Stories Inside the Man Cave

Ep 409: Austin As It Used to Be with David Bales; From Dirty Martin's to the NFL

Shawn Clynch, Mike Murphy, Michael Hardge, & Maurice Harris Season 1 Episode 409

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What does it take to keep an Austin institution alive for nearly a century? Join us as we sit down with Daniel Young, the General Manager of Dirty Martin's Place, for an insider's perspective on almost a decade of managing this beloved local landmark. Daniel recounts the triumphs and trials faced, from major renovations to the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic. Alongside him, lifelong Austinite David Bales shares nostalgic stories and reflects on the community spirit that keeps Austin's heritage thriving.

Step into the historic Schultz Garden with us and uncover its evolution over the years, including the surprising removal of nachos from the menu. We highlight the smart moves by Larry Bell's Inc. to preserve this gem and discuss the cultural and economic impacts of South by Southwest. You'll also hear the inspiring tale of Wes Short Jr., who overcame monumental obstacles to become the oldest PGA Tour rookie, demonstrating the resilience and tenacity that characterize Austin's community.

Finally, we bring you the compelling journey of Steve McMichael. From his early athletic days to becoming a renowned NFL player with the Chicago Bears, Steve's story is one of unyielding perseverance. We touch on his ongoing battle with ALS, showcasing his incredible strength and the unwavering support from friends and family. Through these captivating stories, we celebrate the individuals who have shaped Austin's vibrant and enduring community.

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Speaker 1:

Well, it has been a minute, but we are back here at Dirty Martin's Place, just celebrated 98 years young and this is going to be a very awkward tease because this guy is going to be a mute for the next 30 seconds Daniel Young, the GM here at Dirty Martin's Place. We're back Austin as it used to be another series of pods episodes that really look back and bring back the feel-good stories of this great city.

Speaker 2:

I couldn't be more excited. It's really good to be back. It's been about a year. This is really what I live for. I've been running Dirty's for about nine years and my favorite part of this job is really the storytelling aspect. Part of this job is really the storytelling aspect Some of the older Austin customers coming here and just sharing stories. We've got a great guest today and some more great guests down the road.

Speaker 1:

We're pumped to be back. He's the three best friends you could ever ask for. He's done a great job of not revealing who he is. If you're watching, you know who he is. Austin, as it used to be. Episode 409 of Stories Inside the man Cave. Let's ride, all right, I don't know about you guys. This is David Bells and we're about to give him the right introduction. He's got a lot of stories. He's an Austin original, like the two of us. There you go. This is a special place to almost every Austinite who's been here for at least 15 years.

Speaker 1:

I am Sean Clinch, your host of Stories Inside the man Cave. Now, before we get started, we're in the world of digital platforms, social media every one of them, well, a few. I just have not really accepted TikTok yet, guys. I'm trying to. I haven't put anything on it, any content in about three months, so follow us. Facebook, igx, whatever Elon Musk is calling it nowadays YouTube and, of course, tiktok. We got to give a big shout out to the place, this sacred Austin original, to which Daniel Young here the guy I am so overly excited about to partner with and I owe a lot to because he has really brought this idea to heart and Daniel, first off, dirty's involvement. You and I have talked about it in Austin, as it used to be, because you're going through some transitions right now. Somehow we won't go down to politics because that can go all types of different directions, but this place is resilient man, it keeps on. You've learned more about how much love there is for this place, especially after you're 98, not you, but Dirty's 98th birthday, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Just since I've been here uh, we built this beautiful uh back room and closed the back room, built this beautiful bar. Uh, I learned through that process the dealing with the city took two and a half years to get all the permitting and everything and then we had covid, which was, uh, closed for 14 months, and then we had the whole deal with Project Connect.

Speaker 2:

Just in my nine-year tenure those three we've come out stronger than ever. This particular month it looks like it's going to be the busiest month in our 98-year history. Couldn't be more proud and thankful for the crew and the wonderful customers. Yeah, love this place. I love this place. It gets you emotional.

Speaker 1:

And we're sticking to it. Yeah, so our VIP of this Austin as it used to be, episode this installment, our guy David Bells man, he has a lot of stories, but we are both proud. Lc Anderson Trojans, that's right.

Speaker 2:

Trojans for life.

