{"id":"1792714843187-mix-segment","slug":"bears-honor-ditka-with-mustaches","title":"Bears honor Ditka with mustaches","summary":"The Bears held a moment of silence for Mike Ditka before the national anthem at Thursday night's game against the Patriots, as planned and aired on the broadcast. [chicago.suntimes.com](https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2026/10/21/bears-patriots-mike-ditka-honored-thursday-night-what-doing-mustache-nfl)\n\nThe Bears gave away fake Mike Ditka mustaches to all fans at Soldier Field for Thursday's game, and the first 10,000 also received Ditka-inspired knit headbands. [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/video/bears-giving-away-fake-mike-ditka-mustaches-at-soldier-field-vs-patriots-to-honor-late-coach/) This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim. This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim. This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim. This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim.","publishedAt":"2026-10-23T00:20:43.187Z","channel":{"id":"mix","name":"Oncast Mix","language":"en"},"show":"Prime Time","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: The Bears held a moment of silence for Mike Ditka before the national anthem at Thursday night's game against the Patriots, as planned and aired on the broadcast. [chicago.suntimes.com](https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2026/10/21/bears-patriots-mike-ditka-honored-thursday-night-what-doing-mustache-nfl)\nSource: Chicago Sun-Times NAMES: Mike Ditka = Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears coach. (https://x.com/NFL/status/2113423222373036521)\n\nTRUE: The Bears gave away fake Mike Ditka mustaches to all fans at Soldier Field for Thursday's game, and the first 10,000 also received Ditka-inspired knit headbands. [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/video/bears-giving-away-fake-mike-ditka-mustaches-at-soldier-field-vs-patriots-to-honor-late-coach/) This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim. This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim. This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim. This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim.\nSource: CBS Chicago NAMES: Mike Ditka = Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears coach. POST 2112100165163286667: NOCLAIM N/A POST 21114 (https://x.com/NFL/status/2113424106431607075)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"The Bears held a moment of silence for Mike Ditka before the national anthem at Thursday night's game against the Patriots, as planned and aired on the broadcast. [chicago.suntimes.com](https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2026/10/21/bears-patriots-mike-ditka-honored-thursday-night-what-doing-mustache-nfl)","sourceName":"Chicago Sun-Times NAMES: Mike Ditka = Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears coach.","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/NFL/status/2113423222373036521","claim":"A moment of silence for Mike Ditka ❤️ @ChicagoBears https://t.co/jXWG0RE3EG","author":"@NFL"},{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"The Bears gave away fake Mike Ditka mustaches to all fans at Soldier Field for Thursday's game, and the first 10,000 also received Ditka-inspired knit headbands. [cbsnews.com](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/video/bears-giving-away-fake-mike-ditka-mustaches-at-soldier-field-vs-patriots-to-honor-late-coach/) This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim. This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim. This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim. This is a personal reaction/joke, not a factual claim.","sourceName":"CBS Chicago NAMES: Mike Ditka = Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears coach. POST 2112100165163286667: NOCLAIM N/A POST 21114","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/NFL/status/2113424106431607075","claim":"Mustaches are out in full force for Mike Ditka. NEvsCHI on Prime Video Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/xRZbGndX6c","author":"@NFL"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/NFL/status/2113423222373036521","name":"Chicago Sun-Times NAMES: Mike Ditka = Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears coach.","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@NFL"},{"url":"https://x.com/NFL/status/2113424106431607075","name":"CBS Chicago NAMES: Mike Ditka = Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears coach. POST 2112100165163286667: NOCLAIM N/A POST 21114","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"@NFL"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792714843187-mix-segment-bears-honor-ditka-with-mustaches","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/mix","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1792714843187-mix-segment-bears-honor-ditka-with-mustaches","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1792714843187-mix-segment-bears-honor-ditka-with-mustaches and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Sloane","text":"The NFL just posted a moment of silence for Mike Ditka at Soldier Field tonight."},{"host":"Eric","text":"And the Bears went all in. Fake Ditka mustaches for every fan in the building."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"First ten thousand also got those knit headbands he used to wear. That's a proper Chicago send-off."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Ditka was the last coach to win a Super Bowl for that franchise. 1985. Forty years of waiting."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And the mustache is the detail. You don't honor Ditka with a patch. You honor him with the 'stache."},{"host":"Eric","text":"I respect a fan base that commits to the bit. Ten thousand people wearing fake mustaches in October."