MJ at Wrigley

It happened on this day, 15 years ago. Michael Jordan played for the White Sox in an exhibition game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

He hit a double.

I was there, freezing my tush off in the upper deck with John Landecker.

Undefeated

1-0. Yeah, baby. First place. (I know this early season gloating drives Sox fans crazy...but it's all we've got.)

See if you can spot the one Cub in this video that shouldn't be there...

Melissa Forman

WLIT Morning Gal Melissa Forman is celebrating a birthday today. I interviewed Melissa, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, about a year and a half ago for Chicago Radio Spotlight. If you'd like to read the interview it's here.

Note: There have been a few changes in her show since this interview. She no longer also hosts afternoons, and her newsman was let go in Clear Channel cutbacks earlier this year.

The Train Station's Alive with the Sound of Music

People make fun of me for my love of "The Sound of Music," but let's just say that I have hundreds of brothers and sisters in Antwerp. Watch this video and tell me it doesn't bring a smile to your face...



I've previously written about my Sound of Music brushes with greatness, including Julie Andrews and Charmain Carr (Liesl).

OPENING DAY!

Snow is on the ground, and that can mean only one thing. OPENING DAY!

Thank God the Cubs are in Houston and not Chicago...

Take a look at some of the highlights from opening day throughout this one bad century...



1909-1961

1962-2008

And here's my all-time favorite Opening Day moment. It happened in 1994...

Cremation Recap

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at a funeral home in Schaumburg, along with several hundred other Cubs fans, and we cremated the various different curses that have plagued the Cubs for the last 100 or so years.

Tom Dreesen did a bang up job as the MC. Several ex-Cubs were there to give some credibility to the pursuit, and a half dozen or so knuckleheads (like me) were on hand to deliver eulogies to the various different curses.

My speech is here is you'd like to read it.

My speech focused on the curse of the Lutheran Seminary, which Tom Dreesen accidentally introduced as the Lutheran Cemetery (I called him "Norm Crosby," a joke that only he seemed to get).

Anyway, I've been thinking about this Lutheran curse, and if there really is a Lutheran curse, how long would that last? Didn't Martin Luther tack a list of 95 grievances to the door of that Catholic church? If so, wouldn't he also have tacked a 95-year curse on the team that built a ballpark on his former seminary?

If you're doing the math at home, that means the curse was inflicted in 1914 (when Wrigley was built). Add 95 years to that, and you've got...2009.

Hmmmm.

The Onion's take on The Cubs

Always funny. Always sarcastic. The Onion nails the Cubs.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest "Father Knows Nothing" column at NWI Parent. This week's column is called "Forget Me Not" and it's about a knucklehead dad, that obviously forgot.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Rich Koz

This week at Chicago Radio Spotlight, I interview the legendary "Svengoolie," Rich Koz. You can read the entire interview here.

An inferiority complex

That's what the AP headline says the Cubs have. I'd say the headline is all wrong, but the article is a pretty accurate assessment.

You can read the version the USA Today printed here.

Cremating the Curse!

If you're out and about on Sunday and looking for something to do, how about coming out to a funeral home for a fun event? That's right. You read that correctly.

It's being staged by George Rawlinson, the publisher of "Cubbie Blues: 100 years of waiting til next year." George is staging this event at Michael's Funeral Home in Schaumburg, and he's calling it "CREMATING THE CURSE!"

Comedian Tom Dreesen will MC the event, and an array of notable local Cubs celebrities will be on hand to deliver eulogies for the 100 years of losing (including me), as we actually cremate artifacts from the various different Cubs curses I've written about on this site, including Merkle, the Revenge of Martin Luther, the Goat, the Black Cat, and every other curse we can think of. (I found two new ones for my eulogy...we're taking no chances).

Please come on out and enjoy the festivities. It's a worthwhile fundraising event for Chicago Baseball Cancer Charities. All of the details about this event are here at the Can't Miss Press website.

Of course she's a Cubs fan

Presented without comment...