Speaker 1:

Blue and gold baby that's right, we're in the middle of football season here and this is not Daniel Young I am. I just wanted to point that out.

Speaker 2:

I don't know why I left that up for so long, yeah.

Speaker 1:

But for you, david, your ties to Austin run deep. You have had we're going to unbundle your story, but you have some ties to some significant Austinites that maybe people are not aware of but need to know about their stories. You've lived a great life. I've been blessed.

Speaker 3:

First of all, I want to say thank you, Sean. I love your podcast. Appreciate it. Dirties has been a part of my life for 50 years. I started coming here when I was 10 years old.

Speaker 3:

My daddy was native austinite too. They used to come here on friday nights, usually a fistfight breakout club, but I've always loved this place. It's just, it's a heartbeat of austin and uh proud to always come hang out here, drink a cold beer and eat the best burger in in town. Danny and I have a lot in common. Our family ran Schultz's Beer Garden for 35, 40 years.

Speaker 3:

It's another institution, the beauty of Austin. In my mind, it doesn't matter how many people have moved here from out of state. There's still a close-knit fraternity, sorority of people that have been here a long time and we can go. It's kind of like Norma Chews we can go to our place where we can all hang out. Well, there's Bells or there's Danny or there's Sean, and we know we're going to get love and we're going to give love back.

Speaker 1:

All the time, Daniel, when you were growing up and it's not about competition Schultz's and Dirty's are both Austin institutions, in my opinion. Absolutely Growing up, Schultz's, and correct me, I always said it wrong. The hall next door, Sangarundi Hall.

Speaker 3:

The bowling lanes are phenomenal. Next door In the back you've got to be a member of Austin Sangarundi to bowl. There was a wonderful old black gentleman named chester moore and if we got chester plied with enough whiskey, he left three or four of us and the three young ladies that were uh hanging out that night with us and we'd come back and bowl until all hours tonight. It was our own little private bowling alley. That didn't happen often, but it did happen yeah you, I mean schultz's.

Speaker 1:

I mean a lot. Lot of people now think of Schultz's as a place to pregame in the beer garden. There's nothing but smiles and laughing and shit talking and a lot of good storytelling.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'll just go ahead and step in a little bit. So, and I told this story Our dear friend Steve McMichael, who just was inducted the pro football hall of fame. On game day my daddy was like scrooge mcduck all these people would come in for the game and there'd literally be three or four thousand people come in. Dad was up there counting the money. I'm 14 years old, my job was to run around. We had cigar boxes if the money would go in. So the last two and a half hours before the game there weren't a bunch of point of sale machines, so my job was to hustle around and get all the money out. So somebody else didn't put it in their pocket. Daddy counted. Well then, everybody leave and go to the game.

Speaker 3:

There used to be a 7-eleven across the street and on game day because we were, we had a monopoly. They would serve beer for maybe $2 a can in the late 70s when it should have been a buck. Usually fraternity guys would go across the street and buy three or four cases to try to sneak it over the back fence. My daddy would be on his third or fourth Budweiser. I wonder if any of them frat boys were going to try to sneak beer over the back fence. He'd catch them on a kitchen. One time one of them MF'd him and he got a straight right hook and he went down. And I'm 14 years old. I said, holy shit, I ain't messing with daddy. Well, fast forward. About three weeks later, dad goes patrolling the back fence. It was his want. These two big old boys are passing case of beer on the back fence. What turns out it's Steve McMichael and Bill Acker.

Speaker 3:

Two all-Americans that can both spend the rest of $500. My dad's sipping on the Budweiser. He says hey boys, what do y'all think you're doing? And Mike says what the fuck does it look like we're doing? He goes we're bringing beer in. He goes well, what makes you two boys can whip my ass. That's exactly what you're gonna have to do to get the beer in. And steve said you would fight us over three cases of beer. But that's you damn right. This is my house, he said. Well, nobody's ever stood up to me like that before he said what's your name?

Speaker 2:

he said I'm larry goddamn bales.

Speaker 3:

He said I need to get to know you. They became, became friends. My dad became his agent. He represented with New England, represented with Chicago Bears and he became the older brother I never had and I'm blessed to have him in my life and we have had a wonderful run. I got to go to UT football games. He'd bring me in the locker room after the game, bring me in the locker room after Chicago Bears games and he's been a dear friend. We just got him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Speaker 1:

And we're going to talk about that here.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so that's just one of the stories that I was blessed to have growing up at Shelton. Since I was a kid, I wouldn't have changed it for anything in the world.

