Coming this weekend

I've got a packed schedule this weekend as you might imagine, so I won't be posting a new Chicago Radio Spotlight interview this week. I have conducted one for next week however...and it was with a Chicago Radio legend. More info to come this week.

I will be posting a new Father Knows Nothing at NWI Parent on Mother's Day. It will chronicle what the boys have done for their mom this year. I can't tease it here, because she occasionally reads this blog.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day weekend, especially my own mom. She has requested a GPS device for her Mother's Day present this year. I'm going out to buy that today. (And yes, I can tease that here; she never ever reads this blog)

Paul Simon interview

Brian Williams interviewed Paul Simon about his newest album and his great career.

Highly enjoyable.

Here's Part 2 of the interview.

I'm going to buy his new album. Any idea where you can buy albums these days?

Roger Ebert reviews "The Beaver"

I must have missed the ads for this one, but it stars Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and a beaver hand puppet.

It sounds like Roger is not a fan.

I think it's safe to say that when "Senor Wences" is mentioned in a review, it's not a compliment.

A new Cubs starter?

Is this man going to be starting a game for the Cubs soon? It looks like it's possible.

Mike Greenberg

From his start as a producer at WSCR-Chicago, Mike Greenberg has really made a name for himself. He's the co-host of the nationally syndicated "Mike and Mike" show, and now according to this morning's Tom Taylor column at Radio-Info.com, he may be taking it up a notch...

"Mike Greenberg augments the parade of sports/talk radio personalities suddenly getting TV deals. Last month it was ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowherd (March 24 TRI), who signed a development deal with CBS-TV involving Damon Wayans and Eliza Dushku. Now ESPN Radio’s morning co-host Mike Greenberg will be taking meetings with ABC TV, developing a sit-com based on his book “Why My Wife Thinks I’m an Idiot.”

Congrats to Mike.

Sights & Sounds

This week's Sights & Sounds has video of Rick Monday in action, and audio of Harry Caray and Jack Brickhouse singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" together.

Watch and listen here.

Speedy Gonzales

Happy politically incorrect Cinco de Mayo...

E-mails, we get e-mails...

"KR" writes...

"When I saw you did a post about Katie Couric I was hoping to see her cheerleading photo again. Please tell me you were kidding yesterday when you said you weren't going to show it anymore."

Sorry "KR", but I was feeling a bit guilty/sexist, so I did make a deal with myself to stop showing it. I was demeaning her news credibility, so I'm not going to show it anymore. I did find a few other cheerleading pictures you might enjoy, however. The credibility of the following people wouldn't be damaged, so I post them without guilt.

This is Eva Longoria from her cheerleading days.

That's Madonna from her cheerleading days.

This cheerleader was elected President in 2000 and 2004.

Stephen Colbert

Northwestern University is going to be giving an honorary degree to Stephen Colbert.

Of course, he already has an actual degree from NU. Class of 1986.

Alan Sheppard

50 years ago today Alan Sheppard became the first American in space...

Couric on verge of $20 million deal

And it's not with CBS. It's with ABC; for a daytime talk show. They're even talking about canceling "General Hospital" (the last soap standing) to make room for her.

Details are here.

MySpace

Hear that giant sucking sound? That's the sound of MySpace sucking all of the profits out of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

It just reported a $165 million quarterly loss.

I'm not a business expert, but I don't think that's too good.

Richie Daley

John Kass' column today is a masterpiece--it discusses his long and complicated relationship with our soon-to-be outgoing Mayor Richard M. Daley. Highly recommended.

I've met Mayor Daley a couple of times (I wrote about those meetings a few years ago), and I know people that have worked for him. I can tell you that my impression of him is very different than the impression of the people that have worked for him.

I always liked the guy.

Bob Sirott's Theory

On Fox-32 last night, anchorman Bob Sirott offered his theory for the Cubs long drought. It was his closing commentary, "One More Thing."

Darwin Barney

With all this talk about Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, their rookie second baseman Darwin Barney has flown under the radar.

How good has he been? He was just named Rookie of the Month for April.

He's got a good glove, good speed, is a fearless clutch hitter, and he never stops hustling. I think the Cubs have a keeper here.*


*Note to SI. Please don't put him on the cover. Castro has been slumping ever since you put him on the cover.

Johnny Evers Breaks Down

Exactly 100 years ago today, Cubs Hall of Fame second baseman Johnny Evers suffered a nervous breakdown after a very stressful year off-the-field.

