Father of the Year

I pride myself in my ability to embarrass my teenage son. It's a skill I picked up from my own father, who was a master.

But neither Dad nor I are in the same league as the Jedi Master of all fathers.

You must read about the exploits of Utah's Dale Price.

I feel like I'm not even worthy to write his name. I tip my cap to you, sir.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Everyone is worried that it's a very bad time in America for Jobs.

That's nonsense.

Jobs had another very good day yesterday. Very good. In fact, Jobs prospects have never been better.

Of course, I'm speaking of Steve Jobs.

Weinergate

I watched the press conference yesterday, and the subsequent coverage and recapping of the press conference.

Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger who broke the story, was crowing because he actually got this story right. As Stephen Colbert pointed out last night, that makes Breitbart correct in 1 of the 4 big stories he has broken. (The others: NPR, ACORN, and Shirley Sherrod were incredibly dishonestly presented). Don't scoff. Breitbart's now batting .250. That's good enough to start at any position for the Cubs this year.

But to me, the one show I wanted to see handle the subject was Eliot Spitzer's show on CNN (for obvious reasons). Here's how that went.

Spitzer said the press conference was "cringe worthy" (which of course it was), but added something none of us could have added: "Believe me, I know. I've been there."

Want Ads

40 years ago today it was the #1 song in the country. Here are the Honey Cone performing it on Soul Train...

New Demos

I don't excited about a lot of radio news, but I must say I was excited when I saw this in Tom Taylor's Radio-Info.com column this morning...

"“Alpha Boomers” – adults 25-64 – become a standard demo in Arbitron’s TAPSCAN Web 10.8. That should make some classic hits stations very happy – and perhaps lead to greater interest in the 55-64 demo, the leading edge of the Baby Boomers. The narrower 25-54 demo has been the most-used demo for years, and it’s easy to forget that at one time, the most-bought demos were teens, 18-34 and 18-49. It took years of work by radio to get 25-54 accepted as a benchmark – and then it really took over. Now with those 55-64s going “out of demo”, classic hits, classic rock, AC, sports and talk stations are interested in keeping them in the minds of advertising agencies and media planners. After all, those folks are sitting on a bunch of disposable income."

Amen brother Tom. It's the biggest demo in America and media buyers were ignoring it. I hope this changes things for good.

Draft Day

Yesterday was draft day for MLB, and the Cubs had a pretty good draft slot (#9 overall). Going into the draft I figured that they had so many needs they couldn't possibly make a bad pick at that slot. Just pick the best player available, as long as it's not a shortstop--because Starlin Castro is only 21.

They picked a shortstop.

I'm really starting to believe that the Cubs are the subject of longest and most successful "Candid Camera" show in history. Are the rest of you watching this on a secret channel that Cubs fans are blocked from seeing? I bet it's hilarious.

Patcheye

Tuesday is Great Nicknames day at Just One Bad Century and this week we feature a man they called "Patcheye."

He was not a Pirate.

Read all about him here.

The JOBC Contest

Time for this week's JOBC Contest.

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.

Here's the question: Baseball's Amateur Draft was held on this day in 2006. Among the players chosen in the first round that year were Tim Lincecum, Evan Longoria, and Clayton Kershaw. Who did the Cubs pick?

UPDATE: WE HAVE A WINNER! Al Vance was the first to e-mail me that Tyler Colvin was the player the Cubs chose in the first round of the 2006 Amateur Draft.

Colvin's current stats this year: 77 at bats, 4 runs, 7 hits, 2 homers, 8 RBI, and a batting average of .091.

Eleanor Rigby

According to Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey Almanac, on this day in 1966 the Beatles completed work on "Eleanor Rigby." That's really a Paul song, and he later included it in his (incredibly awful) film "Give my Regards to Broadstreet."

Ed Sullivan

His final show was on this day in 1971, exactly 40 years ago. It was canceled after 23 years on the air. During that time Ed became one of the most unlikely showcases for rock and roll. There were some truly incredible performances on his show, including performances from the biggest stars of all...

The Beatles

AND

Elvis Presley

Roger Ailes

In the past two weeks I've provided links to two pieces about Roger Ailes, the head of Fox News. The first one in New York Magazine was a pretty solid piece in my view, and the second one from Rolling Stone magazine was a little cartoonish and over the top.

Today one of the sources of both pieces, Michael Wolff, "corrects" the impression of Ailes. For my money, Wolff is a pretty pompous windbag, but he did have unprecedented access to the Fox News world while he was writing his Rupert Murdoch book.

If you're interested in the subject matter, I'd say this morning's piece in Adweek is worth a read.

Journalism's Underbelly

The story of Weiner's Wiener gets even weirder.