Speaker 1:

Daniel, tell me, well, unless you have a question for David but you grew up going to Shelton, unless you have a question for David but you grew up going to Schultz's I mean it's a special place, I mean it's very similar here and Schultz's in Austin. There's not many places in America like it.

Speaker 3:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Schultz's is the oldest business in Texas. Yeah, and it's the oldest continuous running bar since 1866. Back of the day, general George Custer was said to have gone there, so it's been since 1866. And we were proud entrepreneurs, or the ones that ran it for 35 years. It was a beautiful thing. My great uncle, who took over the lease in 1960, claims he saved thousands of lives on August 1, 1966.

Speaker 1:

That was the day, charles Whitman started shooting off the tower that was the 100th anniversary of Schultz Garden.

Speaker 3:

Wow. So Uncle Bob was selling beer for a nickel, a beer at 1866 prices. There was a line out the door, 300 said. Oh God, I had to be out there waiting in line to get beer so my mind got shot. So it's a sad thing, but it's just kind of part of Schultz's history and yes, it is the oldest tennis running bar. A lot of people say more laws originated at Schultz's than they did in the capital, because that's where Bob Bullock and Han Richard and my daddy was a state rep. They'd sit over there and figure out what's going on underneath the elm trees. It was a wonderful place because it was a combination of university and it was also a combination of the people at the Capitol. It was a melting pot. It's what old Austin is all about. That's kind of what this podcast is all about?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, they have good German food. Yes, sir, it may not be healthy, but it's good.

Speaker 2:

I heard they got rid of the nachos recently. There was a rebellion about that.

Speaker 1:

Is that true?

Speaker 3:

They got rid of the nachos. Let me tell you something. In 1987, when the bosses were saying around to the owners, they built a little three-story building in the back. They said don't go build your Taj Mahal and raise my rent because I ain't going to pay for it. Well, sure enough they did. And they came back and they told my dad rent's gone up. He said I told you, don't do that. Well, dad was pretty sharp. So he takes the lease from Schultz's and he creates a new LLC, larry Bell's Inc. The only asset of Larry Bell's Inc was a five-year lease at Schultz Garden. He put it in the Wall Street Journal the oldest contenders running bar instead of Texas is for sale. The Journal said Larry, you can't sell what you don't own. Better get yourself a real attorney, guys. So we sold the right to lease Schultz's to Eddie Wilson, who's another old Austinite that started Armadillo.

Speaker 2:

World.

Speaker 3:

Headquarters in Redgills. He came in and he took cheeseburgers, chicken fries, steaks and nachos off the menu and he didn't last too long. And so 18 months later, right at the first refusal, we came in and Daddy needed a little money. So he said where can I get some money? I said call McMichael. So Steve said hell, I got that in my checking account. So he came in and we were partners at Chelsea's for four more years with Steve and my daddy.

Speaker 1:

That's beautiful. I didn't know that. I didn't know that either. I didn't know that either. There's so many stories. I remember all of them. In the UIL state tournaments we're at the drum, super drum, the meetings between games. That was a sad chapter that came to an end when the UIL basically I understand why they did it they were outpriced.

Speaker 3:

Well, one of the mitigating factors for us that I believe changed it all was South by Southwest, because they came in in 1987 and that's when, I think, austin went from old Austin to the new Austin Combination of the Dell computers. Change at all was South by Southwest. Yep, because they came in in 1987. And that's when, I think, austin went from old Austin to the new Austin Combination of Dell computers, coming in South by Southwest. I know we've all met numerous people over the years. Where are you from? I'm from Australia. Had you come to Austin? Well, I came for the South by, but I never went home. And so what happened is their South by was during the same time as the girls' and the boys' high school the 10-day period.

Speaker 1:

It was great.

Speaker 3:

Back in the day, high school coaches were making $40,000 a year. They were spending a holiday in for $79 a night. Now you've got these people music aficionados and producers and directors coming in they can pay $200 or $300. So that was, I think, the main reason UIL went to San Antonio because more affordable hotel rooms. It was a sad because that was a wonderful time having all those coaches coming. Every year, Besides UT football games, those were our biggest weekends.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the stories coaches would tell and meet for a pitcher or a beater in between lunch, in between sessions, every day. Yeah, and they'd find their other jobs.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, no doubt it's amazing, Most of our family were coaches.

