly what you're getting. And he'll say this, it's for this price for these windows at this time. And then he's like, well, I got to go make your windows. And he goes to the factory and the factory custom makes the windows here in Chicago. His factory's right here. And then everything already has been pre fit. They come out, they install your house as clean as a whistle and the next thing you know you are paying a lot less money to heat and cool your house because the windows are doing a better job of holding that desired heat in the house. See how that works. 847-302-9-171. Check out the five star reviews at ChicagoNowGuys.com and when you are getting quotes, ask those other sales reps who's installing your windows. They're not going to know because there's, that's just going to be like a white van pulling up with people and they don't even know for the most part slapping windows on your house. That's not the case with Russia. He knows everybody. It's his crew. So these are, this is an experienced operation with the same people all working for Russ at Chicago. Window guys. 847-302-9171. That is who you call. And we also have NBA news that this will be in depth today when we record organizations win championships later on this afternoon. We got a ton of NBA stuff to do but I wanted to mention it here as well that this is the, these are the basis of the new anti tanking draft reform. I'm just going to give you the basics here and I think it makes sense. I think it's a reasonable first try. For now they're calling it the three, two, one lottery is how this works and they're naming that to represent the number of lottery balls per team. Instead of 14 teams in the lottery, there are 16 if you don't make the playoffs or the play in tournament but you stay out of what they're calling and here's the word, the relegation zone. And this is not true relegation. But can we celebrate something? Can we celebrate the fact that the word relegation has made it into the US sports lexicon for the first time? In my memory. And I think it's worth celebrating that they're even using the word. And I think the word is chosen for good reason, because there are so many of us who love the concept of relegation, which can't be imposed ex post facto on American sport. It just can't. It's that it happened organically in England with their. With football. And you can't replicate it unless you were to create new leagues from whole clothes. But the relegation zone now is spots 4 through 10. If you stay out of the. Excuse me. The staying out of the relegation zone is spots four.

[Co-host or Guest]

I read this 12 times.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right? Teams with a bottom three record, that's the relegation area, get only two lottery balls, but they have a floor of the number 12 pick.

[Co-host or Guest]

All right, so the three worst record teams get three lottery balls, and the lowest they can go is 12.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, two lottery.

[Co-host or Guest]

Two lottery balls. Okay, two lottery balls. So two balls. Yep. And 12 is the lowest they can get.

[Dan Bernstein]

If you want the whole thing here and you just want me to read the rules.

[Co-host or Guest]

Okay, as I read it 12 times,

[Dan Bernstein]

teams that missed the playoffs and missed the play in but aren't in the relegation zone, that means spots four through ten, they get three. Four through ten get three.

[Co-host or Guest]

Three balls.

[Dan Bernstein]

Teams with a bottom three record get two.

[Co-host or Guest]

So if you're. If your record's worse, you get less balls.

[Dan Bernstein]

But a higher floor. But a higher floor, you can do no worse than the number 12 pick.

[Co-host or Guest]

And then four through 10, what's the worst they can do?

[Dan Bernstein]

The rest of the 13 lottery teams can fall as far as number 16. You can go all the way to the bottom.

[Co-host or Guest]

So 16. Okay, so if you're one of the worst three records, you get two balls. The lowest you can go is 12. If you're four through 10 as far as bad records, you get three balls. But can only go. You can't go lower than 16.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, that's it. That's the lottery. There's only 16 teams in it. You can go as low as the bottom of the lottery. Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

But you could. You could be the number one team.

[Dan Bernstein]

You could be the number one team

[Co-host or Guest]

because you have three balls.

[Dan Bernstein]

Correct. Now, the nine and ten play in. Seeds in each conference get two balls each.

[Co-host or Guest]

Okay. Nine. Nine and ten play in.

[Dan Bernstein]

Get two balls each. So they're the same as the relegation zones. Right? Okay. The losers of the 7 and 8 play in games, get one lottery ball each.

[Co-host or Guest]

7 and 8 losers get one ball. Yep.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, so you don't want to be there.

