The Bi-Monthly Pizza Club Met Last Night At Moretti’s In Rosemont And Here’s What We Decided

This is a blog about the Bi Monthly Pizza Club, which is an organization I founded and chair.

This is the 2nd edition of me writing about it, but the 4th meeting of the 2025 calendar. For more on the background, you can see the 1st edition here.

The Bi-Monthly Pizza Club Met Last Night At York Tavern In Oakbrook, IL And Here’s What We Decided

Briefly – the general premise is that I like hanging out with my friends and that gets harder as we age. As a consequence, most of our hanging out involves spending exorbitant amounts of money to go places and do things that justify the distance from our families.

We’re going to New York for golf and dinner.

Great. 91 at Liberty National and a tasting menu at some foofie foodie place I can’t pronounce much less enjoy.

And while that’s a high-end example, the overall vibe is represented. There’s a lot of effort and planning and often travel to get 5+ guys together without our work or families.

But here’s the thing.

It doesn’t need to be that hard.

To me, the thing that matters is hanging out and talking shop and busting balls and catching up. That’s the nucleus of getting together with friends and I have long argued that we don’t need to jump through hoops to make that happen.

If you’re one of my close friends, you can ask me over for a beer and I’ll say yes 100 out of 100 times. We can go for a walk in the park or a bike ride or just sit on the patio and catch up. That’s my favorite activity because in the grand scheme, I’m a +5 handicap at those activities. I’m setting course records. It’s so easy and natural to just sit and talk and bullshit over cold ones.

So long story short is I asked my closest group of friends this year to join a Bi-Monthly Pizza Club.

There’s 7 guys in the group.

All of them groomsmen in my wedding + Mahoney from the Monday Morning Cubs Show and then my closest buddy from Illinois Baseball.

It’s my handpicked best group of guys to hang out with and catch up.

We got a big 4 partner in the mix. We got the property insurance broker of the year. A lawyer with extensive murder trial experience. Entrepreneurs and software salesmen. And probably most important, everyone knows how to hold a 4-seam fastball and could explain the difference between a slider and curveball to a complete moron.

In other words it’s just my favorite group of people I could ever assemble and that’s the founding chapter of the Bi-Monthly Pizza Club.

The assignments are simple. We get together for thin crust pizza the 2nd to last Wednesday of every odd numbered month. Which is actually specific enough for everyone to remember which is the point. You get dates like that then you remember dates like that as to avoid scheduling conflict.

When we meet, I moderate a discussion of 10-15 broad ranging topics. You (generally) cannot speak for more than 60 seconds at a time and everyone needs to contribute to a talking point. Even if your contribution is, I cannot contribute much to this point, you have to chime in. There’s no sitting on your hands or ignoring the broader conversation much as there’s no talking over each other. The point is to have balanced dialogue around a number of topics.

Does that make sense?

Because the Bi-Monthly Pizza Club has become my favorite thing in the world and the purpose of this blog is to recap our positions from an institutional basis. These are the official opinions. This is what the BMPC decides when we get together.

First, our talking points:

1. Thin Crust Pizza Toppings and how we want to order pizza for the night
2. Bears W/L predictions
3. Breakfast meat preferences: ham, sausage link, sausage pattie, corn beef hash and bacon
4. Home repair and service relationships and how to find the best help
5. Best meal we’ve had in the last 6 months
6. Sunscreen: safe or spoof? What’s your SPF threshold
7. Golf Course Etiquette and drinking: how much is too much?
8. Ballet Recitals and other nonsport child activities
9. Immigration (generally)
10. MLB Trade Deadline
11. Book Recommendations
12. Last Concert We Attended
13. OPEN DISCUSSION

That’s a big agenda and rightfully so. There’s a lot to cover every 2 months and this is what we decided together as an official group:

1. Pizza Toppings: The Bi Monthly Pizza Club likes sausage more than pepperoni because sausage plays better with other ingredients whereas pepperoni stands alone stronger. And behind that, we really like bacon as an underrated pizza meat. Taken together, we prefer a house supreme (sausage, onion, pepper) as our #1 but that also opens the door for novelty pizza. In that case, we think BBQ Chicken is a step ahead of Buffalo Chicken and that’s largely due to variance. There’s seldom a bad BBQ chicken pizza. And most important is that we’re talking about thin crust decisions. Mushroom can be added easily and doesn’t upset people. But a lot of people also don’t seek it out necessarily. As such the BMPC ordered 3 different pizzas: BBQ Chicken, House Supreme, mushroom/bacon with an asiago crust. All came in 12 inches (small) which allowed us to reload a House Supreme at 16 inches after the first order of pizza. It was a lively conversation to start the meeting.
   
2. Bears Predictions: The Chicago Bears have gone under season wins 11 of the last 12 years, and are about 23 games off the W/L prediction in that time (71 wins against 94 projected). That’s obviously very bad and looms large in our analysis as one BMPC member said the Bears go 7-10. Two more were split on 8 or 9 wins, while two others positively projected 10 wins. Overall, the BMPC agrees it will be 8 or 9 wins, with severe hesitation to say a double digit 10 as a group. Even with new coaches and players, etc. We’re still hesitant based on the historical body of work to assume the Bears will field one of their best teams in two decades after fielding some of their worst in team history. We wish it wasn’t the case but just being realistic, BMPC cannot in good faith recommend more than 8 or 9 wins which is a fair assessment based on the research provided.
   