Speaker 1:

So you're good buddies with West Shore Jr, who is known not only to be a great golfer in an Austin original and played at UT, yes, sir, but he didn't make the pga tour, get his car until age 40, correct?

Speaker 3:

that's right. So we grew up since we were eight years old playing junior golf together. His daddy used to rent rock quarters out limestone rock quarries and uh, he'd have west and all his sons in there. It was definitely child labor. And he put him at the bottom of the rock roars with sledgehammers and picks and shovels. Where was that? He would rip these quarries out in Williamson County, Leander. Where those limestone?

Speaker 2:

quarries are.

Speaker 3:

His family grew up. You do not want to arm wrestle West Shore Junior. I'm just going to tell you that right now they started planting Butler Pitchers. But another Austin original His daddy had 20 hole-in-ones. Wes has got like eight or nine. And so Wes started chasing his dream and they didn't have a lot of money and he just kept trying Hooters Tour, van Hogan Tour. It's a true story of perseverance and by the time he was 40 years old he qualified for the PGA Tour.

Speaker 1:

Stay true.

Speaker 3:

And he just kept going, and so he was the oldest PGA Tour rookie in history. And then, in Las Vegas one year, second year, 2005, he caught lightning in a bottle in Las Vegas and shot 66, 67, 66, 65, whatever it was. He tied Jim Furyk. They went into a playoff. A par three hole playoff was about 180 yards. It was over water. We had water in front of you and then a bunker to your right.

Speaker 3:

Furyk hit into water. Wes fan went into the bunker. The bunker shot was downhill down, right-handed towards the water. He said I ain't never been so scared in my whole damn life. He said just got to flop it out. He was scared, he was going to scull it in the water. He flopped it out and made the putt. As I say, the rest is history. His back went out on him when he turned 50, though. He went back to Q School in Scottsdale and ended up breaking the course record 20 or under for four rounds, and has had a wonderful career on the seniors' turf. And in 2016, he broke another record he was the oldest rookie in US Open Tour history.

Speaker 1:

So he played.

Speaker 3:

Oakmont at Arnold Palmer's home track, that's amazing.

Speaker 1:

Hey, before we're going to pause real quick just to give a shout out to this establishment that he is doing a fantastic job, very consistent. It's not just for UT students, I mean, this is a big portion of business. But your drink specials, what are they? They're pretty much the same every week.

Speaker 3:

Right, we got one going right now. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

We have specials, yeah, every day, like, for instance, today, we have $4 margaritas, which I think you know. That's one of the best deals in town. It's Mondays and Thursdays actually are $4 margarita days. We also have $12 pitchers of Miller Lite today.

Speaker 1:

So really, really, and also a great happy hour happy hour right now is 350 tall boys, five dollar long horn iced teas and four dollar long horn iced tea.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so that's going to be tito's vodka, which is infused with pineapples and mixed with a little raspberry tea, and we're selling it. I think last weekend, last saturday, we sold over 300 of those. It's really catching on all the students.

Speaker 1:

Anything with booze in it catches on with college students, absolutely. I know you and I talked about it and we got David here on the show. I mean this is a common question.

Speaker 2:

It is.

Speaker 1:

You and I have talked about it. I mean, this is something I feel like you deserve the opportunity to ask this.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I talk to a lot of people, david, about what? Or everyone has their own opinion about what made Austin great. Whether it be the 50s or 60s or 70s, everybody kind of has somewhat similar answers. But what would be your if you had to pinpoint one thing or a couple things that would really stand out?

Speaker 3:

I think at the time that we grew up and I'm older than you two guys it was the fact that a lot of people here were fourth and fifth generation Austinites. Yeah, so my grandpa knew your grandpa or Sean's grandpa, and so the fabric of the friendships and the relationships in Austin. You know, I used to be over there at the old Don I can't remember the guy's name. Everybody used to go get the card done over on Martin Luther King and Guadalupe. It was such a small town. Everybody knew everybody from the 40s, 50s and 60s. So then the sons knew each other, the daughters knew each other and we only had about 12 or 15 places to frequent, so they were frequent in Darnus, and they were frequent in Schultz's.