[Co-host or Guest]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's the Worst thing is to make the play in and lose in the play in. So you're. It does incentivize winning. So previously, the league drew odds for only teams with the bottom four records in the league, while the other 10 were ordered by Inverse Record. Under this proposal, all 16 teams are in the lottery drawing. No team can win the top pick in consecutive years or be able to win three consecutive top five picks. Teams also can't protect picks in the 12 to 15 slots, so they determine

[Co-host or Guest]

that after the fact. So let's say that, that this. So the. So let's say the years. One year one, I get the second pick. Year two, I get the third pick. And then the third year, if I'm gonna have, If I, if I, if I. If they draw the. They do the lottery, my guess is

[Dan Bernstein]

if the highest you can, then you would probably move to six.

[Co-host or Guest]

So would my ball come up? And they were like, oh, we got to take that ball out. You can't. You can't get the fifth.

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know. But the proposal includes a sunset provision. So the new system expires after the 2029 draft and would allow the board of Governors to continue the system or transition to a new one.

[Co-host or Guest]

Okay, I want to know who's coming up with these rules, because it takes me back to when you read the NBA All Star Game rules about the three teams, and you can only have this many people from this country and they have to be this tall and you have to be this height. And I mean, like, who's doing this?

[Dan Bernstein]

This. Apparently all this is everybody involved.

[Co-host or Guest]

Are the adults in charge asking their kids, like, hey, what would you do? Or are the adults getting completely baked out of their mind?

[Dan Bernstein]

Here's the answer.

[Co-host or Guest]

With a bunch of pizza and saying, what should we do? That's. That's really confusing.

[Dan Bernstein]

And the league office. According to espn, the league office has held multiple critical meetings with its Board of Governors, competition committee and 30 GMs over the past few weeks. So they're talking to the individual teams. I would hope to. I'd have some, some, some just whoever, whatever brains you can get in this room and do this. All of the involved parties, they said they've brainstormed and developed several concepts over the past few months before finding this 16 team reform that high ranking officials across the NBA say they believe will discourage losing. While drawing lottery balls for all 16 qualifying teams, it encourages winning during the second half of the season because the teams ranked near the bottom three want to get out of the relegation zone.

[Co-host or Guest]

I mean, this just doesn't sound like the top league in the world. You know what I mean? Like this, this sounds like.

[Dan Bernstein]

Because this is all retroactive, because this is, this is retrofitting, it's retconning. They're trying to paste this on top of this, whatever their current system is. Which is why I think to their credit that this, this has a built in expiration on it because it might not work.

[Co-host or Guest]

It just sounds like there's a lot,

[Dan Bernstein]

lot of moving parts to it. They felt they had to do something. This is the first result of the first go round. I'm, I'm sure it's going to change. And that is why there's a small paragraph in here that says the league would also have expanded disciplinary authority to regulate tanking and have the option to reduce lottery odds and or modify draft positions for teams out of the proposal. Now that's broad.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yes.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's basically saying Adam Silver can just pluck you up here and move you over here. Or say, nah, this doesn't look right to me. This doesn't pass the smell test. You go here, you go here, you go here. That's what that says.

[Co-host or Guest]

You could look at it and say, all right, well, your two best players who are very healthy are sitting for no particular reason, so we're going to move you down. Instead of three balls you get two balls, or instead of two balls you get one ball.

[Dan Bernstein]

Now. Right. Although they might say that because you don't want to be in the relegation zone, that you're going to play those players. That's the point. So you're going to want to play these people so you can get an extra lottery ball and get out of the bottom three. Like there could be a fight at the end for that extra lottery ball. That's what they're trying to build in here. Whether.

[Co-host or Guest]

Oh, my God, imagine. I mean, that's going to be compelling TV as well. I mean, can you imagine two teams at the bottom of the league fighting for that final victory?

[Dan Bernstein]

Dan, is that better than what we have now?

[Co-host or Guest]

No one's watching anyway. You know, we get into the third worst record or the fourth worst record. Is ESPN putting that on fucking prime time so you and I can watch it? It's, there's this, this game has playoff implications. This game. Are they the third worst or they're the fourth worst? Watch it here on ESPN with a special Stephen A. Smith pregame. Like, come on, no one's gonna, no one cares. No one's gonna watch that bullshit.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, I guess we'll learn that if. If somehow the players also agree with this because they have a say, too. And the player's desire to. Do we have a pending free agent. It's saying like, yeah, my ankle sore. Do I want. They're busting my. I'm leaving after this year.

