Key Cleaner

Thanks to "BJ" for this one. It's shockingly effective... (Just kidding, kids. Don't try this at home)

Letterman's Last Month

I've been watching David Letterman's show lately, and he's really going out with a bang. His last show is coming soon. It will be on May 20th. Adweek has some details about the upcoming guests...

George Clooney, Billy Crystal, Robert Downey, Jr., Tina Fey, Michael J. Fox, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Martin, Bill Murray, Sarah Jessica Parker, Don Rickles, Julia Roberts, Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern, John Travolta and Oprah Winfrey are just some of the guests lined up for the final 28 Letterman-hosted shows. Among the musical guests scheduled to perform are Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Mumford and Sons and Tom Waits.

I'm still in denial that we're losing both Jon Stewart and David Letterman in the very near future. Maybe it will help me get to bed sooner.

Lawrence Phillips

The story of Lawrence Phillips just got even worse.

He was a star running back at the University of Nebraska and a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft (by the Rams), but he has been plagued by off-the-field problems his whole adult life. A few years ago he was sentenced to prison for assault. Yesterday he was accused of killing his cellmate.

The Washington Post has the details.

Cumulus Loses Voice-Tracking Battle

This happened the other day, but I was remiss in not reporting it here. From Radio Online...

Close to a dozen current and former employees of WLUP FM 97.9 "The Loop" and WKQX FM 101.1 in Chicago have been awarded back pay dating from last spring to present day after an independent arbitrator ruled against Cumulus Media over the company's use of voice-tracking. The decision follows two days of hearings held last January, instigated by the Chicago local of the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the union representing broadcast talent. The primary issue was whether Cumulus had the right to use voice-tracked recordings of air personalities seven days a week or on holidays while paying them only for a standard work week. The arbitrator ultimately ruled that the practice was in violation of the union's contract.

Union victories are so rare these days (the odds are stacked against them), that I felt I had to offer my support. I'm not in this union anymore, but I do support them because of moments like this.

Dan Mason

The president of CBS Radio, Dan Mason, has stepped down after his second stint running the radio division for CBS. The RAMP Newsletter has the details...

He initially served as President of CBS Radio from 1995-2002, where he oversaw the integration of the original CBS, Group W, Infinity Radio and American Radio Systems stations. After a five-year stint as an adviser and consultant to CBS and other companies, Mason returned to CBS Radio in 2007. As Mason's memo concluded, "Most people are lucky enough to have one great run at the helm of an organization -- I've had two. My thanks to Leslie Moonves, who has been so supportive of every new road we traveled down since this extraordinary second time around began for me in 2007. His desire for great content has been an inspiration for all of us and will no doubt continue to be the foundation of the company. Thank you as well for facing every opportunity with optimism and dedicating yourselves to teamwork, excellence and creativity. You have been great colleagues. I look forward to seeing you all grow in the years ahead, adding to a long list of successes."

Mason was running the company when I worked for it in the 90s and early 00s. We only had one experience with him directly. He had been a big fan of Landecker's in the 70s, and when he heard our show in 1996 (when it was in the top 5 in the market), he said he wanted us to play more music. It took us two full years to recover from that terrible advice, because it was doled out as if it was gospel. And it was wrong.

Chicago Radio Ratings

Robert Feder has posted the most recent radio ratings. He lists the top ten in both mornings (led by WBBM) and afternoons (also led by WBBM).

But the big story is that the new country station in town is already beating US-99 in the 25-54 demo. That's the only demo advertisers care about, and that has to be a wakeup call for US-99.

Why was Eric Burdon known as The Eggman?

I never heard this story before, but according to this piece, when John Lennon referred to "The Eggman" in the song "I am the Walrus", he was referring to Eric Burdon.

Why? It involved Eric, girls and eggs.

Sounds messy to me.

Leslie Moonves

I'm taking up a collection for the CEO of CBS, Leslie Moonves. In 2013 he was riding high--and pulled in a salary of $66 million.

Last year he had to make do with a salary of only $57.2 million.

That poor bastard.

John Dickerson

CBS didn't waste any time naming the new host of Face the Nation.

Bob Schieffer's replacement will be John Dickerson. Dickerson is a second generation journalist. His mother Nancy was the first female correspondent for CBS.