Speaker 3:

We played little league against each other, we played golf against each other, and I don't know about you guys, but a lot of my friendships developed in athletics and when I wanted to kick your ass, you wanted to kick mine and we might turn it into a fist fight. But after the fist fight we became very close friends.

Speaker 3:

And so it was something that I call it tick-tock, the game's lot. We were all here to get and we didn't care that outside people came, they just didn't. So we had this beautiful playground, we had Willie Nelson coming in and playing the music. We had Lake Austin ourselves, so we'd go water skiing, we'd go to City Park, we'd go to the pier another local Austin legendary establishment. So we kind of got real lucky to go up where we did and I think it's stayed the course and that's why we're sitting here together with dear friends reminiscing about the best things that Austin.

Speaker 3:

What made Austin so? I just think it's lifelong friendships, generation Right.

Speaker 1:

No, that's. That is great and I think that is a good transition to a stories inside the man cave tradition. We got to scoot in a little closer, like we like this laptop. I know, man, it is warm Now. Man cave story. He's told one or two. It's David Bell's turn. So a man cave story can be anything, but we like to target those stories from either recent way back. That is just as comical as it was when it happened, all right.

Speaker 3:

Sean and.

Speaker 1:

I asked him whether.

Speaker 3:

I could say these words on the podcast.

Speaker 1:

Close your ears, FCC.

Speaker 3:

Back in about 1989, the offensive coordinator was Len Amity For the Longhorn and he was a coon ass and he had been the quarterback 1960 for LSU and a lot of times when these coaches come into Schultz's. We don't talk football with these guys unless they want to talk football and once they think you can know a little bit, they'll open up. Every Monday during the season he would come sit at the end of the bar at Shelter. He'd stand and he'd drink a Bud Light. He'd drink nine Bud Lights in one hour and he was 88 out the gate.

Speaker 3:

Well, so one year he comes in and I just let him go. I walked over and said what happened, coach? Well, we had gotten beaten by Texas Tech two days before he said first of all, let me preface this by saying anybody that quarterbacks UT to four straight victories against Oklahoma he's got my way to go. Peter Garnier and he also Peter's a wonderful guy who he came to every swinging and singing event helping us raise money for brain cancer. We love Pete, but he's going to be the story right this second.

Speaker 2:

Pete, I love you.

Speaker 3:

We love you, pete, don't whip my ass next time I see you. I told you this story at one of our events and you said yeah, that's right. Amity walks in. I said what happened? Coach goes oh that, goddamn God, god, yeah, we. So Amity Rock said I said what happened? Coach goes oh that, goddamn. Guard down, goddamn Goddamn. He said we talked about it all week.

Speaker 3:

I said first play of the game we're going to do a down and out and if that man ain't open, you throw it in the row 16 of the stands. Yes, sir coach, yes, sir coach. First play of the game guard down throws that ball down the middle of the field. Tech boy takes it all the way to the house. Pitch six. I'm up in the box. I said get that Gardell on the phone. He said I ain't never motherfucked somebody. God damn, I've been my whole life. Gardell gets on the set. I said Gardell, what the hell's going on down there? I told you row 16. Why did you throw the ball down the middle of the field? He said well, because I thought he could beat him deep, coach. He says God damn, god damn you can't throw deep.

Speaker 1:

I love you, pete, don't kick my ass, god damn. We love you, pete. Love you, pete O-U 4-0. Yeah, 4-0.

Speaker 3:

Nobody else has done that Way to go Pete.

Speaker 2:

Nobody's done it. Come get a hamburger, Pete.

Speaker 1:

Come get a burger on him and I'll buy the beer, yeah. Oh, my God, that dirties. Hey, on that note, we're going to take a quick break. We're going to tell you. Well, Personal business parties, anything right here, this is a great place to have a party.

Speaker 1:

It's almost Christmas time y'all Almost Christmas time and you'll see Daniel on this ad and on the other side we're going to talk about a legend. David's talked about him, but we've got a lot of Steve McMichael stories coming up on the other side of this break. Austin, Texas, is changing every day, but one constant is Dirty Martin's place on Guad. Dirty's recently celebrated 98 years young and the future is solid, and this space in the back is open to host any event, personal or business related.