[Co-host or Guest]

Right.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm not playing. Why am I going to get out there? So you can avoid there. I don't care if you're in the relegation zone or not. I'm leaving.

[Co-host or Guest]

I'm leaving. Right?

[Dan Bernstein]

Right.

[Co-host or Guest]

So I'm reading this this morning, and you know, and. And then I know you know, I've said this. I'm not a smart man, but I do know it.

[Dan Bernstein]

Love. It is.

[Co-host or Guest]

And I. I read it and I'm like, all right. I rub my eyes. I'm like, hang on a second here. Let me get a notepad out real quick.

[Dan Bernstein]

I'm gonna.

[Co-host or Guest]

I gotta jot some notes down. I read it. I get it about halfway through, and I'm like, wait a second. I've got distracted.

[Dan Bernstein]

I gotta start over again.

[Co-host or Guest]

Read it a third time. Read it a fourth time. And then I was like, well, just it. I mean, there's two balls, three balls, relegation, top four, bottom four, top 16, 12. I don't. I'm like, you know what? I'm done. I'll let Dan talk about it. I'll just listen.

[Dan Bernstein]

The NBA playoffs are easy money at my bookie if you stop overthinking it. They're not talking to you. Actually, you don't need a crazy parlay, no spreadsheets. You need that team that you can trust. And that's why playoff basketball hits just right at my bookie. Clean board. If you want to keep it simple, keep it simple. You can back the Thunder, you can back the Celtics. Hell, how about the Magic Man?

[Co-host or Guest]

Oh, man.

[Dan Bernstein]

And again, we're going to talk about a lot of this on OWC today. You don't want to miss that today. Also, the latest on the Bulls and their search for a head of basketball, whatever they're calling it.

[Co-host or Guest]

I had my magic pick, right? I was two for two, two and one last night.

[Dan Bernstein]

So without five there, it's incredible. If you're new to my bookie and you've never made a deposit, there's even less reason to sit this one out. Because the code DBU gets you any bet. You choose up to 500, fully covered, you make your play, and then if it doesn't hit, you get it right back. When you opt in using the beta back bonus token, that's with the code [e-mail]. pick your squad. Take that shot. Don't just watch the playoffs. Cash in on them. Only at my bookie.

[Co-host or Guest]

I think if they want to encourage winning, they should. The team that wins the championship should

[Dan Bernstein]

get 10 balls and just keep getting better every year.

[Co-host or Guest]

Right. If you want to encourage winning, then you. The more you win, the more balls you get. That's. That's what it should be based on. The ball should be based on the number of victories you have.

[Dan Bernstein]

I want to mention this, too. If you are looking at this, this awesome little quarter zip that I got that says 312 sports on it right here. There's all kinds of 312 sports stuff that you can have right now for you or as gifts if you want to get something for. You know, there's. There's. There's women's fit stuff. You want to get something for Mother's Day if you want to get. There's all kinds of kids stuff. Yeah, I think it was like, baby onesies and everything. You have to go to 312Sports.com and click on the Pro Shop because the 312Sports Pro Shop is all set up and you can get stuff, and you can get stuff for you. You can get gifts. It is all there. Get the app, 312Sports app at Google Play or the App Store, because your. Your life will be better with that, I promise. And your312sports.com is your other portal to the pro shop. So go buy stuff. If I see you wearing it, I'm going to surprise you on the street and hug you, and then you can have me arrested. Now, unfortunately, we can't get you Maddie's fishing shirt that he's wearing today because he's the answer to the question of if Mike Vrabel tried to disappear by. By disguising himself as a marshmallow peep. I think that that's. That's what we would get. And it's like.

[Co-host or Guest]

So I got this one from Dicks. This was a dick's one.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest]

Well, I think yellow camouflage, and I want to.

[Dan Bernstein]

The camera doesn't quite come through. Oh, okay. All right.

[Co-host or Guest]

I do not look like Mike Vrabel.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, you do.

[Co-host or Guest]

Mike Vrabel looks like me.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Co-host or Guest]

Older, so get it right.

[Dan Bernstein]

How much older are you?