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And that's the thing about honoring a guy like Ditka. The team has to show up. You can't hand out mustaches and then lose by twenty."},{"host":"Eric","text":"No, that would be a very un-Ditka outcome. He'd be furious."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Speaking of crypto and politics colliding—Senator Blumenthal is now looking into Tether payments to Bo Hines' firm."},{"host":"Eric","text":"CoinDesk is reporting this. Hines was the White House crypto adviser. Now there's a Senate probe into stablecoin money going to his company."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And this is the same Blumenthal who's already demanding answers from SpaceX on Ukraine. He's building a whole portfolio of investigations."},{"host":"Eric","text":"The question is whether Tether's payments were for actual work or access. That's what the Senate wants to know."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Tether's the biggest stablecoin out there. If there's a paper trail connecting it to a former White House official, that's a real story."},{"host":"Eric","text":"And it's not confirmed yet. CoinDesk says the probe is happening, but we haven't seen the documents."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Right. But the timing matters. Crypto's been trying to look legitimate, and now a Senate investigator is poking at the industry's biggest issuer."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Here's my problem. Every time crypto gets a seat at the table, someone in Washington finds a new reason to investigate it."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Oh, come on. If a former White House crypto adviser is getting paid by a stablecoin issuer, that's not a witch hunt. That's a conflict of interest question."},{"host":"Eric","text":"But Hines was a private citizen before he took that job. He had clients. That's how Washington works."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And that's exactly why people don't trust Washington. The revolving door is the problem, not the investigation."},{"host":"Eric","text":"I'm not saying don't investigate. I'm saying the timing feels political. Blumenthal's been on a tear lately."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"He's the ranking Democrat on the investigations subcommittee. That's literally his job."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Fine. Let's see the actual payments. If Tether was buying influence, that's a scandal. If it was consulting work, this is noise."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And meanwhile, a16z is reportedly widening its bets beyond crypto into AI and emerging tech."},{"host":"Eric","text":"That's the bigger signal. The VC firm that backed Coinbase, Solana, Uniswap—now they're looking at AI."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"When the smartest crypto money starts diversifying into AI, you have to ask what they see coming."},{"host":"Eric","text":"I don't think it's a retreat from crypto. It's a hedge. They made their crypto bets. Now they want a piece of the next thing."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And the next thing is AI. Every major VC is doing this. Crypto was the story for a decade. Now it's AI."},{"host":"Eric","text":"But here's the difference. Crypto had a clear use case—money without banks. AI is still figuring out what it's for."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Tell that to the companies raising billions. The money's already moving."},{"host":"Eric","text":"And Ireland's central bank just fined Coinbase Ireland $3.6 million over fund safeguarding failures."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"This goes back to 2023, when Silvergate was collapsing. Coinbase told thirty customers to deposit funds into an alternate account."},{"host":"Eric","text":"The fine is small for a company Coinbase's size. But the optics are bad. Safeguarding failures are the kind of thing regulators remember."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And it's another reminder that even the biggest crypto companies are still cleaning up messes from the last cycle."},{"host":"Eric","text":"The industry wants to be taken seriously. Fines like this don't help."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"But $3.6 million is a rounding error for Coinbase. The real cost is the headline."},{"host":"Eric","text":"And the headline is: Ireland's central bank says Coinbase didn't protect customer funds properly. That's the kind of thing that makes people nervous."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"Especially when the whole pitch of crypto is that you control your own money. If the exchange can't safeguard it, what's the point?"},{"host":"Eric","text":"The point is the price goes up. That's been the point for a while."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And on that note, CoinDesk's latest editorial says stablecoins are ready for prime time."},{"host":"Eric","text":"Right after we just talked about a safeguarding fine and a Senate probe. Perfect timing."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"The argument is that stablecoins have matured. They're being used for real payments now, not just trading."},{"host":"Eric","text":"And that's true. Stablecoins are the one crypto product that actually works for normal people. Send money across borders in seconds."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"But 'ready for prime time' is a stretch when the biggest issuer is under Senate investigation."},{"host":"Eric","text":"That's the tension. The technology works. The companies behind it keep stepping on rakes."},{"host":"Sloane","text":"And that's the crypto story in one sentence."}]}