Speaker 2:

Hey everyone. It's Daniel here at Dirty Martin's. We're in the burnt orange room. We are currently booking a lot of parties back here. If you can see, we got a capacity for about 90 people, but we are excited to host any party that you might want to bring.

Speaker 1:

Give Daniel Young a call at Dirty's to reserve this space for any event that you can think of. All right, segment two Steven Michael, recently inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. You heard the story about David and his dad, how they had that relationship. It was like a big brother to you. That was a scene at Schultz's. We talked about Schultz's. You guys and some of the Longhorns that he played with got together to honor him just days before he was inducted it was like the week prior.

Speaker 3:

That's right so we asked the University of Texas, Texas, and they graciously helped us out. We did a video tribute to Steve, who blessed his heart at the end stages of ALS. Randy McKeacher and Brad Shearer Kiki Diallo, 2530, showed up and told stories. Their favorite McMichael story, one of the favorite ones I heard, was Randy McEacher In 1977, those old pins that you get. Vote for LBJ, vote for Kennedy. It got the little needle in it. This one said fuck Notre Dame.

Speaker 3:

They started passing them out in the locker room A lot of guys got their workout shirts on, in the jersey or whatever. Somebody handed McMichael one. He was bare chested. He said you're goddamn right, fuck Notre Dame. He was stuck in his chest and walked around the rest of the day with it.

Speaker 3:

I don't like them boys. And you know Steve's tenacity came from. A lot of people don't know that. You know his real father disappeared at some point in time and then his stepfather, eb McMichael, was shot and killed down in Freer, texas, when he was a freshman in Texas. Wow, and I think the loss of those two guys, or you know disappearance, makes Steve mean and he worked his ass off and Daniel LaDuke one day would walk in. Daniel LaDuke had been the shot putter that won the 1976 shot put for UTG and CAA. One day he'd get. Y'all always want to learn how to lift weights. Steve said I do.

Speaker 3:

Steve went from being 6'3", weighing 225 to 6'3", 275 and bench press, 525 pounds and everything he got he worked for. And you know he was a third-round draft pick of New England and he got cut after one year. And then he was living at our house and one day Buddy Ryan called my daddy and Steve had a great name Roscoe B Coltrane. That's the dude that has it. And Buddy Ryan, the defensive coordinator, defense coordinator said uh, hey, bales, what kind of safe Steve in my. It's always in great shape, been running with that dog every day. Well, steve signs with the Bears about five days later. Buddy right. Cause of that spells I wish you to send the damn dog they even really been chasing uh beer and whiskey down on 6th Street.

Speaker 3:

But he worked his ass off and became the leader of the number one defense in NFL history and you know he started 191 straight games for the Bears, had 105 sacks, number four defense attack, all time in sacks, and so he should have got in the Hall of Fame 25 years ago. But they did honor him this year and the beautiful thing, we all went to Canton and I guess they say good things come to people that wait. He shouldn't have had to wait but it was a super proud moment for his family and everybody that loves Steve. And I always thought ALS was one of the toughest diseases. When you see a dear friend who was one of the strongest people to ever walk the planet, deal with it.

Speaker 3:

And an aside when he got diagnosed he told my friend Jim Bocotte he goes. You know why I got it. Everybody else on my team didn't because I can. As tough as Steve was physically, he was even tougher mentally and he's still fighting it. And he's down to where you have to ask him yes and no questions. You ask him yes for no and to blink once for yes, two for no, and the last time I was there. Steve's got about 35 game balls and he had already. I talked to Sister Kathy who I love dearly and they're my family.

Speaker 3:

And I said do you think Steve would let me have one of those game balls? Well, when my daddy died 30 years ago, steve couldn't be there because he was playing. He said you and Jimbo come out to San Diego. I'm going to put on a show for Larry Bales. So we go there. We have dinner the night before the game. He said tomorrow, bring a bottle of Crown Royal and three cigars, come in the locker room after the game. So Steve has a sack, ends the game, we go in there. We're in the locker room. We got a bottle of Crown and three cigars.

Speaker 1:

He's in his jockstrap and Richard Dent walks up and goes what in the hell is going on?

