Pointless Exercise - A Desipio Podcast

Andy and Kyle try to make sense of the Cubs disappearing offense, and especially what has to happen for them to lose the division with three games to go. There's even a rare in-podcast edit/correction from Andy because he completely butchered the tiebreaker scenario on the first try. Go figure. Basically, if the Cardinals go to Detroit on Monday it's a bad thing for the Cubs. They also try to figu...

It's time to Remember This Crap. Andy and Mike Donohue go over the long, distinguished history of the Atlanta Falcons, and mercifully do not mention Deion Sanders once. They do go through the strange history of Falcons' coaches committing career suicide, their impressive recent run of quarterbacks, a horrific day (for them) at Soldier(s) Field in 1985, why would any one name their kid Dick Shiner...

Andy and Mike Pusateri didn't even wait for the win over the Giants to fully digest before they jumped in and talked about reverse Mitch, Saquon's knee, the Ropers, Larry Dallas, Bobby Massie's new contract demands, new rules suggestions, curious fourth down decisions, how much it would have sucked to get beat on a final drive orchestrated by Jason Garrett, and they look ahead to a matchup with a...

Andy is joined by Sam to talk about a week of walk offs, stunning comebacks and a no-hitter, and for once, all the good stuff was in the Cubs' favor. We could get used to this. The playoffs are a lock now, and the Cubs will start their Bubble Boy prep next week. Has the back end of the rotation basically injured and underperformed itself back into the Cubs' plans for 2021? Is Craig Kimbrel good? W...

The critically-acclaimed podcast where Andy and Mike Donohue remember some crap is back! Well, some of our friends really like it. The conceit is the same, we start on one topic (we start this on on this week's Bears opponent, the New York Giants) and we see where we end up. From Tom Coughlin's frozen vaseline face to the Dan Fouts Chargers to Lynn Dickey to Rolf Benirschke to Augustana great Ken...

We got our first look at the new and improved Mitch Trubisky and honestly, it looked an awful like the same old...stuff. Thankfully, Mitch's inexplicable domination of the LIons continued with a whirlwind fourth quarter comeback. Andy and Mike Pusateri break down the win, discuss whatever it was Dick Stockton was looking at, Mitch Patricia's largesse and terrible decision making, the rumored Bears...

Sam and Andy take a look at the Cubs remaining schedule and try to find the few wins they'll need to nail down a playoff spot. Sam asks if we should just get used to Kris Bryant being injured forever and how that increases or decreases his odds of being a Cub long-term. They revisit the exciting Steven Souza era, wonder what the hell goes on in South Bend and why Brailyn Marquez is trapped there....

In the best idea for a podcast ever, Mike Donohue joins Andy as they follow a simple premise. They talk about some random Bears stuff and see where it goes. Well, the question, "Who is the first Bears' quarterback you really remember" turns into Andy telling a story about a baker who didn't know Walter Payton was black, the USFL trading teams between Arizona and Chicago, Tim Spencer, Trumaine John...

It's a new season and a new lineup for the Pointless Exercise Bears Podcast. Actor/comedian Mike Pusateri joins Andy to talk about being in a Super Bowl commercial with Deion Sanders and preview the Bears 2020 season. With no preseason do we even know who's on the roster? How many tight ends did they finally cut down to, do they have any running backs? Will they need a kicker? How many wins will i...

It's the MLB trade deadline and people actually got traded, and the Cubs tried to cram human people into human sized holes on their roster. Andy, Sam and Kyle break down the Cubs moves and what the rest of the NL Central did. Whether the player was deeply flawed, just plain bad or currently injured they still amount to upgrades in three areas the Cubs badly needed upgrading in. Then, they try to f...

The guys are Kyle-less for this one, but Andy and Sam soldier on and try to make sense of winning three games in three days against the Cardinals and somehow losing two. They discuss if Javy has forgotten right field exists, wonder if the Cubs have installed a sign-up calendar for slumps so they don't overlap and bemoan yet another season where the team tries to get Kris Bryant to play through an...

Andy, Sam and Kyle discuss the Cubs' 10-2 start (while in the background they get smoked by the hapless Royals) and play a fun game that will soon be sweeping the nation titled, "Good Sh*t or Bull Sh*t." They look at the starts of many of the Cubs and try to figure out if that performance, good or bad is the real thing or an illusion. They try to figure out where Jose Quintana should go when he re...

Andy, Sam and Kyle have actual Cubs games to discuss and they dig into the soggy underbelly of the team--it's bullpen. What's more amazing, a decade plus and still no arms produced from the farm system, or the ponderous but historic efforts last week by both Craig Kimbrel and Dillon Maples? Andy debuts a new segment, "Is this joke too mean?" They rehash a full week of Marquee programming, try to f...