I Knew It!

FINALLY! The answer to the question... pic.twitter.com/Bvw2fqotcl

— Chris Nickles (@nicklesradio) April 11, 2015

Toddler DJ

I thought this was a cool article about a 2-year-old disc jockey in South Africa.

You know what's even cooler? The video at the bottom of the article.

Hillary's Announcement

This is what everyone in the media was breathlessly waiting for. I hope you're sitting down. Hillary is apparently running for president...

Theo Throws At Clark

Theo Epstein was in South Bend to throw out the first pitch at a Cubs minor league game, and Cubs mascot Clark was in the batter's box.

Theo threw a brushback pitch.

I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing.

Disappointing Jon Hamm News

Everyone loves Jon Hamm, right? Not so fast. The first chink in his armor emerged when he announced he was a Cardinals fan. The second chink is much worse. Turns out, he was a bit of a bully in college.

We all did stupid things in college (thank God there were no cell-phone cameras then), but this hazing story from his days at the University of Texas is pretty bad.

These Are The Good Old Days

A Rough Day for the Graphics Department

The Cubs game aired on Channel 7 in Chicago the other day (their first Cubs broadcast in many years), and it's safe to say that the graphics department had a rough day. Here's the most obvious mistake, but there are several others at the link...

The Opie & Anthony Feud

They were a radio duo for twenty years, but split up last year after Anthony went on a racist Twitter rant and was fired. Since then, they have been airing some of their long-simmering dirty laundry.

Newsweek has the story. Here's a small excerpt...

The duo’s fight was in many ways a long time coming: Both Anthony and Opie point to events from as long ago as 1999, as well as multiple “jabs” exchanged between the two since Anthony’s firing. “Since he got fired nine months ago, he’s been passive-aggressively taking shots at me on podcasts, allowing people on his show to trash me,” Opie said on his show this week. The disagreements, which have been raised on social media and on air, include everything from how Opie treated Anthony's girlfriend in the late '90s to Anthony not visiting Opie's home.

“Me and Anthony had not had a relationship since 1999. That is a fact,” Opie said on his show on Tuesday. “Before that, from '94 to '99, we were best friends.”

The tipping point was supposedly a woman Anthony was dating in the late '90s. When the pair moved from Long Island to Massachusetts, they were both in serious relationships. “It was the four musketeers,” Anthony says. “We were new in town, new at doing this kind of radio. It was exciting, fun and we depended on each other very much.” The foursome wouldn’t last, as Anthony and his wife began an ugly divorce in 1999, and he eventually began dating someone new. “Opie’s girlfriend was very good friends with my wife, so he had to deal with his girlfriend, who is friends with my wife, who I can’t stand because of the divorce process,” Anthony says. “It was instant resentment. I broke up the team.”

For Chicago fans, this story is very reminiscent of the Steve & Garry breakup.

A Radio Stalker

This is a terrifying story from the RAMP Newsletter. Everyone who has ever been in radio has encountered some sort of stalking issue, but for women it's much scarier...

Over the years, many of us in the radio industry have casually tossed around the old "Play Misty For Me" reference when discussing a particularly over-zealous fan. However, in the case of Mary Lucia of Minnesota Public Radio's KCMP (89.3 The Current)/Minneapolis, that frightening scenario is all-too-real -- and deadly serious. Lucia recently revealed that she's been dealing with a stalker for over a year, and due to the emotional toll this situation has exacted upon her, Lucia announced she's taking a leave of absence from a job she loves. In a candid letter posted on The Current's website, Lucia gave her listeners some insight into what her life has become as a result of this personal terror, as she wrote, "My friends, This has been a tough year for me. I have been stalked; by someone I do not know, at both work and home. I hope no one else ever has to go through this. My life over the last year has involved a series of restraining orders, seemingly endless calls to 911, the installation of security cameras at home, and police photo ID line-ups. I've been constantly looking over my shoulder, dead-bolting doors, and jumping when someone rings my doorbell or my motion lights go off."

The station's PD is taking over for her while she's away. I know him--his name is Jim McGuinn. He worked with me in Champaign. Jim's a good guy. Mary is lucky to have an understanding boss. Hopefully she can reclaim some normalcy in her life.

Whoops.