Speaker 3:

here he goes. We're celebrating Larry Bales. Well, larry had renegotiated my daddy had renegotiated two contracts with Steve when that was unheard of. Nobody ever renegotiated with the Bears. So the Bears players knew of daddy because he was on the radio always talking about why Steve should be paid more. He goes oh, you're late. So Steve said, well, we're celebrating Larry Bell's life, and so everybody's getting on the bus except Steve. And then, steve, you do know we're going to Chicago tonight. Yeah, I know, I just hadn't decided when. And so he gets the game ball and I was supposed to get it but I didn't. So fast forward, 30 years later, and I'm telling him goodbye and this is one of the most poignant moments of my life. He's got all these game balls in his bedroom and I'm getting ready to leave Uber's on the way. I said is it okay if I get a game ball? He blinked One, yes. So I looked around and I see a game ball. Packers and Bears those are the two oldest franchises in NFL history.

Speaker 2:

So I said can I have this?

Speaker 3:

one he went. Do you still have that Steve McMichael lead you know?

Speaker 2:

no.

Speaker 3:

I said, okay, so he has a eye-gazing machine that he can blink at and get letters. And so he said look under my hat and above the clock. His brother, richard, and I were in the room looking around, so we see the clock and hat. Underneath it I see a game ball. I throw it out. It was 1985 game ball and they played the Dallas Cowboys. They killed 44 to nothing and the defense it depends on whose side of the ball you're on. It was awful. And so I said Julie, do you want me to have this game ball? And he said no. I said all right, and he said look under the other one. Well, underneath the other one was Super Bowl game ball, when they beat the Patriots 46 to 10.

Speaker 2:

Super.

Speaker 3:

Bowl right Yep Super Bowl game ball New. Orleans, new Orleans, and I've never been so happy, so sad at the same time. We both had tears in our eyes. We love you, steve, so thank you so much, so much. A poignant, poignant moment in my life that's.

Speaker 1:

That's a good story, and I, I know, as we continue to talk, I mean daniel, I mean this subject, he just talked about it, but I, I, I just don't have a clear understanding of what, how he could possibly battle that and still maintain communication like he does.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean unbelievable story. Yeah, I had a relative also that had ALS and it's really, really sad. Yeah, thanks for sharing that. Well the thing is you.

Speaker 3:

You keep your mind and steve's one of the smartest people I've ever met, yeah, great. So he's trapped inside his body and every day just a little bit tougher. But uh, I believe when we all get to a point in life where we know we're near the end, it's not make a decision when you're ready to go. Steve is a God-fearing man who talks about it all the time. He's not ready to go. He's going to decide to leave this earth whenever he decides. More power to you. We love you, steve.

Speaker 1:

Lots of love. Here's the moment that he was alluding to what we both talked about. It was long overdue, but I still believe everything happens for a reason when it does. This was the moment that, surrounded by friends former Chicago Bear teammates you've probably seen it, but it never gets old watching this the unveiling of his Hall of Fame bust at his home in Chicago with his wife, and it was simulcast at Canton Ohio during the ceremony.

Speaker 1:

This is both emotional and very powerful. You ready, it's going to be right here. Mace, help me pull it down, let's go.

Speaker 2:

That's you, baby, forever. Hey, richard Dent, here we go.

Speaker 3:

Okay, so you've got Richard Dent, who was the one that actually let Steve and his family know what he was in. Yeah, mike Singletary, jimbo Covert all those guys in the Hall of Fame and two of them man. When they got inducted, each of them said this hall's not going to be complete, so steven michael's in there.

Speaker 2:

So that's great. A lot of love in that room right there yeah, wow, what a team too that that you know, I was a little before my time, but I do remember that 85 bears team boy, uh, yeah that was before when the new orleans had the bounty Gate years ago yeah.

Speaker 3:

I said, steve, what do you think about Bounty Gate? He goes kid. He always called me kid. He goes kid. Taking out the quarterback for money has been going on for about 100 years. He said. We used to walk into the locker room. There was a cap. We'd all throw $500 in the pot, he said whoever took the quarterback out got five lords on the way out the door that night and in 1985, they took 11 quarterbacks out, so a little extra beer money for the bull.

Speaker 2:

And this all started from just trying to sneak a case of beer over a fence.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, funny how that worked.