3. Breakfast Meat: Sausage link over Sausage pattie. Bacon over both. But if we know there’s a good corn beef hash, then it’s hard to turn down. Which brings us to the crux of the decision and that’s a little thing we call circumstance. Example: Christmas ham off the bone is an elite meat but it’s so rare for breakfast that we have to isolate ham on its own. Same with corn beef hash. We love it but don’t exactly know how much we can trust it. Whereas a sausage link almost always plays. I say almost always because the bad is very bad. Like hotel buffet sausage – steer clear. But is it worse than bad bacon? Thinking about the low end of the spectrum, sausage pattie starts to creep up the board because it’s hard to do a pattie wrong. There’s plenty examples of bad bacon and BMPC overall agrees you want to avoid bad breakfast meat at all cost. So if you know your source, it’s easier to lean into your #1 choice. But if you’re flying blind then a sausage link will probably be the better option most often. Bad bacon goes a long way but the high end of bacon is practically untouchable. Gun to our head, BMPC is a bacon first organization. The nuance here is very important.
   
4. Home Service Repairs: I recently had a bunch of work done around my house and it was superb. I’m very lucky to have good friends in the neighborhood that can help me navigate service decisions. The referrals are a complete game changer and BMPC strongly encourages people to build relationships that can help make home repair decisions. Even if it starts small with a single plumber, or a friendly neighbor who knows a guy. It couldn’t be more important in the home ownership process. But what about family? What about a father in law carpenter? Or an uncle pipe fitter? Those can be helpful but it creates different challenges like maintaining distance. You don’t want family inspecting your house every time they’re over. You don’t want to be a burden or trade favors if it means more scrutiny or a power imbalance in your relationship. So don’t be afraid to keep family service at arms length if necessary. And probably most important is advice from Mahoney that BMPC has formally adopted: if you hear about it on the radio, you need to avoid it at all costs. Do not and I repeat DO NOT call that 1-800 number for a free estimate you heard about on 97.1 in the commercial break. DO NOT think that you’ll get a deal on the HVAC because the company sponsors the 5th inning of Cubs games. If you (or someone close) can’t personally vouch for the service on your own, then you need to find a different service provider. Some exceptions exist but overall BMPC thinks home service repair needs to be as close as possible without infringing on the personal side of life. Does that make sense?
   
5. Best Meal Last 6 Months: One of our members is a fancy pants foodie and it was not received that well from the group. It’s interesting to hear about the different concepts that go into world class meals. But overall the BMPC doesn’t need a 16-course tasting menu to say a meal was good. We don’t need $600 reservations from Resi and we don’t need to go to LA. What we need is the context behind the meal. Some examples: buffalo wings at the local bar when your wife takes the kids to Michigan for the weekend and you smoked a little weed and get to go for a long walk and listen to music and crush wings on a Saturday afternoon because you have no responsibilities for the first time in months. Two different guys had that submission. Or teaching your daughter how to eat ribs and throw the bones in the air and yell BONEYARD after each rib. Or accidentally purchasing a dry aged steak for $58 when you thought sticker price as $23 a pound and it turns out to be a perfect steak. The overarching common theme here from BMPC is you don’t need the fanciest or best things in life for it to be the best meal. It’s more about what goes into the meal than the ingredients, and I absolutely hope that makes sense to everyone reading this.
   
6. Sunscreen: safe or spoof? What’s your SPF threshold? Kind of a conspiracy topic which I like introducing to the BMPC as I think big pharma has infiltrated and inflicted the sunscreen market with dangerous aerosols and chemicals. Call it a personal thing. But I wanted the groups take and it turns out the BMPC agrees we don’t necessarily love all the toxins and thing that make up sunscreen, but the good outweighs the bad. Two guys got skin poisoning. Another is a high risk for melanoma. And taken together the group is committed to willingly overlooking the ingredient label for the sake of skin protection. If that’s a spray, so be it. What’s most important is staying safe from the sun because NOTHING IS WORSE THAN BAD SUNBURN. What a great point to make so I’ll say it again… NOTHING IS WORSE THAN BAD SUNBURN. Overall SPF range is from 8-50 with 3 of us registering 30’s so we’ll break even and say the average SPF for a regular guy is 30 and that’s an official BMPC position.
   