Hot Chick Loves The Cubs - Watch more Funny Videos

Three years ago today

How much has the world changed in three years?

On this date in 2006, George Bush threw out the first pitch at the Cubs opening day game and met Cubs manager Dusty Baker in the dugout.

Who do you miss more?

Watch the video here.

Marlon Brando

If he were alive today, he'd be 85 years old...

Signs written in English around the world

Contributed by "PH"



In a Bucharest hotel lobby: The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.

In a Belgrade hotel elevator: To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.

In a hotel in Athens: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 A.M. daily.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery: You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.

In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers: Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.

On the menu of a Polish hotel: Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion.

In a Bangkok dry cleaner's: Drop your trousers here for best results.

In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist: Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.

In a Norwegian cocktail lounge: Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.

In the office of a Roman doctor: Specialist in women and other diseases.

In an Acapulco hotel: The manager has personally passed all the water served here.

From a Japanese information booklet about using a hotel air conditioner:
Cooles and Heates: If you want just condition of warm in your room, please control yourself.

Glenn Beck Smackdown, Part 2

I love Stephen Colbert...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The 10/31 Project
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

E-mail, we get e-mails

I missed this yesterday. An April Fools Joke on WLS. From "AS"...

"So, I was listening to Mancow and Cassidy this morning (I know, I know. Don’t judge!) on WLS when Drew Peterson called in and punked Mancow for April Fool’s. While I would normally think that this is hilarious, the fact that it was Drew Peterson doing the “gotcha,” made my skin crawl. Not to mention that that he claimed that he was going to “confess” something on the air. Isn’t that like O.J. telling Nicole and Ron jokes? That ruins the whole thing for me!

I must say, it was very well played, though.

Of course, they could have set it all up with Peterson to punk the audience, since they’re supposedly “church buddies,” but I have a feeling that Mancow was genuinely pissed off. There was dead silence except for the dial tone for a good 15 seconds after Peterson hung up, followed by Pat Cassidy trying to smooth things over with a stammering Mancow. Throughout the whole thing, I kept thinking, “Is he crazy? No WAY is that guy going to confess anything on the radio!” So, it may well have been an audience punking, because I can’t imagine the guys at WLS being that gullible…..wait….these are the same folks that put Blago on the air this week. Forget I said that."

Herman Franks

Sad news yesterday; former Cubs manager Herman Franks passed away at the age of 95. The Tribune did a nice obit for him.

My favorite Herman Franks story is one I have told a few times at Just One Bad Century. Herman was old school, in the Leo Durocher mold (read the obit to see where Leo mentored him), and he couldn't deal with the crybaby players on the 1979 Cubs. At the end of the season he resigned because they were "selfish, coddled and uninspired."

"Some of these players are actually crazy. They don't want to talk to the newspaper people, and they want separate buses for themselves and reporters. It's silly things like this that get you fed up."

He singled out Bill Buckner, Ted Sizemore, Barry Foote and Mike Vail as the worst of the "whiners."

Wish we had a dozen more managers like Herman Franks. May he rest in peace.

Rick is leaving the basement!

I'm actually making a personal appearance tonight to promote the book "Cubbie Blues: 100 years of waiting until next year." This is not an April Fools joke.

Here are the details from the "Reading Under the Influence" website...

Join us from 7-10 p.m. on Weds., April 1 for Cubbie Blues, featuring readings and trivia games by contributors to the "Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting till Next Year" anthology, including Cubs' blogger extraordinaire Rick Kaempfer (JustOneBadCentury.com), short story writer Christine Sneed (Best American Short Stories 2008, Other Voices and more), author/playwright Mary Beth Hoerner ("Atomic Honeymoon"), Windy City Story Slam founder Bill Hillmann, Sheffield's owner Ric Hess and RUI's Julia Borcherts. As always, we're in the back room at Sheffield's, 3258 N. Sheffield Ave. There's a $3 cover.

Rick's note: Yes, there will be alcoholic beverages served there, hence the name of the event ("Reading Under the Influence"). Stop by if you're in the neighborhood. It should be fun.