This time it's not the behavior of the Congressman, it's the behavior of the "journalists" from the New York Post, and the lengths they went to "interview" the woman that received the tweet. She's pretty outraged by the entire experience.

Not exactly how they draw it up in journalism school. Ask the victim, she's a journalism student.

Bono the Hitchhiker

I thought this was an interesting story this morning in the RAMP newsletter...

Edmonton Oilers center Gilbert Brule and his girlfriend Kelsey Nichols just happened to be passing by in a driving rain storm and saw a hitchhiker. Brule did a double-take, swearing that the rain-drenched guy they just passed was Bono, but Nichols wasn't convinced, as she later told CTV. "I didn't want to stop, but they waved, and Gilbert yelled, 'That's Bono!'" Nichols recalled. "I said, 'No, we're not picking up a hitchhiker. We're going to die.'"

Cooler heads prevailed, and Brule picked up the soaking wet Bono, who rewarded the couple with tickets and backstage passes to U2's show in Edmonton. According to published reports, Brule asked Bono where he wanted to go, and Bono replied, "Just take me to where The Edge is." Bono recounted his experience on stage in Edmonton the following night, telling the audience, "I like ice hockey, because people who play ice hockey are the kind of people who pick up hitchhikers," he said. "I know this from personal experience."

Larry Wert

Robert Feder speculates in his column this morning that my former boss and current NBC-Chicago boss Larry Wert might be in trouble now that the Comcast folks are taking over. I just saw Larry a few weeks ago at a Loop reunion party and was surprised to hear that he has actually been at NBC longer than he was at the Loop.

Whatever happens at NBC, I'm sure Larry will land on his feet. He always has.

Joe Garagiola

This week's Cubs Hall of Famer at Just One Bad Century is former Cubs catcher and HOF broadcaster, Joe Garagiola.

Read all about him here.

Four Words

DON'T

PITCH

TO

PUJOLS

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This week's column is called "The Hidden Advantages of Having a Dog".

You can read it here.

This week in 1908, 1945

Every weekend at JOBC we close our eyes tight, pretend the present isn`t as painful as it is, and go back in time to the last year the Cubs won the pennant and the World Series.

This week in 1908, the city of Chicago decides to change it's street numbering system (to the way it is today), and Mordecai Brown throws a one-hitter.

This week in 1945, the Allies capture Nazi loot and criminals, Marilyn Monroe turns 19, and the Cubs paint their reddish-brown scoreboard green--which it remains to to this day.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Jim Moran

My latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview has been posted. This weekend I spoke with veteran traffic reporter Jim Moran.

You can read it here.

Coming this weekend

Tomorrow I'll be posting a new Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week I'll speak to veteran traffic reporter Jim Moran about his career in radio (and politics).

Of course, as always, we'll take a trip back in time this weekend at Just One Bad Century to this week in 1908 and 1945.

And, I've got a new Father Knows Nothing column that will be posted on Sunday. This weekend's column is called "The Hidden Benefits of Dog Ownership" and it's about the things I've learned over this last year since Ivy joined the family. (And don't worry, tongue will be planted firmly in cheek)

Have a great weekend!

Who needs regulation?

Every time I hear a politician complain that industry is over-regulated in this country, I think about stories like this: You know that e-coli strain that is killing people in Europe? Our farmers and food processors are not even required to test for it.

Here's a little description of what this e-coli strain has already done: "It has been linked to more than 1,600 illnesses and 18 deaths. About 500 people — an unusually large percentage of those who have been sickened — have developed a life-threatening kidney complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, for which there is no treatment."

But please, FDA, don't put too much pressure on our food producers and processors. We don't want a big-government nanny-state treading on our liberty.

Holtzman's No-No

On this day, exactly 40 years ago, Ken Holtzman pitched his second no-hitter for the Cubs. He did it in Cincinnati in front of just over 11,000 fans.

In the Reds lineup that day; Hal McRae, Tommy Helms, Lee May, Johnny Bench, George Foster, Tony Perez, and Dave Concepcion. Not too shabby.

The Cubs scored an unearned run in the top of the third, and it was Holtzman himself that scored it. He reached base on an error by Tony Perez and scored on a Glenn Beckert single.

Holtzman struck out six, including Johnny Bench (once), George Foster (once), and Dave Concepcion (twice). He also struck out Tommy Helms and Lee May for the last two outs of the game.

That big win brought the Cubs three games under .500, and 8 1/2 games behind the first place Cardinals. The Pirates would eventually win the division and the World Series that year.

Paint it Black

#1 45 years ago today...