[Co-host or Guest]

I think he's 50, isn't he? Okay, I'm 53, so he looks like me. Stop saying it incorrectly. Sorry. Rabel looks like me.

[Dan Bernstein]

He's a little. You're about the same height. Right. I just think he's probably got a hundred pounds of. Of width and thickness.

[Co-host or Guest]

What's he weigh? I don't know what he weighs. I don't even know his height and weight.

[Dan Bernstein]

I think he played around 250, didn't he? Like, that was. That was his good weight.

[Co-host or Guest]

What's he. What's his height now? Height?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know. But you. There's. There's all kinds of bits that we could do.

[Co-host or Guest]

All right, so he's 64260 during his playing career. That's his playing career. So.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay, so he's 300 now, right?

[Co-host or Guest]

No, don't say they lose weight when they stop playing. Yeah, he's not, you know, he's not getting big and fat. He's. He's like an old Bears offensive lineman

[Dan Bernstein]

that not quite dropped 70 pounds. No. Well, okay, let's. Let's say he's. Because let's say he's 270. Let's get a little bit of dad bod.

[Co-host or Guest]

Fine. Six four, two, seven. I'm. I'm six two two, 25.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, it's not. Not close. Yeah, you're like. You're like the Teemu version, but he. What? It's the one you get, but it's like a little smaller than it was in the picture. Don't get me started. Can I, can I, Can I. Okay, can I, can I tell the story?

[Co-host or Guest]

He looks like me, by the way.

[Dan Bernstein]

I tell the story real quick. Before I get into.

[Co-host or Guest]

Did you buy something temu?

[Dan Bernstein]

What'd you do? I did.

[Co-host or Guest]

Did you really? Why?

[Dan Bernstein]

I panicked.

[Co-host or Guest]

What did you buy on temu?

[Dan Bernstein]

I panicked. I've had a huge problem with my. My landing net. I started out the fishing season. I got this perfect telescope.

[Co-host or Guest]

It was like 28ft long. And I told you to carry it around everywhere you go.

[Dan Bernstein]

It broke. And first it broke and I duct taped the part that broke. And then.

[Co-host or Guest]

Where did you buy that from? What online site?

[Dan Bernstein]

I got that from online at Walmart.

[Co-host or Guest]

Walmart. Okay, fine.

[Dan Bernstein]

It was fine. And their delivery is fine as the whole thing. So I'm like, all right, it's all I need. And then. And then it broke again.

[Co-host or Guest]

Okay, so it broke twice.

[Dan Bernstein]

Because I did. I made the mistake. I had a fish on, and my net was on the ground, and this old guy came over. He's like, can I help? Can I help? Can I net it for you? Sure.

[Co-host or Guest]

Oh, why would you do that?

[Dan Bernstein]

I don't know. It was this old tourist and he was very nice. He didn't Speak a word of English, but he was using he. A translator. He had his Google Translate, and he was speaking Mandarin into the Google Translate then holding it up and holding it up and, you know, and asking. It's like, yeah, sure. It was just, you know, thought it was a fun story. He broke the thing in half. So that.

[Co-host or Guest]

That's probably recognized you.

[Dan Bernstein]

Are you Dan Bernstein? And why do you suck?

[Co-host or Guest]

Well, yeah. You shouldn't have let someone help you.

[Dan Bernstein]

No good deed goes unpunished, right? So I. And I'm like, God, I need a new net. And I. And I grabbed my phone. I'm like, I got to get one ordered now. I got to have it here tomorrow.

[Co-host or Guest]

Step back a second. Yeah. How did. How did that interaction end with him breaking your nut?

[Dan Bernstein]

He just kind of smiled at me, and I kind of shrugged, and that's how it ended.

[Co-host or Guest]

You let him walk away?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

What am I supposed to do? Beat his ass? Like, what would you do?

[Co-host or Guest]

Demand money from him?

[Dan Bernstein]

Demand money from him.

[Co-host or Guest]

You know who I am? I'm Dan Bernstein.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's a 35 net. It's broken. It's fine. Whatever I got, I'll get a new one. So I. I start looking around, collapsible fishing. I'm like, oh, that one looks good. I didn't realize it was Teemu. Oh, and I hit it.

[Co-host or Guest]

Exercise. Is it like an aquarium?

