In this episode, Shawn and Howie look back at the life, career and legacy of Mike Ditka. He played for the Bears, the Eagles and the Cowboys. He was an associate head coach of the Cowboys with Tom Landry and, of course, the coach of the Super Bowl Champion Bears in that historic 1985 season. He was also iconic as a football analyst after his playing and coaching careers were done. The boys tell some stories from his life and those who've remembered him as well.

In a free-form discussion, Shawn and Howie start by discussing Alexander Ovechkin's decision to retire at the end of the 2026-27 season, the latest edition of Jeff Pearlman's Press Box Chronicles podcast in which he talks about the life and career of Gary Carter and how teammates mocked his personality while he played but they knew they could depend on him as the great catcher that he was. The boys also talk about Canadian University Sports' greatest spectacle, the Panda Game that is held every year between the University of Ottawa Gee Gees and the Carleton University Ravens at TD Place in Ottawa every year. Shawn also remembers race car driver Gordon Johncock who passed away at the age of 90 this week.

Craig Wallace is a Toronto author. He's written a new book on the 1974 series between the Canadians in the World Hockey Association and the Soviets. He joined Howie to talk about that series and the two go pretty in-depth on the whole subject. The conversation was great. And it helped set the stage for the very first Canada Cup two years later.