Speaker 1:

Man. On that note, I think we ought to do the segment in which we do all stories inside the man case segments with any guests, and that is with a tremendous amount of positivity and inspiration. Hey, man, tell me something good. Hey, shout out to Harbaugh Harja's son, his youngest son, who was the voice Tell me something good three years ago. He has now since gone through puberty. It does not sound like that. So, dj man, much love to you. Dj Harge, as he's in high school, has good academics, great athlete, probably better than his father who played minor league baseball. But we'll begin with you, daniel Young DY, tell me something good about him.

Speaker 2:

I mean all this talk about you know telling McMichael that he had to, you know, pay for the beer had me thinking of to Vondre Sweat when he used to come here when he was mostly junior, his junior and senior year, and he would come in and I'm not sure if I would have the cojones to tell Mr Sweat, like no, you can't bring that beer. And he's, he's a pretty big man, he's a large human.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, large human.

Speaker 2:

Another thing that's really this is more of a personal thing, but my I have a 12 year old daughter who is she's always been very into theater and dance, and which is, which is all great, but she told me a couple of days ago that she was going to try out for the basketball team. So, um that, you know, I grew up playing basketball, just so just to be able to get out in the driveway and you know, sure, a couple of things that. That's really what I'm looking forward to that's a proud girl it's very.

Speaker 2:

It was very, very, very nice little, uh surprise so I've watched how much danny loves kids. Oh, he's a great guy.

Speaker 3:

He's Daniel, danny, but he's an incredible father and a family man. It's another reason people come down here because they feel like they're part of a family. Danny, credit to you, man, it's a beautiful thing I appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

I'll do something real quick. All I'm going to say. I'll tell you something good. Austin, texas, regardless of the changing demographics, the changing culture, there's one thing that's in this fabric, in this city A lot of people say, when Texas was mediocre and football, that we don't care about Texas, we're undergrads elsewhere. Well, you know what happens human nature, people love winners and right now, that incredible sensation of old Austin starting to reveal itself again because the Longhorn football program is number one in the country. And you're seeing it. You're seeing it, people are talking. I don't have any statistics to back this. There's less crime, it feels like it.

Speaker 1:

Everyone's happy, everyone loves one another because they rally around Longhorn football. That's if you didn't go to OU, arkansas or Texas A&M. And that sends me to you. David Bells Told some great stories. You're a good friend, you've been a hell of a guest. Tell me something good.

Speaker 3:

Well, first of all, once again, thank you, sean, for having me. When Steve got elected to the College Football Hall of Fame or inducted, I wrote an ode that a lot of people have asked me to read again and I don't have to read it. So here, it is.

Speaker 3:

This is all about Longhorns and football. Hello Longhorn fans, young and old, this is a story about a Longhorn legend that must be told. It's about the meanest, baddest man in the land, the one who always took a stand. Raised in the oil fields of Texas, not given much of a chance, All Steve wanted to tell the world was wait till you see me dance. He lost his daddy at a very young age. Little did we know it would set the stage With sorrow in his heart, determination unseen. Never have you seen a man become so mean. He struck fear in his opponents far and wide. What a teammate to have on your side. So when the last game's played, you take yours and I'll take mine. Steve on my side, I'm sure we'll do just fine. When you tell this story about the Longhorn legend and you're near the end make sure you tell the world the things Steve cared about most for Longhorns, family and friends. Hook on there you go baby.

Speaker 3:

That is a good memory, yeah it is Did you spend all last night trying to remember that oh yeah. Well, I don't know I've said it enough, but somehow it just jumped through my big brain, sean you did a hell of a job, man.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, appreciate you.

Speaker 1:

Much love D-Y. Thank you guys, brothers from another. Oh yeah, man, this is beautiful and that's a conclusion on this man. I cannot believe this Austin as it used to be, even if you're. We all support growth and moving on in the future and good relationships with people. But you know, your past makes you who you are and that's why this city is great and if you're watching this to hear the type of stories you just heard, it makes you feel good. It's not that we're that old Karen or that old guy that doesn't want growth. We just want Austin to remain what it used to be as we improve and not lose our identity. So for the David Bells and the Daniel Young, the Dirtys Martin's Place family and the OG man Cave Boys, that being Harbo Hard's Big Mike and the Coach Mo, we are out, no-transcript.