[Dan Bernstein]

They. So here's the other thing. I also didn't know that it says spin the wheel for free gift. And I didn't see there's a. There's an X where you can close out of that. But I didn't. I thought you got to hit the thing to, like, get into it.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, the top right corner, there'll be an X.

[Dan Bernstein]

So I. I couldn't find the X, and I kept hitting it. So it sent me, like, these 15. Like, I kept getting packages from Temu. I only paid the one thing. And Beth and Zoe are making fun of me, like, dad, there's more packages, and it's all this. I didn't remember or didn't really order.

[Co-host or Guest]

Like, what. Like, what kind of stuff?

[Dan Bernstein]

One thing was, like, a lure that wasn't a lure. I threw it all out. I threw everything out. Everything that was on there, everything that came. And then the net came, and there was one that was like, 10 inches. It was like Spinal Tap, where instead of the giant Stonehenge, I got the miniature one. Nothing helped me. I threw everything out. So Basically, I flushed $35 down the toilet with Teemu. And then. And then I ordered another one from Walmart and it came and it arrived broken, so.

[Co-host or Guest]

Oh, seriously?

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah.

[Co-host or Guest]

So the point of this story, kids, if you're listening, if you see Dan Bernstein fishing anywhere, walk up, break his fishing net, and then just walk away.

[Dan Bernstein]

But that's what the guy did. He was trying. He. He was trying to net the fish. He lifted up wrong and broke in half.

[Co-host or Guest]

And.

[Dan Bernstein]

And then. How do you.

[Co-host or Guest]

How do you lift up a fishing net wrong?

[Dan Bernstein]

You're supposed to lift it vertically. Once the fish is in on a long, extended net, you don't lift horizontally.

[Co-host or Guest]

You.

[Dan Bernstein]

You pull. You pull the net and lift vertically and then bring the fish onto land. And I couldn't translate that into Mandarin.

[Co-host or Guest]

Wait, so if you're lifting vertically, you have the net at the very top. That's really high up.

[Dan Bernstein]

No, you're just. You have the extended net, so the net is down low.

[Co-host or Guest]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

So you don't lift outward. You want. You want to lift up. So if he's.

[Co-host or Guest]

But you lift up, though, with the net on the bottom, not on the top.

[Dan Bernstein]

Now you're just being a dick.

[Co-host or Guest]

No, you are.

[Dan Bernstein]

You. Yeah, you are.

[Co-host or Guest]

You know, I'm starting to get bothered by you doing that, calling me. I'm just asking. I'm asking questions to understand your story, Dan. I'm trying to be involved in your stories. I don't.

[Dan Bernstein]

I just want to be more involved in your life.

[Co-host or Guest]

That's all I want.

[Dan Bernstein]

That's all I'm trying to do.

[Co-host or Guest]

And, yes, it started to bother me

[Dan Bernstein]

that you're trying to. Trying to be. You know, I just. I just want to. I just want to.

[Co-host or Guest]

I want to know you better. I want to. I want to. I want to get to be more involved in who you are, are in your life. And. And then twice a week now, you stop.

[Dan Bernstein]

I understand. I understand. You know, that the boys are getting to that age. How is your day? Fine. How was practice? Fine. And then door slam and they're playing video games or something.

[Co-host or Guest]

I just. I would. I would prefer if you would just interact with me more.

[Dan Bernstein]

All right.

[Co-host or Guest]

I feel like we don't talk anymore.

[Dan Bernstein]

It's so funny.

[Co-host or Guest]

I feel like. You don't bring me flowers.

[Dan Bernstein]

You don't sing me love songs.

[Co-host or Guest]

You don't bring me neck rolls.

[Dan Bernstein]

You don't.

[Co-host or Guest]

You don't find Airport Hudson News anymore.

[Dan Bernstein]

You don't bring Gardettos. You don't bring me Newsweek. A vacation rental should come with support, not surprises.

[Co-host or Guest]

That's why VRBO comes with a VRBoCare guarantee and 247 life support from real people. So if something goes sideways, Verbocare can help.

[Dan Bernstein]

If the host cancels Verbocare if the listing says heated pool, but there's actually no pool to heat. Definitely a verbo care thing. If my teenager starts calling me Leslie instead of mom, that's a family thing. Leslie. That makes sense. Sorry.