Eddie V's Road Show

Eddie Volkman has posted his podcast featuring me.

You can listen to it here.

My portion of the show begins at 3:45 mark. I'm on the podcast for the rest of the hour.

The Civil War

Last time I was in South Carolina, I swear they had not yet heard this news...

150 years ago today, the Civil War ended. https://t.co/nwasllse77

— Bernie Tafoya (@ChicagoFile) April 9, 2015

The 12 Biggest Movie Flops

I've seen 4 of the 12 on this list, and three of the four I've seen most definitely deserve to be movie flops. ("Waterworld" is the worst movie I've ever seen. It was like getting stabbed in the eyes repeatedly.)

I liked The Lone Ranger.

Don't care what the critics said.

The Golden Bear

75-year-old Jack Nicklaus hits a hole-in-one at Augusta. He's still got it.

Watch it here.

The White House Correspondent's Dinner

This year's MC is SNL cast member (and Chicago's very own) Cecily Strong. She comes across as humble and self effacing in this interview.

That has to be a terrifying gig. I'm always rooting for the MC not to bomb.

Bob Schieffer Retires

Schieffer is the host of Face the Nation and has been with CBS News for 46 years.

He actually tried to retire about ten years ago, and they wouldn't let him. It looks like he's really leaving this time.

SNL in WDC?

Another SNL alum has declared his candidacy. Gary Kroeger is running in Iowa.

Will he someday join his fellow SNL alum Al Franken on Capitol Hill?

Jon Stewart on Trevor Noah

Jon Stewart returned from vacation last night and talked about the firestorm facing his replacement Trevor Noah...“He is an incredibly thoughtful and considerate and funny and smart individual, and man, I think, you give him that time, and it’s going to be well worth it.”

Video is here.

Behind The Scenes at the Clinton White House

This piece in Politico is a refresher course in the drama that was the Clinton White House, but it makes me feel a little icky. It's secret behind-the-scenes stuff from the servants who worked there.

RIP Stan Freberg

The Hollywood Reporter has the news of his passing. He was 88 years old.

Stan was the godfather of the wacky satirical bit.

Eddie & Rickbo

Thanks to Eddie Volkman for having me on his podcast yesterday. That was fun. I understand he will post it on Thursday. I'll post a link when it's up...

Maybe Salt Isn't That Bad For You

That's the discussion in this Washington Post article.

I hope the professors who posit this theory are not on the payroll of the big salt companies, because this is a story I really want to believe.

Eddie V's Road Show

If you're downtown, stop by...

It's "National Beer Day"! Perfect to come and join us @HarryCarays for today's taping with @RickKaempfer! pic.twitter.com/lp9MPfRvVu

— Eddie Volkman (@EddieVolkman) April 7, 2015

Radio Money Makers

From Tom Taylor's NOW column...

In the Chicago-market 2014 revenues, BIA/Kelsey places all-news WBBM at #1. That agrees with the 2014 estimates from Miller Kaplan, and in fact a comparison of the Miller Kaplans (January 23 NOW) with the BIA/Kelsey numbers shared by Chicagoland Radio & Media shows the two services agree on the entire Top Ten, station by station. The biggest variance between them might’ve been their assessment of 2013 (prior-year) billing for talk WGN. But let’s get to the BIA/Kelsey numbers - #1 is CBS Radio’s all-news WBBM/WCFS (780/105.9), down from $42 million in 2013 to $39.2 million in 2014. #2 is Hubbard’s hot AC “Mix” WTMX, down dramatically from an estimated $37.5 million to $30.9 million. #3 is Tribune’s talk WGN, down from $29.2 million to $27.3 million. (Miller Kaplan had WGN up two-tenths of a percent, to $29,266,000.) #4 in BIA/Kelsey is CBS Radio’s rhythmic “B96” WBBM-FM, off from $25.3 million to $22.7 million. #5 is CBS all-sports “Score” WSCR, off from $24.8 million to $22 million. #6 is yet another CBS property, giving that company four of Chicago’s top six. It’s country “US99.5” WUSN, at $21.2 million this time. #7 is iHeart’s top 40 “Kiss” WKSC at $20.2 million. #8 is iHeart urban AC “V103” WVAZ at an estimated $19.5 million. #9 is Univision’s regional Mexican WOJO at $18.5 million. And #10 is iHeart’s urban WGCI at $18.2 million. Note the ground rule for BIA/Kelsey about revenue – they don’t include off-air revenue such as concerts and other live events.