Andy, Kyle and Sam are back to talk about the 2020 baseball season, why the playoffs were expanded at the last second, why Dillon Maples is still around, and how hard it will be for the Cubs to miss the playoffs. Andy dispels three annoying myths about baseball roster constructiona, Kyle has been watching Marquee and he has thoughts, Sam has thoughts about pretty much everything. They discuss what...

Baseball season's back (sorta) and so are Andy, Sam and Kyle to talk about the re-start, whether it's a good idea (you can probably guess) what would make this weird, short, season worth watching, how the Cubs should approach it and Andy describes what the Marquee Sports Network has actually been like so far to two guys who can't get it. And, Andy and Sam tell stories about saying and writing thin...

Kelly Dwyer joins Andy to put a bow on The Last Dance. Among the topics they flog are why Michael Jordan really hates Scott Burrell, why Reggie Miller is wrong about everything, who the biggest omission from the documentary is, what's up with Toni's camera angle, why Dan Majerle belonged in Phoenix, how "close" did the Bulls ever really come to losing, 1.8 seconds, "the Mailman doesn't deliver on...

Bruce joins Andy to talk about the different return to play scenarios for baseball, the "unintended" consequences of a short season that baseball will inevitably use to change the game permanently (for good and bad), who the biggest redass on the Cubs is and why it's a good thing, the next Cub to get a statue, why Bruce has never won an Emmy, the Sosa-McGwire documentary, what the Rickettses deal...

You know you're watching The Last Dance, and who better to have on to talk about it than Kelly Dwyer? Andy and Kelly get to the really important stuff in this one like what Michael Jordan should have worn for the interviews, why can't Doug Collins chew gum correctly, why is Jerry Reinsdorf the worst, why was Jerry Krause using the home locker room bathroom before games at the United Center, and wh...

Andy's back, because let's face it, you've suffered enough. He talks about baseball's many plans to return, and when they do rules they try out will never go away (basically, get used to the DH), how the Cubs can lure Kris Bryant back for quarantine, and there's so much new stuff to make fun of on Marquee. Then, he talks about the NFL Draft, and college football's absurd plan to play in the winter...

Baseball writer Dave Brown joins Andy to talk about how excited they are to talk to each other, baseball, Mark Grace, the programming on the Marquee Network, the '98 Cubs, why the Cubs have an off day in Milwaukee on the second day of the season, rules changes, the detestable Astros and how they've handled their cheating mess, should the Cubs have won the Kris Bryant grievance, is their relationsh...

Andy and Kyle talk about the debut of Marquee (as if anybody could see it) why they've picked the wrong Harry Caray game to start their 'classic games series with', who forgot to record any Ernie Banks highlights, Kris Bryant actually saying things, David Ross having the guts to actually try batting his hitters from best to worst and Harold Reynolds being predictably dumb about it, Brandon Morrow'...

It's a full house as Andy, Sam and Kyle are all together to talk about the start of spring training. They mock the Astros press conference, the proposed new MLB playoff format, baseball's new rules for 2020 and what happens if you break them?  They also talk what the Mookie Betts deal means for the Cubs and if it's time to pause the panic that Kris Bryant will be traded. If Bryant's traded wh...

Andy flies solo this week and hits on a whole host of topics from the Ricketts' obsession with doing everything like the Red Sox to why they might be afraid to hold onto Kris Bryant until the trade deadline, some scary (and amusing) Cubs ZIPS comps, why the Bears might trade for Nick Foles, the Bulls sleeping through another trade deadline, a detailed scouting report on Zion, and some handy stream...

Sportswriter Kevin Kaduk, formerly of the Kansas City Star and Yahoo! Sports joins Andy to talk about the Kris Bryant grievance decision, Nolan Arenado, Super Bowl LIV, Super Bowl prop bets including the Puppy Bowl, the origin of players' nicknames, Kobe Bryant's legacy and what if it had been Michael Jordan and being the dad of girls. Check out Kevin's piece on the "gift of being a girldad" at ke...

A few weeks ago Andy amazed Chicago-born comedian-actor-writer-producer Mike Pusateri by recognizing him on an episode of the ABC show Fresh Off The Boat, and now Mike's on the podcast to talk about his career, but mostly to talk about the Cubs. They talk about Mike's 20 years as a season ticket holder, critique Ryan Dempster's "performance" on his fake Cubs Convention talk show, play a game of "n...