[Co-host or Guest]

Book with support, not surprises.

[Dan Bernstein]

VRBoCare and 24. 7 Life Support. If you know you verbo terms apply.

[Co-host or Guest]

See vrbo.com trust for details.

[Dan Bernstein]

Hey, if you're getting ready for Mother's Day and you're gonna do something with flowers, don't. Or you're going to go to an airport gift shop and buy pajamas, don't. Don't do that. Instead, why don't you give your mom an upgrade? Why don't you switch things up? Why don't you give mom something that not only isn't perishable, but is the opposite of that. Something that can keep on giving. Do it with an aura frame, a digital picture frame. See that beautiful gift box and all those beautiful people. Maybe the beautiful people will come to your house and also bring you the aura frame. And you'll dance around and your children will be happy and everything in your life will be amazing. Just as you see, because you can personalize the gift, like I mentioned, the gift box is included. You can load all the pictures onto that before it ships. And there's free unlimited storage. They don't get you any other be like, well, that's great. Now you got to pay for all the storage. No, it's all free. Aura is the top rated app. It was number one on the App Store Christmas Day last year. Because this is the kind of thing where mom is absolutely going to be happy when she receives her aura frame because it makes Mother's Day special. It's been named number one by Wirecutter. And you can save on the gifts mom moms love by visiting auraframes.com here's what's key. This is what you have to know when you get yours. For a limited time, you get $25 off that bestselling carver mat frame. That's when I have with the code DBU a u r a frames.com promo code DBU. Just do this, get it out of the way, and then it's done. And you've had fun with it. And maybe there's gag photos you want to put on there. Maybe there's some joking. It depends. If your mom's got a sense of humor, make the most out of it, too. That's a possibility. Aura frames.com promo code DBU. You can support the show by mentioning us to check out as well. Terms and conditions apply. How about Drew Romo of your Chicago White Sox?

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, this is great. What a story.

[Dan Bernstein]

Did you see this little dude?

[Co-host or Guest]

Very good story. Very cool.

[Dan Bernstein]

Drew Romo is a guy. And when I say he's a guy, I mean replacement level player. He's 24 years old. Guess what? Can you guess in three years of sporadic MLB play what his wins above replacement is on Baseball Reference?

[Co-host or Guest]

Zero.

[Dan Bernstein]

It is 0.0.

[Co-host or Guest]

He is replacement guy.

[Dan Bernstein]

Is. This is replacement level player. And just when people hear that term wins above replacement value over replacement. It's not bench player. A bench player in the in MLB has a positive war. That could be a difference. You know, your star, your other guy could be a difference between, you know, four and one and a half. So it could be a big difference, but it's still one and a half. A replacement level player is like a four A guy, a non prospect triple A guy. That's what a replacement level player is.

[Co-host or Guest]

And that's what Drew Romo is.

[Dan Bernstein]

He hit home runs from both sides of the plate in a major league game. And it was one of these spectacular things that the fact that he hit the one home run, everybody was going crazy. Absolutely great. His first home run in the majors.

[Co-host or Guest]

Yeah, it's his first major league home run. These are two major league home runs.

[Dan Bernstein]

Right. So the first one he hits lefty and it was awesome. And again he goes through the gauntlet in the dugout was going crazy. That's his first major league home run. That's already a party. And then he comes up there right handed and hits another one and knew how exciting it was and how special it was. And that sometimes in baseball, like the infinitesimal odds of that guy accomplishing that feet, it ultimately doesn't mean much, but that's something that can happen in baseball.

[Co-host or Guest]

So I thought, you know what, Dan? This has got to be an historic performance to hit consecutive home runs, consecutive at bats from both sides of the plate. And I thought, all right, now don't ask because I don't know the names. But it was, it was a very cool moment, but not historic because it's happened seven times before. Then I thought, well, it must be the first time ever in every major league baseball game where a guy's done it in consecutive at bats. This is the third time it's happened.

[Dan Bernstein]

Okay.

[Co-host or Guest]

It's a great moment for Drew Romo.

[Dan Bernstein]

Well, wait, did you factor in first Two home, first two career homers.

