Cubs vs. Sox

This is excellent...(I know it's a few years old, but it stands up)

Chicago vs. Chicago: Round 1 from Craig Robinson

"Chicago's Just Not Home"

As if Jay Cutler wasn't unpopular enough in Chicago, his wife Kristin Cavallari told Elle Magazine that she and Jay want to move to Nashville soon because: “Jay Hates LA. And Chicago’s just not home.”

You can rip the team, the management, and the coach, but when you rip the city...Goodbye now. Sorry, but that's the one unforgivable sin. You know Jay read that and said..."Oh for cryin' out loud, honey. Please stop trying to help."

Another Victory for Net Neutrality

The broadcasting/broadband giants tried one last time to block the new FCC rule of Net Neutrality (which is something that anyone with a brain is in favor of) from being enacted, but the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington said no.

That means Net Neutrality begins today!

How will that change the internet? It won't change it in the slightest. That was the whole point.

Opponents of Net Neutrality (the broadband giants and the Republicans they pay to say what they want them to say) will now say that innovation will be stifled. The only innovation that will be stifled is the innovative new way they wanted to gouge you.

Of course, this battle will never truly be over. You can bet they will take this all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary. They really, really, really want to gouge you.

FIFA Fires PR Chief for Joke

The PR director of FIFA, Walter de Gregorio, was on Swiss television and said the following joke...

Q: The FIFA president, Sepp Blatter, the director of communications and the general secretary are all sitting in a car. Who is driving?

A: The police.

Not bad, actually. Good to see that Sepp Blatter has been humbled and has learned to laugh at himself. He responded by immediately firing the PR chief.

Sorry Walter, but Seppy's still in charge. Maybe the new guy (if he or she is ever elected) will take you back.

EU Investigates Amazon for Anti-Trust in E-books

They could just as easily investigate them for that here. If the way they have this e-book thing set up is not a monopoly, I'd like to know what is.

Details of the investigation are here.

Amazon's reaction to the investigation is represented by the photograph.

Rupert is Stepping Down

This is shocking. Rupert Murdoch (photo) is supposedly making the announcement soon that he will stepping down as the CEO of 21st Century Fox. He will remain the chairman (much like Sumner Redstone did at CBS and Viacom), but will share the job with co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch (his oldest son). His youngest son James is set to become the new CEO.

His daughter Elizabeth is SOL. (He told you not to marry that liberal, honey, but did you listen?)

Details are here.

Is the Golden Age of Advertising Over?

That seems to be the conclusion of this piece from today's Radio Ink...

This year, online media moved to the top of the local media food chain, taking the largest share of ad budgets of any other media. It was a position held by newspapers since 1704. Borrell says over the next 12 months, the gap will almost certainly widen to the point that all traditional advertising channels — print, broadcast, outdoor and mail — begin to look like niche support mechanisms to a local businesses’ digital marketing plan. "We are clearly at the end of Golden Age of Advertising. Both the present and future belong to digital and the targeting capabilities it offers. We are witnessing the dawn of the Golden Age of Geomarketing. It’s a complicated environment, but the good news is that millions of local businesses are in need of marketing leadership. Their digital savviness is lacking, as we outline in this report, and they yearn for someone with a marketing plan that makes sense of it all."

Wow. That's not a tremor, that's a full-fledged earthquake.

Public Radio Digital Listening Habits

Nieman Lab has done a study of public radio listening habits and discovered that more and more NPR fans are turning to podcasts and less and less of them are choosing streaming.

I think this is not a surprising trend. NPR listeners have really been on the vanguard of podcast listening for years now, and I think the main reason for that is the type of shows NPR airs. Each show is a content island; a short thematic program in bite-sized pieces.

I think this is probably the future of talk radio. Something just the right length for walking the dog or taking a short jog.

Conservative Talk Radio Battle

Last year at this time the morning host of WIND was Big John Howell, and the co-morning host of WLS was Dan Proft. WLS easily beat WIND in the ratings.

Since then, WLS hired Big John and fired Dan, and Dan was hired by WIND.

Now WIND is beating WLS in the mornings for the first time ever.

I really don't think this is a John Howell or Dan Proft issue. My friends and relatives that love conservative talk (I have a few, believe it or not) are all moving over to WIND. They tell me it's because WLS now has non-conservative talk on the air (Steve & Johnny), and they don't like anyone unlike them coming into their bubble.

WLS needs to attract non-conservatives to replace the bubble people, and the rest of us took WLS off our pre-sets years ago because we we didn't dig toxic venom. I have people ask me all the time whatever happened to Johnny (Brandmeier) or Steve (Dahl). When I say they are on the air every day, I see the surprise on their faces.

I hate to say it WLS, but if you believe in your new direction, you need to let Chicago know what you're doing. You know that stuff you sell to your advertisers to get the word out about their companies? Other outlets also sell that same stuff.

Stealing Home

I missed the first half of the Blackhawks game last night because I was watching my son's baseball game. Crazy Legs Kaempfer stole home. I swear he gives me a heart attack every time he does it...