7. Golf Course (Drinking) Etiquette: Originally posed as an alcohol conversation that dovetailed into actual etiquette with playing partners. BMPC thinks drinking on the golf course gets old as you get older. Most of us agree it’s better to wait until the back 9 because we just don’t have that much time to get together and golf any more. If we wanted to get loaded, we would just get loaded. If we want to belong to country clubs and pay dues and take lessons, then we should be trying to score our best without treating it too much like a competition. It’s a delicate balance but as we get older, we need the outlet for competition and sport. We don’t need the outlet to abuse substances and we’re starting to draw that line firmly on the golf course and that’s an official BMPC position for your mid to late 30s. Furthermore, there’s some frustrating aspects of the actual etiquette in golf, like giving generous putts as gimmes because you’re up so big in a match. Or having a ranger ride your ass because you’re 10 minutes ahead of pace and we’re backed up anyways. The balance here is that if you’re treating golf more serious, you don’t want to have the ranger ride your ass and you don’t want to be fighting with a playing partner about a match. You just want to play the best you can and enjoy yourself the most you can. That’s an evolving consideration as you get older and the BMPC formally endorses a more balanced approach to slamming beers and getting loaded.
   
8. Ballet Recitals For Children and Other Non-Team-Sport Activities: A lot of guys take their kids to dance class because it’s affordable through the park district and a good activity for very young kids to get noncompetitive instruction from a non-parent/family authority figure. So we like dance and ballet a lot for the girls in our lives because there’s so many benefits, culminating in a one-day recital with an after party. That’s the good life. Other considerations put forward by the BMPC are golf-days with dad where you can take kids to the range and let them ride along around the course and have fun. Although the caveat here is a private club membership because it’s a much safer and familiar environment for youngsters. Admittedly not everyone can afford that but that’s the purpose of BMPC. We consider all ends of the spectrum. Otherwise we agree that youth team sports make it a real change for kids as they get older because it’s expensive, competitive and ultimately confusing. So while they’re young, just try to have as much fun as you can and instill good values in the purpose of recreational activities. BMPC has and always will preach balance and open mindedness with respect to this topic. And furthermore, a willingness to try new activities.
   
9. Immigration: A hot topic nationally. The BMPC would like to recognize that your personal and practical experience should serve as your north star. Just because you saw something on twitter one time doesn’t mean you should make bold wholesale judgments about an issue. The BMPC further believes that valuable contributing members of society should not be forced into detention centers. However unrealistic it may be, BMPC fully supports merit-based considerations on a case-by-case basis. Especially members of the BMPC that have personal experience working alongside illegal immigrants and those that can personally attest to their own personal experiences. That’s where BMPC feels most strongly about the topic with a general understanding that it’s sensitive to many other considerations. Overall, BMPC is rooted in American history and tradition and that often skews more in favor of being open minded to those who also love America and want to make it a better place regardless of where you come from. Again, delicate topic but we have to talk about it and this is where BMPC stands: merit, case-by-case, and be a good human being to other human beings.
   
10. MLB Trade Deadline: unique for so many reasons. You can sit around and watch Kentucky Derby coverage for 10 hours then get a 2 minute race. Whereas trade deadline is one of the longest active storylines of the calendar in any professional sport. Another unique feature is that you’re usually trading KNOWN players for UNKNOWN players which is much different than NFL or NBA trades. There’s so many things to consider in an MLB trade deadline deal and the uncertainty and future outlook creates so much excitement. Regardless of what players go where this year, the BMPC would like to formally recognize the MLB trade deadline as an amazing part of professional sports fandom.
    
11. Book Recommendations: a mix of sci-fi, golf and WW2 was discussed but no books exchanged. One thing we want to add to our next BMPC chapter meeting is a book exchange and we will discuss further in greater detail when that happens. Overall though a very encouraging step for BMPC knowledge sharing and something more guys should do. If you read a good book then hand it off to a pal.
    
12. Last Concerts We Attended: BMPC strongly supports going to concerts. It’s an elite activity especially as we get older and especially if you love the music. Not something we all would have agreed on a decade ago, but as we mature and age, we’ve grown to really appreciate the opportunity to enjoy live music from our favorite artists. These are the most recent concerts submitted from the BMPC:
    • Goose
    • Trey Anasasio solo acoustic
    • Bob Weir & Wolf Brothers with Chicago Philharmonic
    • Morgan Wallen
      
13. Open Discussion: BMPC closes with 50 total inches of pizza consumed, 6 pitches of Miller Lite, one pitcher of Pepsi and free flowing conversation about how enjoyable it is to just sit down with a couple pies and square up with your boys for a structured and lively conversation.

With that, we conclude our 2nd edition of BMPC meeting notes from the 4th installment of the Bi Monthly Pizza Club.

Our next meeting date is the 2nd to last Wednesday of September at a western Suburban location TBD.

Topics will likely be college/NFL heavy but we also need to talk about tasting menus and fall attire and closet space. I’ve already begun sketching out some big talking points and needless to say I’m very excited for where this is headed.

If you are interested in starting your own chapter and would like to get involved, please reach out to me directly on twitter or via email Carl@CarlsBlogs.com. I have gotten a lot of requests to launch more chapters to help guys stay in touch with their closest friends throughout the year. And quite frankly there’s been no better format or setting for staying close than the Bi Monthly Pizza Club. So let me know if you want to get a piece of this because it’s quickly become a sincere passion.

Thank you for your time.

Now please get a group chat going with your boys and go square up for some thin crust.

You won’t be disappointed.