Weiner calls the cops

One of the big uproars about Anthony's Weiner's wiener-gate scandal is that he didn't call the cops to investigate his account being hacked. Well, he finally called the cops yesterday, but not to investigate the hack.

He called the cops to get rid of a reporter.

This is not going well for him.

The Cubs finances

Are the Cubs having financial troubles?

According to baseball's debt rules, yes they are.

Great. Just great.

Blago

The must read column during the Blago trial remains John Kass' column.

Another gem this morning about the first day of cross-examination. Turns out, there was a very good reason Blago didn't testify in that first trial.

Here's the way Kass put it...

Federal prosecutors don't usually get much practice at cross-examining defendants in political corruption cases because defendant politicians are usually too smart to take the witness stand. Blagojevich, already a convicted liar, had no choice but to roll the dice.

When the jurors filed out, Rod didn't even try to make eye contact.

His wife, Patti, stood up, anxious, smoothing her skirt with nervous hands, reaching for him like some heartbroken Little League mom whose third-grader had just struck out with the bases loaded as the team lost the big game.

Doesn't that paint a picture? Kass is a gifted writer.

Another Tribune Lawsuit?

The amount of money that lawyers are making on this Tribune bankruptcy is setting all sorts of records, and will continue to do so.

Here's the latest twist.

Now Tribune retirees (who lost their retirement) are suing the shareholders that made the original deal with Sam Zell because they knew it was a fraud that would send the company into bankruptcy. On the surface it looks like they have a point. Those original shareholders walked away with millions, and all they did to earn that was to destroy the company to such a level that only someone like Sam Zell would take a shot at owning it.

Not sure how they stand legally. I guess we'll find out a few years from now. I wonder if universities will start offering a major in suing the Tribune. It seems like an actual industry.

Fireworks cancelled

The City of Chicago announced that it is canceling it's big July 4th fireworks display, thereby saving the city in the neighborhood of $1 million.

I attended that fireworks display many times when I lived downtown...although I only went because I lived right there. We could watch it from my building's rooftop. I know this will make me sound like a curmudgeon, but I never even considered going down there for the insanity since we moved out to the suburbs. Too many people. Not that exciting.

Pandora's IPO

They're still projecting that they'll lose money in the short term, but it really looks like the Pandora IPO will be coming very soon, and will be priced in the $7-$9 range. According to this morning's Tom Taylor column, it will be the fourth biggest radio company in the country...

Kurt Hanson says “Pandora’s AQH audience is roughly equal in size to that of a 3.0-share FM station in every market” – and its audience is growing rapidly. He figures that “Pandora's market capitalization at this share price would equal the total of the market caps of such pureplay radio broadcast companies as Entercom ($330 million), Cumulus ($180 million), Saga ($150 million), Radio One ($120 million), Emmis ($40 million) and several others, combined.” So Pandora, valued by this IPO at around $1.3 billion, would come in at #4, behind Sirius XM, Clear Channel and CBS Radio – and not that far behind CBS.

A quick translation for non-radio folks: A 3.0 share FM station in Chicago, for instance, would be one of the biggest stations in town. In a smaller market with fewer stations, not so much, but still a legitimate player. On the other hand, they're still not making money--which makes me wonder.

Sights & Sounds

This week's Sights & Sounds at JOBC features video of Bill Veeck at Wrigley Field, and audio of a Landecker & The Legends song called "Baseball's Striking Again" (about the 1994/1995 baseball strike)

Watch and listen here.

Charlie Watts

He's 70 years old today. That's right, 70! Here's an interview of Charlie from 1973. He talks about Chicago Blues, among other things...

Greg Jarrett

Some pretty cool behind the scenes stuff with WGN morning man Greg Jarrett as he sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley yesterday.

(If you'd like to read my Chicago Radio Spotlight interview with Jarrett from last year, click here.)

Weiner Update

Anthony Weiner did a bunch of interviews yesterday to calm the furor over his "Wiener-tweet," and I have to say, as someone that really wants to believe him...those interviews didn't go so well. (A recap is here in the Washington Post)

He was categorical in denying that he sent the picture of the wiener in the underpants to the woman in question, but he wouldn't deny it was his wiener in the underpants.

Really?

Who doesn't know exactly how many pictures were taken of his own wiener in his own underpants, and what those pictures look like? Let me look in my file here...oh wait, that's right...I've never taken a picture like that in my life. Who has?

(John Kass wrote about this morning too.)

Sky Daniels

I remember Sky Daniels well in Chicago from his time at the Loop (and met him a few times), so this notice today in Tom Taylor's column at Radio-Info.com caught my eye...

