Chicago Radio Spotlight: Tommy Edwards

This week's Chicago Radio Spotlight has been posted. I interviewed Tommy Edwards (of "Animal Stories" fame) and we talked about the glory days of WLS, his beginning in radio and what he is up to now.

You can read it here.

Coming this weekend

Sorry about this, but Blogger was shut down all day today (Friday) and for some reason deleted every post from yesterday (Thursday). There was some sort of a glitch, and they deleted posts across the country...not just mine. (Was it haunted because it's Friday the 13th? I'm not ruling it out).

Since I don't even remember what I posted yesterday, I'm just hoping it was nothing important. (I heard that! It is possible there was something important, you know. Maybe not likely, but possible.)

Instead of posting anything else today, I'm just going to let you know what is coming this weekend (Blogger willing).

Tomorrow I'll be posting my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. I had a chance to catch up with Chicago radio legend Tommy Edwards recently. I think you'll enjoy some of the stories he has to tell.

At Just One Bad Century, we'll go back in time to the last year the Cubs won the pennant and World Series--with This Week in 1908, and This Week in 1945.

And finally, on Sunday I'll be posting my latest Father Knows Nothing column. This week's is about my old neighborhood.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Chicago Headline Club

A few months ago my editor at Shore Magazine and NWI Parent, Pat Colander, sent me an e-mail saying that she had nominated me for the awards that the Chicago Headline Club hands out to Chicago journalists every year. She said I would be in the category called "affiliated blogs," which basically means blogs that are affiliated with Chicago-area newspapers. (My Father Knows Nothing blog is affiliated with the NWI Times.)

To be honest, I didn't think anything of it. I just thought it was nice that she thought highly enough of me to submit my work. I didn't think I would be taken seriously by an organization of journalists. I didn't even know that she was referring to the Peter Lisagor Awards, which are pretty prestigious in the journalism community.

So, since I do follow the media pretty closely, I read all about the Lisagor awards this week. I even noticed that Roger Ebert won one in the affiliated blogs category. But I had no idea that I was in that same category, because I didn't know that these were the awards I was nominated for.

It turns out that not only was I nominated, I was named a finalist to Roger Ebert. (I found that out reading Pat's Shore Magazine blog about the event.)

I even e-mailed Pat to make sure I wasn't seeing things, or misinterpreting them, but holy crap, no--it's actually true. She said she would have invited me to the event, but didn't realize I was a finalist until she got there.

Now I'll grant you finishing second place to Roger Ebert is kind of like finishing second to UCLA back in the 1960s--you never really had a chance anyway, so don't get all high and mighty Mr. second rate pipsqueak--but still, I have to admit...this is pretty cool.

Thank you Chicago Headline Club, and thanks to my boys for being entertaining enough to write a column about every week.

The hug heard round the world

Two days later people at Wrigley Field are still talking about the hug heard round the world--between Albert Pujols and Jim Hendry.

If you missed it, the story is here.

Can you picture Albert wearing a Cubs uniform and playing first base every day at Wrigley Field? This is the sort of thing that gives Cardinals fans nightmares.

As for me, I don't think it's going to happen, but I do enjoy Cardinals fans feeling a little of the perpetual anxiety that Cubs fans feel year in and year out. Call it Schadenfreude if you must, but there's nothing wrong with spreading it around a little.

Bob Marley

He died exactly 30 years ago today, but his music lives on...

A Typical Day in the Life of a Househusband

I just posted my weekly contribution to Kim Strickland's A City Mom blog at ChicagoNow. This week's is called "A Typical Day in the Life of a Househusband."

Every single word is 100% true, and not exaggerated or fabricated or pulled out of my keester in the slightest. (Cough)

Bulls vs. Cubs

What does this say about me? Last night the most exciting player in the NBA, our local hero MVP, led his team to a playoff victory at the United Center...and I was watching the Cubs-Cardinals game instead.

I think I may be sick.

By the way, the Cubs had 17 baserunners last night against Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter and scored a whopping 4 runs.

When is the next Bulls game? I think it's officially time to switch.

The SI Curse

A Yahoo! writer examines the SI Curse and worries that Starlin Castro is already falling victim to it. He also names several other high-profile jinx-victims that SI has strewn across the countryside.

I share his sense of foreboding, but as someone on my facebook page pointed out to me--the curse has also been broken many times. Most recently, Aaron Rodgers of the Packers did OK in that Super-thingee, and if memory serves a certain guy named Michael something or other was on the cover about fifty times.

How to BBQ an entire steer

Ryan Theriot

He's baaaaack. But this time he's wearing red. Ryan Theriot is the starting shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals this year and the Cardinals are in town for a three game series.

You may not remember this, but in the off-season, Ryan said some things that angered Cubs fans. He told a St. Louis radio station in December that he was now "finally on the right side" of the rivalry and questioned his former team's commitment to winning a long-awaited World Series title.

Carlos Zambrano, when told about this comment, labeled Ryan as "the enemy."

Should be a great pitching matchup at Wrigley today (Zambrano vs. Carpenter), but all eyes will be on Theriot when he steps in the box the first time against Carlos. I'm guessing there will be a playful brushback, followed by a total overreaction from Tony LaRussa.


LATE UPDATE: "RP" writes in to make me feel guilty..."No overreaction from Tony tonight. He will not manage the game, but has stayed in Arizona at the Mayo Clinic there to receive treatment on the shingles that has swollen his right eye shut." (Read the story here)

The JOBC Contest

On this day in 1908 future Cub Billy Jurges was born. He played in three World Series for the Cubs, but is best remembered for something that happened to him off the field on July 6, 1932. What was it?

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 of this week's contest! Kel Kissamis of Hampshire was first one to get through on my e-mail, and he's the big winner. He knew that Billy Jurges was shot by a stalker, and wins the prize this week. (Read all about that story here) We'll have another contest next week.

RIP John Walker

He died this weekend at the age of 67. He was the leader of the band "The Walker Brothers" and this song was probably their biggest hit here in America...

Vast Wasteland

Exactly 50 years ago today FCC Chairman Newton Minnow made his famous "Vast Wasteland" speech about television. Here he is talking about that speech...

Cubs love their moms

You may have noticed that some of the Cubs were using pink bats in the game yesterday against the Cincinnati Reds (as were the Reds). That was a tribute to their moms, and breast cancer research.

Fred Mitchell of the Tribune spoke to some of the Cubs players (and Reds manager Dusty Baker) about their moms. That's one sure-fire way to get big tough guys to get emotional.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest "Father Knows Nothing" column at NWI Parent. This one is a tribute to this year's Mother's Day.

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 Wright Brothers take the world's first flight with a passenger aboard and 3-finger Brown pitches a one-hitter for the Cubs.

This week in 1945, Chicago celebrates the end of the war in Europe (VE Day), and the Cubs join the celebration on the streets of Philadelphia. They are on their longest road trip of the year.