[Co-host or Guest]

So it, so he, he would be the first guy to have his first two home runs.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. Okay, so that's the thing.

[Co-host or Guest]

That's, that's historic in that, in that air. But I, I thought. And this could have never happened before where a guy did this. Seven times it happened. Then I was like, all right, well, it's never happened before where guys done it in consecutive at bats. Third time it's happened. But yes, Drew Romo, the first guy to ever hit two home runs in a game from both sides of the plate in consecutive at bats and having those be his first two major league home runs ever. Well, congratulations, Drew Romo.

[Dan Bernstein]

I can say that I was at the game in 1984 when the White Sox, Dave Stegman hit two home runs in a 7 to 6 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Nobody knows who Dave Stegman is.

[Co-host or Guest]

Was this lefty and righty?

[Dan Bernstein]

No, they're both righty.

[Co-host or Guest]

Okay.

[Dan Bernstein]

But Dave Stegman had a career WAR of minus 0.2. He was, he was positive. 0.3 in that 1984 season, that miserable 1984 White Sox season, because those two home runs. But Dave Stegman, I, I was there. I was at Comiskey Park. And the other thing that happened in that game, not only did Dave Stegman hit two home runs that day, Carlton Fisk hit for the cycle. Oh, wow. And they lost. A 37 year old Carlton Fisk hit, got a triple. Yeah. Yes, he hit for the cycle. Of course he got a triple.

[Co-host or Guest]

That's crazy.

[Dan Bernstein]

And, and, and they lost when Dave Stegman hit two and Carlton Fisk hit for the cycle.

[Co-host or Guest]

So congratulations to Drew Romo for being the first player ever to hit your first two major league home runs from both sides of the plate in consecutive at bats in what was a win for the White Sox.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes. Over the best pitcher in baseball, Jose Soriano.

[Co-host or Guest]

His first loss of the season. Hey, I also, I also want to point out and, and, and keep an eye on your guy. Mutataka Morakami.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yeah, he's good player.

[Co-host or Guest]

So he's, he's hitting.241.336. 366 on base slugging.574 for an OPS of.940. He is currently a 0.9 WAR player in 108 at bats. Dan. He has 26 hits. 12 of them are for home runs. He has 23 RBIs. He has 22 walks. He has 45 strikeouts.

[Dan Bernstein]

Three true outcomes.

[Co-host or Guest]

You said he was gonna be a lot of fun to Watch.

[Dan Bernstein]

Yes.

[Co-host or Guest]

And he certainly has not disappointed yet with 12 home runs, 22 walks, 45 strikeouts in 108 at bats.

[Dan Bernstein]

And the comps have been dead on. When people have said, this is Joey Gallo, this is Russell Branion, this might be closer to Kyle Schwaber, that's what we're looking at here. So I don't think there's any secrets here. They're not going to unlock some other version of him. It's can he sustain being this kind of effective three true outcome guy? And if the walks are still there, then I don't care how often he strikes out, if that's just going to be the way he makes his outs. Because he's swinging as hard as he can every single time. And most importantly, he brought bidets to the White Sox clubhouse. And who knows, maybe they'll catch on around the league and they'll.

[Co-host or Guest]

I mean, they're using them as water fountains, though.

[Dan Bernstein]

Some are, yeah. If he continues, this tastes funny.

[Co-host or Guest]

If half his hits are home runs, that would be pretty impressive.

[Dan Bernstein]

We'll see if we can keep it up.

[Co-host or Guest]

It'd be a great pace to keep.

[Dan Bernstein]

And that's going to do it today for DBU on three 1, 2. We thank our friends at Chicago Window. Guys, Russ Armstrong. Call him at 847-302-9171 and don't forget the code. Dbu@auraframes a u r a frames.com as always, we have been brought to you in partnership with my bookie, Dan Bernstein. Unfiltered unfiltered on 312 sports. Everybody talked about it since I first moved to Oregon. The big one. The earthquake that trashed the whole West Coast. Total destruction. Officially calling it the largest natural disaster in American history. I just didn't know what would help me next. So I took it all. Even the gun. It was time Cello see why American Afterlife is the number one fiction and drama podcast in America. Presented by pair of thieves. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite shows available now.