The "Power" of Satire

This is a brilliant piece in the Baffler about the explosion of satire in this country. This is a pretty good thesis paragraph, taken from about 2/3 through the piece...

We often hear talk of satire’s devastating impact on its targets. But this age of humorous excess has shown that satire, even when delivered in the sharpest and most unforgiving forms, hardly makes a dent. The proliferation of satirists has multiplied the amount of funny material out there. But it has diminished the belief that satire, political or otherwise, can serve any real purpose beyond amusing us.

Rick on the radio

I was on WGN radio last night between Midnight and 1am, and I'm a little bit groggy this morning. Turns out I'm not 22 anymore. The host of the show was Patti Vasquez, and I'm pretty sure she had no idea who I was. She kept referring to me as the "official Cubs historian" (which I'm not) before switching to "Cubs biographer" (which I sort of am). I gave it my all, and hope it was entertaining for the audience, but I have a feeling that was my last ever post Midnight radio appearance. That 6am wakeup call to take the boys to school was a bit much this morning.

(WGN posted the interview on their site, if you're interested. My section starts around the 12:35 mark.)

Tomorrow afternoon I'm heading downtown to tape an interview with Eddie Volkman for his new podcast "Eddie V's Road Show". It tapes at Harry Caray's at 5pm. If you're in the area, stop by and say hello.

Next week I've got a TV spot lined up to promote "Father Knows Nothing". I'll fill you in more as we get closer.

Jack Diamond is back at WLS

He left under a medical cloud a few months ago, but Jack Diamond has recovered sufficiently to return to his morning gig at WLS-FM.

Robert Feder has the details.

Cubs Apologize For Bathroom Fiasco

I wasn't at the game last night (thank God), but it appears there was more going on than just the 0 for 13 hitting with runners in scoring position. There was also this small matter with the bathrooms: Cubs apologize for bathroom fiasco.

It's a good thing Cub fans don't drink much, otherwise there would have been a big problem with the limited bathroom choices...oh wait a minute.

Easter Rabbits

Would you believe the Cubs have had three different players over the years known as Rabbit?

We featured them yesterday at JOBC under the title Easter Rabbits.

You can read it here.

Field of Dreams

I think I have something in my eye...

Funny Tweet

why isn't humanity extinct yet pic.twitter.com/F8sfcYUjfP

— Quad (@QuadPiece) April 2, 2015

Is the Iran Deal a Good One?

I honestly don't understand the issues well enough to offer an educated opinion, but this article by an expert in weapons inspections is a great read.

It's a long and thorough analysis of a pretty difficult-to-understand situation. The headline says it all: "This is an astonishingly good Iran deal"

I hope he's right.

Et tu, Netflix?

One of the biggest complaints about Hollywood these days is that they recycle ideas rather than take risks with bold new concepts. Places like HBO, Amazon, and Netflix have been the exception. Their original series have tended to push the envelope, and they've been rewarded with viewers and Emmy awards.

Scratch Netflix from that list.

Their latest proposed series is a "Full House" revival.

Sounds Painful

Thanks to "JD" for this one...

Elliott Harris

Elliott Harris was a sportwriter for the Chicago Sun Times for many years. When I started up Just One Bad Century, he was working on a book about the 1908 Cubs, and we exchanged notes to help each other out. He also posted a number of stories about my website, and I was always grateful about that. I only met him once in person (at the release party of our book "Cubbie Blues"), but I've always considered him a friend and a heck of a guy.

When I saw another "Cubbie Blues" contributor (Brian Bernardoni) post this tweet yesterday, I feared the worst...

My friend @elliottharris wrote the hardest & most beautiful piece about fatherhood & love. http://t.co/TGGMBrBxxq

— B.A. Bernardoni (@BrianBernardoni) April 2, 2015

Elliott's daughter (only 36 years old) passed away. Elliott wrote a gut-wrenching and heartbreaking tribute to her. You can read it here.

My deepest condolences and prayers go out to Elliott and his entire family.