Sky Daniels circles back to Los Angeles to program, this time at Cal State-Northridge-based adult alternative non-com KCSN (88.5). Sky's worked extensively in major-market radio (San Francisco's KFOG, Seattle's KISW, Chicago's "Loop" WLUP), in the record biz (at Universal Music and Sony Music), and been National VP/Entertainment at Best Buy and GM of Radio & Records. Sky comes in talking about the potential reach of KCSN (three million people) and the opportunity of working "several media platforms."

When you play it, say it

Sometime back in the 1980s radio station disc jockeys were told to stop identifying the names of artists and titles of songs, because programmers became obsessed with ending "DJ Chatter." (I remember it well--I was a DJ at the time)

Of course it was a terrible idea, because people actually like to know the name of the song they're hearing and/or the artist that is performing it. CBS Radio is taking steps now to correct that twenty year mistake. Dan Mason, the head of CBS Radio, had a chat with the New York Times to explain it.

I realize he's only doing it to soothe relations with the music industry because they're trying to get more money in royalties, but I don't care that the motivation isn't pure. It's still the right thing to do. Every now and then radio lucks into a good decision because the economics call for it, and this is one of those moments.

The Tribune Soap Opera

I've been reading all about the shakeup at the top of the Tribune company, and the ridiculously long bankruptcy case, but without knowing the people involved it's sometimes difficult to connect the dots.

Robert Feder did a great job of that this morning in his Time Out Chicago blog.

Rob is never better than when he calls out the powers that be.

The Fork

Sorry optimistic Cub fans, I held off the fork as long as I could. Look at it this way...at least we stayed in it until June.

But there's no getting around it. It's time to put a fork in it. This season is done. When you get swept by the worst team in the National League, you are officially the new worst team in the National League.

Enjoy watching the kids play the rest of the year. Maybe there will be hope for the coming seasons. Until then, we once again say..."Wait til next year."

Ladies Day

It was a tradition at Wrigley Field for 60 years. Friday was Ladies Day, and today's Tales from a Bad Century tells all about that great tradition.

You can read it here.

Vocabulary Victories and Defeats

This week's Suburban Dad contribution to the City Mom blog at ChicagoNow has been posted. This week I wrote about my son Johnny and his unintentional tribute to the comedian Norm Crosby.

You can read it here.

DC Comics to revamp classic characters

The details are in USA Today.

Basically they are renumbering the comics (to create all new #1s), and are trying to make their classic characters like Superman and Batman more relevant for the 21st century.

How will they be more relevant? Here's what the writer says: "What's the human aspect behind all these costumes? That's what I wanted to explore."

Sounds like he's got the finger on the pulse of today's youth. Less action. More character study.

Olbermann announces his staff

I know that Keith Olbermann has a reputation of being a bit of a jerk, but when I read this piece about the staff he hired for his new show, it made me wonder whether or not that is true. Most of these people have worked with him before, and many of them have worked with him for many years.

Take it from someone who was part of a show staff. You may work with a jerk once, but there's no way you'd do it again unless you were absolutely desperate or they were offering you a TON of money. These people were already employed, and Current isn't paying anyone a ton of money.

Stop Following Her

Sarah Palin is driving reporters crazy because she is not allowing any questions and she isn't giving them any information about her bus tour across the country.

Note to reporters: Stop following her.

Right now she's just a Fox employee, not a candidate. If she becomes a candidate, she will have to answer questions, and if she's still too gutless to answer, the American public gives you permission to absolutely hammer her. You can't run for office without answering questions from the press. It's the reason we have the press. Otherwise an election is a pointless PR exercise.

But until she announces, she's under contract not to answer your questions. You're just giving her free publicity for no reason at all. Pictures without substance. It's exactly what she wants.

Cubs attendance is down

Anyone that has tried to sell tickets this year knows about this already, but the press is starting to notice too.

Cubs attendance is way down.

I've already had to turn down tickets to three different games this year. Those tickets normally would have been sold on sites like StubHub, but the people offering me the tickets can't get rid of them, so they offered them to me for free...and I still couldn't go for one reason or another.

When I have gone, I couldn't help but notice the empty seats. The same thing was happening at the end of last year. Look out, Cubs fans, we may have a trend here.

Now let's see if this gets the attention of the owner. For years Cubs fans have been hearing that it's our fault the Cubs don't win because we support them whether they win or not. I always thought that was a load of doo doo because nobody went to the games when I was a kid, and that didn't seem to make a difference either.

I guess we'll find out whether or not it's true...again.

The 1907 World Series

That was a brutal loss for the Cubs last night, and it's becoming obvious that we can once again say that immortal phrase: "Wait til next year." This week's Tale from a Bad Century goes back to a year they didn't need to say that.

Read all about the 1907 World Series.