Women's World Cup

I really thought I'd be seeing more of the Women's World Cup this year. I know the tournament is less than a week old, and USA has only played once (an exciting 3-1 win over Australia), but the coverage is nowhere near the coverage I was expecting.

Columbia Journalism Review has noticed that too, and has done an analysis of why.

Stopped Spreading the News

I wanted to come up with a headline to announce the death of famed New York Post tabloid headline writer Vinnie Musetto, but that's the best I could come up with. Vinnie passed away yesterday at the age of 74.

Among his greatest hits: "Headless body in a topless bar" and "Granny killed in her pink pajamas"

Bomb Threat During a White House Briefing

This was kind of an eye opening moment for the reporters covering the president yesterday. The Washington Post has the details.

With the world and the country in the shape it's in today, can you even imagine how often the president is threatened in some way? I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

Worst...job...ever.

Sirott & Murciano Get a Show on Channel 11

It's an interview special called "Sirott & Murciano Backstage" and they're hoping it leads to a series of interview specials. Bob has of course worked at Channel 11 before (as host of "Chicago Tonight" for many years), and Marianne is life-long friends with their first guest (Gloria Estafan).

Robert Feder has the details.

Secretariat vs. American Pharoah

Pharoah's good, but he ain't Secretariat.

Letter From A Volunteer Coach

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Very nicely written open letter from a hockey coach to his parents--but it could very easily apply to every other sport. It certainly rang true to this volunteer coach. I've been doing it now off and on for the last 15 years.

Chicago Radio Ratings

From this morning's Tom Taylor column...

The “baseball split” continues, showing us what happens when you pry apart CBS Radio’s all-news WBBM and its normally-simulcast WCFS. The April book showed us that losing the FM simulcast at 105.9 cost WBBM the lead, but the AM by itself remains a strong #2, going 6.8-5.4-5.3. When the Cubs are playing, the AM runs baseball, while WCFS stays all-news – and grows, from a 2.2 last month to a 2.4. Repeating at #1 is iHeart’s urban AC “V103” WVAZ (6.5-6.9-6.8). Then comes ’BBM and Hubbard’s third-place hot AC “Mix” WTMX (5.6-5.2-4.8). Fourth is iHeart CHR “Kiss” WKSC (4.2-4.0-3.9) and fifth is CBS rhythmic “B96” WBBM-FM (3.9-4.0-3.7). Going just one peg further down, we see the remarkable spring-back of variety hits “104.3 K-Hits” WJMK, 3.6-3.5-3.5. This book, it ties with iHeart hot AC “93.9 MYfm” WLIT (3.6-3.8-3.5). No growth at Tribune’s talk WGN (3.3-3.4-3.3). Some growth at Hubbard’s re-branded AC WSHE-FM (2.2-2.2-2.5). In country, the race is CBS “US 99.5” WUSN (2.6-2.7-3.0) fending off iHeart challenger “Big” WEBG (2.3-2.0-2.4). “Big” has grown its cume to nearly 800,000, while WUSN’s steady at 1.2 million. In sports, Disney’s WMVP (1.4-1.8-2.1) edges CBS rival “Score” WSCR (2.5-2.5-2.0). Even with a new morning show, no momentum at Cumulus talker WLS (1.2-1.1-1.1). The Windy City’s cume leader is CHR “Kiss” at an average of 2,359,900.

A Good Pairing

Perfect for Dad...(Order here)

How Not To Address a Bad Review

Every writer faces this dilemma eventually. At some point, you're going to get a bad review. There hasn't been a single written work that hasn't gotten one. The smart thing to do when you get one is to ignore it. Remember that there are some people out there (especially on the internet) who seem to revel in writing negative things. Also, some people just don't share your world view. Nothing you can do about it.

What you shouldn't do is what this guy did. It was his first one star review...but after he engaged, he roused the evil spirits. His book now has over 300 one-star reviews.

The Reason I've Stopped Arguing Politics

Great piece in Vox today, written by Ezra Klein.

He examines a study of "informed voters" which comes to the following conclusion: "Achens and Bartels's conclusion is grim: much of what looks like learning in American politics is actually, they argue, an elaborate performance of justifying the beliefs we already hold."

In other words, facts themselves have become meaningless. The more "informed" we are, the more likely we are to be "informed" with incorrect facts used to justify our already-held belief systems. No amount of facts disproving this will change our mind. Instead, we'll simply question the source. Clearly no source that disagrees with us is worthy of considering.

Depressing, eh?

On the other hand, is this article just another example of me finding a source that agrees with my already held opinions about other people's opinions?

(Snapping fingers Beatnik style) Dig the philosophy, baby.

No Longer the Bad News Bears

Super proud of my son Sean and his Green White soccer team this season. They played their final game yesterday and finished the season 10-1-1. Just a few years ago these same boys won only one game. It just shows that you should never give up. When you put time and effort into something, there's no limit to what you can accomplish. Way to go, boys!

Printer's Row Lit Fest

Had a wonderful time at the Printer's Row Lit Fest on Saturday afternoon with John Landecker and Joel Daly. Big crowd, great stories, and lots of laughs. We should really take this show on the road.