Usually the guys breakdown the previous week's game and then look ahead to the Bears' next opponent, but this week they not only do that, but they talk about the Roquan Smith to the Ravens and the Bears subsequent trade for Chase Claypool. They talk about how Roquan serving as his own agent contributed to this as well as Ryan Poles realizing there wasn't a deal to be done to keep Roquan in town. Did the Bears get enough, though? The Claypool trade was unexpected but necessary. How much does this...
Nov 02, 2022•56 min
The Bears and Cowboys haven't played as many times as you would think over the years, but there have been some memorable games. The most vivid is the Bears' 44-0 domination in 1985, and the two playoff losses. Maybe less memorable are the lone wins for Gina Carano's dad and Tom Brady's old Michigan platoon-mate on Thanksgivings many years apart. But the guys break a bunch of them down, including some memorable Bob Thomas and Jon Roveto shanked extra points, a Doug Flutie sighting, and a Mitch Tr...
Oct 28, 2022•1 hr 20 min
The guys are still buzzing about the pantsing the Bears put on the once proud Patriots on Monday night. The sheer amount of competence was startling. An offensive scheme that fit the players, another touchdownless second half by the defense and a successfully returned punt! They talk about the Bears taking advantage of an 11-game break after the mind-numbing loss to the Washington Commodes to make significant changes to the offense, Mac Jones kicking dudes, whether a ball hit the weird cable cam...
Oct 27, 2022•56 min
The long, illustrious list of teams the Bears have beaten in the Super Bowl begins and ends with the mighty New England Patriots. But there's so much more to know about them. For instance, why did Matt Millen punch out their general manager on the field after a playoff game? How did the Sullivan family go bankrupt just a year after Super Bowl XX? They sold the team to a guy who sold it in disgrace just three years later, but what savvy guy bought their stadium out from under them in bankruptcy c...
Oct 20, 2022•1 hr 34 min
Lodged in between a game against the Commanders last week and a Patriots game that's not until Monday the guys do the obvious thing and talk about Strother Martin for a while on the Bears podcast. The look back at the mind-numbing loss to Washington and at how hard the Bears had to work to not accidentally win the game. They take opposite sides on how much the Bears GM and coach are really invested in making this situation work out for Justin Fields. They look at the troubling (though in at leas...
Oct 19, 2022•1 hr 10 min
The Washington NFL franchise has been in existence nearly as long as the Bears but they've won more Super Bowls (though fewer total championships) and been much more racist. Their first owner was forced to integrate his team or be denied access to his new stadium, and they had a coach who likely was only pretending to be Native American (no, not Joe Gibbs). The guys look back at the glory days of both franchises (they were both good in the '40s and '80s) and long stretches of bad. The two have s...
Oct 13, 2022•1 hr 38 min
The Bears rallied to make Sunday's loss to the Vikings fun and if Ihmir Smith-Marsette didn't do a reverse Marion Barber III they might have actually won. The guys discuss the Bears sudden more aggressive approach and if it will endure, how well Justin Fields played, and they rank Darnell Mooney's one handed catch among the many, many great catches in Bears history. Well, that's kind of a short list. They discuss how the Bears should balance playing to win (especially if they have to be ultra co...
Oct 12, 2022•57 min
The first round of the 2022 playoffs is in the books and the home team lost three of the four "series." The second round is upon us and Andy and David take a look at what happened in the best two of threes over the weekend and ahead to three underwhelming divison rematches plus Guardians-Yankees. Is Oliver Marmol still standing motionless in the Cardinals' dugout watching his closer throw balls at the backstop? Yadi and Albert are done and good riddance. Has Adam Wainwright barged into the Fox b...
Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 1 min
The baseball playoffs start on Friday, and apparently the Cubs aren't in them, but there's still fun stuff to talk about. The guys have some fun with the top 20 home run seasons in the history of both leagues. They ponder how many teams that actually tried to make the playoffs this year didn't. (It's not many.) They look at the playoff brackets and identify the division champion who might get bounced first (sorry, Cardinals fans). They ponder whether the Mets actually choked, how top players ret...
Oct 05, 2022•1 hr 18 min
The Bears went to New Jersey and muddled around for a few hours and came home no longer tied for first place in the NFC North. Was this a blow to their Super Bowl hopes? The guys discuss that, and how you can fall for the same play over and over and over. Did Justin Fields play better or did everybody else just play worse? Why did the Giants have a hobbled quarterback lining up at wide receiver late in the game? Did anybody in the Bears game need to ride the poop cart like DK Metcalf did in Detr...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 8 min
It's hard to express just how hyped the season opener for the Bears was in 1987. It was on Monday Night Football, it was against the defending Super Bowl Champion Giants, both teams had been 14-2 in the 1986, they had met in the 1985 NFC Championship Game and the Bears dominated them...and, Mike Tomczak was playing QB for the Bears! OK, maybe that part wasn't all that hyped. So join us as we break down the game with footage curated by two dudes in England who look like they were hosting the 20th...
