Gangnam Chicago Style

The Beachwood Reporter has accumulated the many different Chicago-based parodies of Gangnam Style.

Some are better than others.

Thanks so much to the Beachwood people for enduring them all for us.

Theo Epstein Rocks?

I didn't know that either.

The Beachwood Reporter has the back story, and several videos of Theo on stage.

Quinn vs. Quade

I contributed to this little intellectual exercise at the Beachwood Reporter.

You can read it here.

Chicago Mayor

Now that Daley isn't running, the Beachwood Reporter did a rundown of every conceivable candidate for Mayor, and calculated their odds of winning.

You can read it here.

McCaskey Smackdown

I just read Steve Rhodes' scathing smackdown of Michael McCaskey, and it sums up beautifully why Chicago is so happy to see him step down as the Chairman of the Bears.

You really should read it.

Zambrano & Carrey

According to the Chicago Tribune, Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano said he would like to work with Jim Carrey someday. I contributed to this piece in the Beachwood Reporter speculating on what that might look like.

Rock Trivia

The Beachwood Reporter collects these little tidbits of rock trivia. I enjoy checking out the list occasionally. Among the 575 items...

Cat Stevens went to Catholic school.

Ray Charles' favorite dessert was sweet potato pie.

Neil Young's early band, the Mynah Birds, featured future super freak Rick James.

Carly Simon's father co-founded Simon & Schuster.

The Who's Keith Moon died in the same apartment that Mama Cass died in four years earlier.

The Osmonds earned more Gold records in a single year than any other group in history.

Nice Guys Finish Last

University of Chicago Press just re-released "Nice Guys Finish Last" in paperback, and I was asked to review the book for The Beachwood Reporter. My full review is here.

Here's a short excerpt:

Durocher was a bench warmer on those great Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig Yankee teams in the late 1920s, a spark plug for the legendary "Gas House Gang" in St. Louis in the 1930s, the manager of the Dodgers when the color line was broken in the 1940s, and the manager of the Giants in the 1950s when Willie Mays came to the majors and Bobby Thomson hit the shot heard 'round the world.

His stories about his run-ins with the baseball executives of the day, including Yankees owner Ed Barrow (Leo told him to "Go f*** yourself"), Cardinals owner Branch Rickey (the tightwad Bible-thumping baseball genius), Dodgers owner Lee McPhail (the manic-depressive lunatic), and Giants owner Horace Stoneham (the distant drunk), are almost inspiring in their iconoclastic furor.

But I'm a Cubs fan first and foremost, and for me the most interesting parts of the book were the little tidbits about some of the all-time Cub greats like Pat Malone, Charlie Grimm, Billy Herman, Bill "Swish" Nicholson, Rabbit Maranville, and of course, the Cubs that Leo managed in the late 60s and early 70s.

Those Cubs years were still fresh news when Nice Guys Finish Last first came out, and while I love the inside look at my childhood heroes, this entire section does make Leo sound like he's attempting to settle some scores. He calls out Ernie Banks as a phony, and implies Ron Santo was an overrated dimwitted baby. He calls Milt Pappas an agitator, and implies Joe Pepitone was God's punishment for Leo's own behavior as a player.

Perhaps the most shocking part of the book for me, though, was Leo's portrayal of Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley. Durocher, who has almost nothing nice to say about anyone (except Willie Mays and Eddie Stanky), calls Wrigley "The finest man to work for in the world" and "The most decent man I've met."

I did not see that one coming.

Olympic Day in Chicago

If you like a little local snark, check out this piece in the Beachwood Reporter.

I contributed to this tribute to today's "Olympic Day" in Chicago.

My latest for the Beachwood Reporter

I review the salad bar at Chuck E. Cheese's in Batavia.

No, I'm not kidding.

Rhodes vs. Zorn

If you haven't been following this battle between Eric Zorn at the Chicago Tribune and Steve Rhodes at the Beachwood Reporter, you're missing some fireworks. Check it out...

The battle takes place here

Inauguration musings

A few of my observations during the inauguration were posted by the Beachwood Reporter. If you're interested, you can read that here. (Don't worry, it's not in-depth political anaylsis...just one liners.)

Other Inaugural Balls

I contributed to this piece in the Beachwood Reporter.

It's a list of the lesser-known Inaugural Balls you might have missed.

Guide to Blue-State Living

Some of my Republican friends are still in shock over the way the country has been wrestled from their hands. With them in mind, I contributed the following piece to the Beachwood Reporter. It's a Guide to Blue-State living to help them adjust to the new sheriff in town.

Blago, oh Blago

Now that Roland Burris is actually trying to be seated in the Senate, Blago is back in the news again today.

While I was on blogging hiatus, I contributed this piece about our *cough* Governor to the Beachwood Reporter (2nd item in the link): "Twas the Night before Fitzmas"

By the way, Bridget has some relatives in Louisiana, and they were giving us grief in their Christmas cards about our corrupt government here. When Louisiana is giving you grief about corruption, you have officially become the laughing stock of the nation.

Blackhawks at Wrigley

I did watch that Hawks game yesterday, but I couldn't help but think..."How much did people pay for those seats in the bleachers?" Those looked like pretty crappy seats.

When this game was first announced, we had a little fun with the concept over at the Beachwood Reporter. We called it "Take Me out to the Hawks Game."