Only in Germany

Volker Kraft hung 10,000 colored eggs in his apple tree this week in Saalfeld, Germany...(Source: USA Today)

Wrigley Construction

Here's an update, with then and now photos...

Wrigley Field construction then and now. 1937 bleachers 2015 videoboard #TBT #WrigleyField pic.twitter.com/0PDn1vxLlA

— Wrigley Field (@WrigleyBlog) April 2, 2015

Another update. First things first...

Budweiser sign now up in Right Field #WrigleyField #WrigleyRenovations pic.twitter.com/SX95RmA285

— Wrigley Renovations (@WrigleyRenovate) April 2, 2015

Doing the Impossible

Escaping a Tow Truck. Watch the video below. Anyone who has ever lived in Chicago will be cheering on the crazy man in the white car, because tow truck drivers in Chicago are notorious for their aggressive towing practices. Once you've been towed, even if you were towed incorrectly, you still have to pay the towing fee. It's happened to me.

Roberto Garza Leaving the Bears

This is a bummer, but it's the reality of professional sports.

According to a Chicago Tribune report, the Bears are releasing their long-time offensive lineman Roberto Garza.

It's a Good Thing I Didn't Go To Law School

I just read this article about the ways Indiana lawmakers are changing their "religious freedom" act to make sure they are clear it does not allow discrimination. I read it four times.

I'm still not 100% sure I understand what is says. I think it sounds like a reasonable fix, but I can't be positive there wasn't some sort of loophole inserted.

Legal-ese really makes my head hurt.

Julian's Tribute to his Mom

Cynthia passed away yesterday. Julian wrote a song about her and posted it...

RIP Cynthia Lennon

Sad news, delivered by her (and John's) son Julian.

Cynthia Lennon has passed away at the age of 74.

Her story and John's treatment of her is actually pretty tragic. It's hard for me to reconcile John the man (who treated his wife so terribly) and John the artist.

Eddie V

This month's Illinois Entertainer column has been posted.

I spoke with Eddie Volkman about his new podcast, the current status of his relationship with Jobo, and his plans for the future.

You can read it here.

Joni Mitchell

This news broke late last night. Joni Mitchell was found unconscious in her home and was taken to the hospital.

She has since regained consciousness, but as of this morning, she was in intensive care. Sending positive vibes to Joni--I hope she fully recovers.

I met Joni back in 1985 when she came to Champaign-Urbana for Farm Aid. Our radio station had a party the night before the concert, and she was one of the artist who came to say hello. She was super nice and gracious to us. (I met most of the others backstage the next day at the show--and trust me--they weren't all that way)

She's probably best known for "Woodstock", but to me, this one is her masterpiece...

We're #10!

The top billing radio stations in America were revealed yesterday, and Chicago only has one of them. From Tom Taylor's NOW newsletter...

Three CBS all-newsers are in the top ten (at #4, #7 and #10). And you’ve already read about Hubbard’s #2-ranked WTOP Washington DC. So here’s the BIA/Kelsey top ten list - #1, iHeart CHR KIIS Los Angeles ($65.9 million). #2, all-news WTOP at $63.5 million. #3, iHeart CHR “Z100” WHTZ New York at $51 million. #4, CBS Radio’s all-news WCBS New York at $49.2 million. #5, iHeart hot AC KBIG Los Angeles at $42.9 million. #6, iHeart adult contemporary “Lite” WLTW New York at $41.5 million. The #7 rank is a tie between two CBS-owned stations in New York - all-news “1010 WINS” and all-sports WFAN-AM/FM, both at $41 million. #9 is CBS Radio’s alternative rock KROQ Los Angeles at $40.2 million. And #10 hails from Chicago – CBS-owned all-news WBBM (780/105.9 FM) at $39.2 million. Once upon a time, if a Chicago station made the national top-ten list, it was Tribune’s talk WGN. Now we see the muscle of all-news.

Harvey Weinstein Accused of Groping

I suspect if Hollywood was ever fully investigated for this sort of thing, there would thousands of similar stories (the casting-couch phenomenon). The one line that jumps out at me in this article about Harvey Weinstein is that the woman in question didn't know who he was. It shouldn't matter, of course, but if she did know he was a powerful and feared Hollywood producer, would she have gone to the police?

Again, it shouldn't matter. I just wonder.