Sep 30, 2022•2 hr 1 min
The first place, 2-1 Bears are doing it the old fashioned way with an opportunistic defense, a rugged running game and a passing game that looks like came straight out of the 1920s. Is it too early to give up on Justin Fields? Yes. Is it too early to worry about him? Maybe? The guys discuss what's wrong with the passing game, why the Bears are running the ball so well, how nice it was to see that version of Roquan Smith again, and what Cairo Santos was (probably) talking about when the Bears ask...
Sep 28, 2022•1 hr 2 min
David Brown is back to talk baseball and the guys talk about whether anyone can have a good enough season to be more valuable than Shohei Ohtani. They talk about Aaron Judge's run at the American League triple crown (and he homers right in the middle of the podcast) and about whether Paul Goldschmidt has a chance to get a triple crown in the NL. Thankfully, no. Andy compares a current fill-in shortstop for the White Sox to one of the most immortal Cubs of all time. Need a hint? This guy "saved a...
Sep 21, 2022•1 hr 10 min
For some reason the NFL insists on foisting the Bears and Packers in Lambeau at night, on national TV on us. They should know better. The Bears were overmatched, again, and while they kept the score superficially close, the outcome was really never in doubt. The Bears ran the ball well at the beginning and near the end, but did nothing in between. The guys try to figure out what what any of it means, and why Trevis Gipson is going to be in trouble if the league makes him pee in the cup this week...
Sep 20, 2022•1 hr 20 min
It is probably the most infuriating season in Cubs history (and that's saying something with this bunch). The Cubs patched almost all of their holes from the year before when they gagged away a pennant, and the fans were manic from the first game on. Greggie came home, the Cubs stole Derrek Lee, added Todd Walker for some reason and traded for the dumbest catcher they could find. Mark Prior and Kerry Wood got hurt, again, Big Z was still just a kid and tried to drag them to the finish line. Swea...
Sep 16, 2022•2 hr 39 min
Was the Bears win over the Niners a sign that they're better than people thought, or just that they're good mudders? What were the good signs to take away from game one and the bad ones that invariably get washed away in the glow of victory? Did the Bears really have the advantage in the rain, or is it a good sign that a 49ers team built to dominate games on the ground couldn't score more than one touchdown against the scrappy Bears' defense? The guys discuss what all of this means, and what kin...
Sep 14, 2022•1 hr 9 min
The Bears had put the NFL on notice with a big win over the (then) Redskins a couple of weeks prior, but they had a big score to settle when they went to San Francisco in week six in a rematch of the 1984 NFC Championship game. The Bears punched the Niners in the face early and often, Jim McMahon made some great throws (and one absolutely horrible one) and when it was time to finish things off, they did what they did best on offense, they gave the ball to Walter Payton, a lot. The defense harass...
Sep 09, 2022•2 hr 31 min
The Bears podcast is back and so is Mike Pusateri for his third season. They take a look at the roster and try to figure out who the hell these guys are. What are reasonable expectations for the Bears with a first year head coach, a second year quarterback and the greatest kicker in football history? If the Bears improved their secondary so much why is Kindle Vildor still in it? Is it a bad sign that a bunch of waived players were much better than the ones the Bears already had? They'll tell you...
Sep 07, 2022•1 hr 19 min
The Cubs had two Hall of Famers on their pitching staff, they literally got to write in any salary they wanted to pay another Hall of Famer to join their outfield, and they won 75 games. The year was 1987, Wrigley Field's last without lights, Harry Caray had suffered a stroke and a raft of "celebrities" filled in for the first couple of months on the TV broadcasts. Gene Michael was the manager for some unknown reason, and he didn't survive the season, which would also be Dallas Green's last. Jer...
Sep 02, 2022•1 hr 50 min
David Brown is back from vacation (and he wasn't robbed) and the guys take the bold stance that darnit, the Cubs SHOULD find a way to trade for Shohei Ohtani. They really went out there on a limb for that one. The talk about how much a team will have to give up to get Shohei and how much they'll have to pay him. They also discuss how long it would take Cubs players to realize that Willie Harris was gone if he went to manage the White Sox. They pick a new team to root for late in the season, and ...
