Jim Hendry Gets The Hook

Wow. I never thought they'd actually do it, but boy oh boy is this move overdue. The Cubs have fired the architect of this team.

Details are here.

Rahm's Open to Wrigley Funding

I heard Crain's reporter Greg Hinz on Kaplan & Noonan's show last night discussing his piece in Crain's Chicago Business.

It may be a little different for the Cubs now that we have a Mayor that's actually a Cubs fan.

Martin Mull

He's 68 years old today. Here's one of my favorite Martin Mull numbers...

Mancow

During the signoff of Q-101 last month, everyone that had been on the station during it's alternative rock hey-day came back to participate in the farewell. Everyone, that is, except the biggest star from that era, Mancow.

He tells Robert Feder this morning why he said no: "They had ratings with me, but they never appreciated what they had,” he said of his former co-workers. “I found them to be a bunch of selfish, unappreciative people when I worked with them. Lazy, miserable, ultrahip nobodies who loved to hear themselves talk. They’d celebrate this local music show [Local 101] with 10 people listening, and over here you’ve got Mancow with millions. Why was I not the hero? I’ll never know.”

I think that quote explains Mancow better than any other thing I've ever heard him say. It must not be easy walking around with such a giant chip on your shoulder.

Cold War Intrigue

On this anniversary of the Berlin Wall's completion it seems like a good day to trot out my favorite personal story of Cold War intrigue as my weekly Suburban Dad contribution to City Mom's blog at Chicago Now.

You can read it here.

The Berlin Wall

50 years ago today the East Germans completed the Berlin Wall. (Photo taken that year). For those of you too young to remember, it's hard to explain the significance of the wall.

It was really the first time a country had built a wall not to keep people out, but to keep people in. I visited West Berlin several times in the 1970s, and my Boy Scout troop even camped out within eyesight of it once, and let me tell you, it was a life changing experience. To see the guard towers, to hear the stories of the people that were shot or blown up by land mines trying to escape to West Berlin, and then to travel inside East Germany and see the Russian Soldiers with their guns walking on the streets--it's not a memory I'll ever forget.

One time I accidentally entered East Germany with proof that my father worked for the US Department of Defense on my person. (Not a good move--Wow was my dad mad at me that day). Another time we were taking a train through East Germany and Russian soldiers came into our berth and searched all of our luggage--screaming at us in a language we couldn't understand.

East Germany was simply the scariest place I've ever been. I'm so happy that it's gone forever (as it was in the 60s and the 70s).

The 25 Greatest Unscripted Movie Scenes

I had no idea these scenes were unscripted. Interesting stuff (although note--the clips in here are not bleeped)

Happy Birthday Roy Hobbs

Roy (Robert Redford) Hobbs is 75 years old today...

Big Z's Very Bad Weekend

To me, the most shocking part of Carlos Zambrano's latest blow up isn't that he lost it on the mound or in the clubhouse. It isn't that he tried to throw at an opposing batter. It isn't that he said he was retiring, or that the Cubs took the extraordinary step of suspending him for thirty days.

The most shocking part is the name of the player who chastised Carlos in the clubhouse while it was all going down.

Would you believe it was Alfonso Soriano?

Father Knows Nothing

My latest Father Knows Nothing column has been posted at NWI Parent. This week's column is about a phone call I got from my buddy Dave.

You can read it here.