It was the beginning of the end of the Cubs dynasty, and it's today's Tale from a Bad Century.

Kids and Politics

I just posted my weekly contribution to Kim Strickland's "A City Mom" blog at ChicagoNow. This week's Suburban Dad entry is called "Kids and Politics" and it's about my attempt at raising kids that aren't temple-throbbing haters.

You can read it here.

George Will

Newsman.

Pundit.

Cubs Fan.

Birthday Boy...70 years old today.

On the bubble

As the TV networks prepare to announce their fall schedules, a few shows are on the bubble...ABC's family drama "Brothers & Sisters," NBC's perennially endangered comic caper "Chuck" and Fox's crime drama "Lie to Me."

Almost certain to be canceled...NBC's heavily publicized "The Event," ABC's superhero drama "No Ordinary Family" and CBS' "The Defenders."

Full details are here, TV fans.

White Sox No-Hit

I watched some of the no-hitter thrown by Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano against the Sox last night, and there was at least one controversial call.

In the eighth inning the umpire made a bad call at first base. Gordon Beckham should have been safe because Twins first baseman Justin Mourneau missed the tag. There were also six walks, so it wasn't like it was a masterpiece.

On the other hand, the Sox weren't exactly "All In" last night, were they?

Have we started the countdown clock on Ozzie's meltdown yet? The Sox are ten and a half games out of first on May 4.

On Baseball Tonight (ESPN) Bobby Valentine predicted that this was rock bottom for the Sox, and it would serve as a wake up call. I guess we'll have to see. Believe it or not, I'm sort of hoping he's right. Don't worry Cub fans, I haven't changed allegiances. I just have two Sox players (Dunn & Rios) on my fantasy team.

UPDATE: "RP" correctly points out that the controversial Beckham call at first base was the second half of a double play--so even if he was correctly called safe, it still would have been a no-hitter. My bad.

Dan Rather on Scott Pelley

In case you missed it, Scott Pelley has been named as the new anchor of the CBS Evening News. He'll be replacing Katie Couric when she officially steps down in June (don't worry--I'm not printing the Katie cheerleading picture again).

Pelley has a big supporter: Dan Rather. Reading Rather's comments here at TV Newser reminds me why I miss the old lug. He really does have a way with words doesn't he? Here's his description of Scott Pelley: "He burns with the hot, blue fame to report news. He’s relentless on a story. He has news in his id, his DNA.”

So do you, Dan. So do you.

John Gehron

John Gehron is a famous radio executive (and former Chicago Radio Spotlight interviewee) that now serves as the COO of internet radio's AccuRadio. He made a speech over the weekend at the Future of Radio Conference, and Radio Online has some of the highlights.

As usual, he offers a plethora of insights.

Margaret Donahue

The Cubs may not have been on the cutting edge of allowing African Americans to play in the big leagues (and, sadly, actually contributed to erecting the color barrier in the first place), but they were trailblazers when it came to promoting women.

P.K. Wrigley famously came up with the All-American Girls League during World War II, but at that time the Cubs already had had a woman working in their front office for more than twenty years. She was the Vice President of the team.

Her name was Margaret Donahue, and among her many accomplishments with the Cubs was coming up with the concept of Ladies Day.

Read all about her here, in her hometown newspaper the Huntley Patch.

(Photo: Margaret and Chicago Mayor Kennelly. Photo by Gloria Casas)

Jack Quinlan

This week's Tale from a Bad Century leaves the playing field and goes into the broadcast booth to tell the story of Cubs radio announcer Jack Quinlan.

A great announcer taken away from us at a very young age.

Sports Illustrated Cover

Uh oh. Does anyone know of an anti-jinx medicine Starlin Castro can take right now?

Addicted to Love

25 years ago today, this was the #1 song in the country...

Happy Birthday NPR

40 years ago today NPR officially began broadcasting. At the time, they had just over a hundred affiliates. And by the way, the president that presided over this was Nixon.

Bin Laden death leads to shaving

Remember the story of the teacher in Washington that vowed he wouldn't shave until Bin Laden was captured or killed? He shaved yesterday.

The full story is here. The before and after photos, courtesy of KOMO-TV are on the left.

Bin Laden's Farewell Message

Osama Bin Laden apparently distributed a tape that was to be shown to his supporters after his death. I've only found one journalist that has gone on record as saying he definitely won't air it--and that's Anderson Cooper.

I'm sure others will follow his lead.

I really think that's the right decision in this case.

Media Giants Try a New Approach

From this morning's Radio Ink...