Sep 01, 2022•1 hr 10 min
The Dusty Baker era ended with a big wet thud as a promising start ended abruptly when Rafael Furcal careened into Derrek Lee and broke his wrist. Mark Prior pitched his final games for the Cubs. Kerry Wood's career as a starting pitcher ended. Phil Nevin traded himself. Greg Maddux got Scott Boras to trade him. Michael Barrett punched AJ Pierzynski in the face. Key relievers on the division championship teams the next two seasons were wallowing in the rotation. The Cubs somehow thought adding J...
Aug 26, 2022•2 hr 7 min
Longtime baseball beat writer Mark Gonzales stops by the podcast to talk about the Cubs (and a little White Sox--mostly so Andy can make fun of Eloy trying to catch a flyball). They discuss the Franmil Reyes era, what the Cubs should do with shortstop next season, why they didn't trade Willson Contreras or Ian Happ and if they'll trade Happ this offseason. Why did Frank Schwindel get to hang around so long, how great is it that we don't have to watch David Bote and what is it that Nick Madrigal ...
Aug 17, 2022•1 hr 13 min
The 1993 Cubs did something rare at the time, they had a winning record. Even more rare for the Cubs they had a winning record and didn't make the playoffs. Oh, and they rewarded their manager by firing him. Probably because they were tired of trying to remember how to spell Lefebvre. They let Greag Maddux go and acted like it was a genius move to use his money to sign four guys...only one of whom was worth a damn. We relive Maddux's return to Wrigley and Jose Guzman's near no-hitter--and those ...
Aug 12, 2022•1 hr 57 min
The Cubs are headed to the Field of Dreams Game and Frank Schwindel will not be going with. Unless he can hurry up and drive some nails into his car tires again. Frank's been replaced on the roster by the very large Franmil Reyes, and David Brown has high hopes for Franmil. The guys discuss a lot of interesting things like what Cubs player is strangely referenced on Hulu's "The Bear," what Sayid from "Lost" is up to these days, and whether or not the Field of Dreams uniforms are cool and how bot...
Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 33 min
Before the Cubs and Reds can ruin your memory of the film, we give Field of Dreams the full Movie Deep Dive treatment. We settle the really important questions like, "How much money would plowing under farmland to build a baseball field cost a farmer in 1988?" or "Is it have a catch or play catch?" How did they convince Kevin Costner to make a second baseball movie in two years? Who had a better 1989 than Gabby Hoffman? What job did Amy Madigan get offered in a bar in Dubuque during filming? Wha...
Aug 09, 2022•2 hr 12 min
The Cubs followed up a division title in 1989 by hosting the worst Home Run Derby of all time, and a rain delayed, mostly boring All-Star Game. Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson had good years, Mark Grace was pretty good and that was about it. They didn't sign any free agents, the only veteran they added was Dave Clark and amazingly just running back the same team from a year before didn't quite work out. They rushed their first round pick to the big leagues just weeks after the draft and he was ne...
Aug 05, 2022•2 hr 12 min
As David Brown and I wrapped up our discussion of this year's trade deadline and the winners and losers (mostly the Cubs), we found out that Vin Scully died. So the podcast actually starts with a few minutes of us remembering Vin, including his great open to game one of the the 1989 NLCS. Then we get to the deadline talk and try to figure out just what the hell the Cubs were doing, how it makes any sense for them to not trade Willson Contreras and how the Juan Soto trade to the Padres might have...
Aug 03, 2022•1 hr 14 min
The Cubs had a new manager, a new (very old) closer, a new GM who used to be an old manager, six All-Stars and they could play home games after sunset for once! It's time to Remember This Crap about the 1988 Cubs. Greg Maddux was great for a half, Mark Grace debuted in an unfamiliar number and should have been the Rookie of the Year, Andre Dawson followed up his MVP season with a less than MVP season and Dave Martinez got traded for Mitch Webster for some unknown reason (well, let's say we know ...
Jul 27, 2022•1 hr 53 min
All-Star "week" (it's only three days) was chock-full o' stuff with the draft, the Home Run Derby and the weird uniforms in the actual game. David Brown is here to talk about all of that, potential trades, another new idea for the Derby which somehow results in Tom Cruise delivering the balls to an aircraft carrier and much more. They give their thoughts on Fox's new Joe, when does mic'ing players on the field actually work and Andy's two brushes with greatness at the 2002 Home Run Derby in Milw...
Jul 22, 2022•1 hr 3 min
There is no wheel spinning in this edition of Remember This Crap because the guys decide to bring in a guest with a love of '80s baseball and, inexplicably, the podcast. NBA writer Kelly Dwyer joins the fray as they discuss the 1985 Cubs who were riding high in early June only to ruin the season and the basketball camp experiences of Andy and Mike during a 13 game losing streak. There are a lot of injuries, and shockingly, deaths in this one. Find out which Padre and Cub one of the guys' former ...
Jul 14, 2022•2 hr 41 min
