Pointless Exercise - A Desipio Podcast

Carter Hawkins and Elise Menaker join the pod from the GM meetings in Vegas, well, sort of. Oleg and Praz are on hand to break down Carter's nonsensical interview. But there's also a big announcement as we're starting a Lockout Book Club to pass the time while the owners and players are goofing off all winter. Tune in to find out the first book, and who the co-host is going to be. But there's plenty of Cubs talk, with talk about Ben Brown's neck, a look at the estimated offers for guys like Seiya and Clay Holmes and David Peterson and Ian Happ, who the Cubs might target and much more.

The Bears started off hot and then the offense and special teams went right into the crapper, but the much-maligned defense wouldn't let them lose. Caleb Williams literally threw more picks than he ever has in his life, but the Bears made a big play when they needed to and handed it over to Cairo to win the game. We look at the good and...the rest of it, and still find a way to enjoy the Bears first Sunday Night Football win since a similar game in 2018 against the Rams. And just why does anybody think Cris Collinsworth is good at his job? It's the RECRAP brought to you by Schlitz Beer.

The Bears and Seahawks are two of the best teams in football and at least one of them played like it. The Bears newest addition, Jeffery Simmons completely transformed the defense in his very first game, and Caleb Williams played like an MVP. The Bears smacked Seattke around from the very first minute. Re-live it with the RECRAP brought to you by Schlitz Beer.

The podcast has a new intro voiced by a Cubs Hall of Famer, and you get a chance to hear the whole, unedited thing. The guys talk about the Cubs outfield, a new job for Zach Zaidman (Lord willing), find out who called Oleg "Doug Flutie," why the Cubs are going to learn the wrong lesson from the Brewers, what ruined Michael Busch last year and how that can be fixed, something about Wrigley that Jed complained about for years then didn't mention last year, and a look at all of the superstar Cubs prospects who will soon be heading to the big leagues!

The Bears and Patriots gave Prime Video an actual good game. Luther Burden went off in the first half. Rome Odunze made clutch plays in the second half, and Cairo F'ing Santos made the longest field goal by a Bear in the history of Soldier(s) Field to ice it. Caleb Williams makes all the difference. And you know what? Drake Maye's pretty good. Insights like this and more as Schlitz Beer presents the Bears RECRAP.

So, it turns out that when the Bears have their best offensive player and their best defensive player they're pretty good. Caleb Williams returned from three weeks-plus on the shelf with a torn hammy and was great, and Kyler Gordon played his first regular season game since last Black Friday and dominated on a limited snap count. The Bears and the Falcons coaches limited Bijan Robinson to 61 yards rushing, and a late flurry of points made things a little tight at the end, but the Bears perservered to go 4-2.

NFL Champion player, Super Bowl Champion head coach, Hall of Famer, president of the Jim Harbaugh Fan Club, Mike Ditka can' t easily be summed up. But Remember This Crap is here to attempt it. The first modern pass-catching tight end as a player, he was traded away in his prime but was never the same out of Chicago, and he came back to coach a talented but rudderless team and won a road playoff game in his third season and a Super Bowl in his fourth (the Bears have more NFL titles than road postseason wins). He had a famous heart attack, got a famous DUI, repeatedly beat the Packers and loved it, and turned into the kind of sports icon that few cities ever have.

Andy, Oleg and Praz are here to dare to look back at the Cubs season and look ahead to what comes next. Are the Cubs really going to play both utility infielders in the outfield corners? Does Pedro Ramirez remind us of the player he really wants us to remind him of. Just how bad have the Cubs been at drafting pitching? What are they going to do with the bullpen? And, what should they do with Carson Kelly or Miguel Amaya?

The Bears went to Green Bay on a roll to face a pretty lousy Packers team, and Tyson Bagent gave them zero chance of winning, and then the defense decided to treat every Green Bay long pass like a tornado drill. The Packers can't stop the run, and the Bears are the best at running it, so naturally, they just didn't bother to do it. But hey, at least a lot of defensive players got hurt! Caleb might be back next week. Not a moment too soon.

Jed Hoyer's post-season press conference might not deserve to be picked apart comment by comment, but let's do it anyway. He seems to think he build a World Series roster that fell hilariously short, that the Cubs have elite hitting and defense and a teensy tiny bit of a pitching problem. Allow me to explain to him how much of that is wrong.