"In a new paper media attorney Erwin Krasnow is urging the Federal Communications Commission to dispose of its outdated policy that the public actually owns the broadcast airwaves. "The concept that the public owns the airwaves, particularly as it concerns the authority and mission of the FCC is a mischievous notion that has been misused as a rationalization for government regulation." Krasnow says the public-ownership notion is the main reason for broadcasting's second-class status under the First Amendment. It's time for the FCC to renounce this discredited concept."

Second class status? You've got to be kidding me. Each and every one of us would be willing to struggle through that kind of second class status, broadcasting our thoughts through thousands of watts of power. What they're really asking for is second-class responsibility. Not a chance, pal. When you broadcast to hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions, you have a responsibility that is different than the average citizen. If you can't live up to that, get the heck out of the business and spout your first class first amendment thoughts at the neighborhood BBQ to your eight neighbors.

Cubs pitchers

If you're like me and just chalk up a loss when you hear that Casey Coleman and/or James Russell are pitching, there is some good news on the injury front.

Andrew Cashner and Randy Wells both threw off a mound yesterday. It looks like they'll be going on a minor league assignment soon.

Also, Todd Wellemeyer has been rehabbing and looks like he'll be ready soon.

I know it's not exactly Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Greg Maddux, but it also ain't Casey Coleman and James Russell. (No offense, fellas).

The Old Fox

This week's Great Nickname at Just One Bad Century is "The Old Fox" and he was one of the most legendary figures in baseball history.

Read about him here.

A Photoshoppers Weekend

Contributed by "BP"

The JOBC Contest

On this day in 1986 the Cubs signed a free agent player that is now a very prominent manager in the big leagues. What is his name?

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard, an autographed copy of the excellent baseball novel "The Pitch" (by Hank Owens), plus a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.


UPDATE: We have a winner! Congratulations to Michael Kilinski of Chicago. He was the first person to e-mail with the correct answer to this week's question. Michael wins the program, the book, and shirt. By the way, the answer was...

Terry Francona

Inside Bin Laden's compound

The more you hear about this, the more you realize how daring this raid was. Incredibly brave. I'm so impressed...

Reaction to Osama's death

I've been reading tons of stories about the reaction to Osama's death this morning, but so far this one is my favorite. It's from Business Insider, and it tells about the reaction in the crowd during the Phillies-Mets game.

The crowd heard the news about Bin Laden through Twitter and text messages, and it spread like wildfire. They spontaneously started chanting "U-S-A! U-S-A!" The writer of this piece describes it perfectly as a "goosebumps moment for the ages."

And the players had no idea what was going on.

Drew Horowitz

Robert Feder has an interview this morning with the new COO of Hubbard Broadcasting, Drew Horowitz.

Drew had been running Bonneville, which owned the Drive, the Mix, and Rewind 100 until Friday, but has now moved over to the new owner Hubbard to run it "exactly the same way." If you believe what Drew and his new boss says in this article, this could be the smoothest ownership change in Chicago radio history.

Let's hope it's true. I listened to the Drive's A-Z all weekend with my oldest son as we drove to and from Champaign. It sparked hours of conversation about music; and if you have (or have had) a teenage son, you know how rare long conversations can be.

Obama's Speech

I thought that was a very powerful speech by the President last night, confirming that Osama Bin Laden was dead. He isn't even being criticized (yet) from the right, and I think that's partially because of the classy way he spread the credit around to everyone, especially and including his predecessor. (Here's a good piece in the Washington Post that captures the anticipation we all felt in the hour leading up to the speech)

But as much as I loved that speech, and will always remember where I was when I heard the news, I thought this other speech he gave this weekend was even better. Let me correct that---it was funnier. Much funnier.

This is his annual appearance at the White House Correspondent's Dinner...

Leo Durocher

This week's Cubs Hall of Famer at Just One Bad Century is The Lip; Leo Durocher.

Read more about Leo, and watch an old newsreel video about him here.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This week's is called "Birds of a Feather" and it's about the strange coincidence I've discovered about people that share my last name.

You can read it here.

This week in 1908, 1945

Every weekend JOBC goes back in time to the last year the Cubs won the pennant and the World Series.


This week in 1908, the first Mother`s Day was celebrated, the first wireless broadcasting patent was issued, and 3 Finger Brown won two games for the Cubs.

This week in 1945, Mussolini is captured and killed, Hitler kills himself and Eva Braun, and Cubs pitcher Hank Wyse throws a one-hitter.