It's also important to note that Weinstein hasn't been charged with anything. He was only questioned by police.

The Next Live Musical?

I'm still not over the live Sound of Music starring Carrie Underwood as Fraulein Y'all and Nazi's with American accents, so I may not be the right target audience for this.

I would like to point out, however, that The Wiz was never good.

Why on earth would you remake that one? An attempted explanation is here.

Van Halen on Jimmy Kimmel

David Lee Roth hit himself in the nose with a microphone, and that's why he has it taped up.



Here's the video of the first take, with David Lee Roth getting taped up off-stage...

Today on JOBC (March 31)

A year ago the Cubs playing on Opening Day. We're still a few days away from that this year, and the construction crew at Wrigley is pretty happy about that. Have you seen it lately? Cross your fingers.

The Cubs plan to honor the late Ernie Banks on Opening Day. Ever wonder how Ernie's stats line up based on modern baseball statistics? The Sun Times did an analysis yesterday. Turns out, Ernie really was one of all-time greats.

Yesterday the Cubs sent Bryant, Russell and Baez down to the minors. All three figure to be in the starting lineup for Triple-A Iowa in April. Javy's situation is analyzed by CSN Chicago.

On JOBC...

How long ago was 1908? Chicago had a Republican Mayor and the wrong "inventor" of baseball was declared. He didn't invent baseball, but he did start the Civil War. Abner Doubleday was the man who led the Union troops at Fort Sumter. All that and the Cubs barnstorming their way back to Chicago at This Week in 1908.

Today's Cubs birthdays include a tongue twister.

Who will replace Jon Stewart?

According to Variety, one of the people being considered as the new host of the Daily Show is named Trevor Noah.

Read about him here.

UPDATE: He was just named new host of the show. So there.

A sampling of his stand up comedy...

Hot Rod Hundley

Sad news from Arizona in Tom Taylor's NOW column...

“Hot Rod” Hundley played eight seasons of pro basketball with the Lakers – both in their original market of Minneapolis (where the name made sense) and then L.A. (where the team became legendary, despite the relative lack of lakes). When Hundley’s playing days were over, he made the difficult transition to sportscaster, working for the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns - then calling the games of the NBA Jazz for 35 years. He followed the expansion team from New Orleans to Salt Lake City in 1979. The Jazz announced over the weekend that Hundley passed away at 80, at his home in Phoenix. He’d been dealing with Alzheimer’s. The Sporting News says in 2010, “the Jazz hung a banner in his honor, and redecorated the press room, featuring a mural with his signature phrase, ‘You Gotta Love It, Baby.”

Johnny B

To say that Johnny B has landed on his feet is putting it mildly. Today his show debuts on 100 stations nationwide. From this morning's Radio Ink...

Westwood One says The Jonathon Brandmeier Show is rolling out on 100 stations today. The 10 to 1 weekdy talk program will incude as affiliates, KABC-AM in Los Angeles, KLIF-AM in Dallas, WWBA-AM in Tampa and KKAT-AM in Salt Lake City. Brandmeier's home bas affiliates is WLS-AM in Chicago. Westwood One’s SVP for Affiliate Sales Dennis Green said, “We are elated to be launching Jonathan Brandmeier on 100 stations. Our affiliates have come to trust the Westwood One team to provide the best talent for stations and Brandmeier will be no exception. The new wave of Talk Radio Unhinged is coming to your market as we feature news as entertainment as only Johnny B can deliver!”

Johnny B could be the first step in syndicated radio's movement away from political talk. Several of those stations he's appearing on used to be 24-hour conservative-talk stations.

Every Cub Ever (Z)

Today Just One Bad Century features EVERY CUB EVER beginning with the letter Z. 12 entries in all–from Zip Zabel to Dutch Zwilling.

What will you find there? Four classic baseball cards, three videos, one manager, three Cubs who played in the first season at Wrigley, a player who was banned from baseball and worked in a speakeasy, Big Z, Bunions, Popeye, and the very last entry in the baseball encyclopedia.

Check it out here.

Spring Break

I enjoyed everyone's spring break pictures on Facebook. It inspired me to take my family to Greece. Uh..I mean Greektown. Sort of like going to a foreign country.

The Bernstein-Spiegel Apology Tour

If you've missed the controversy, two talk-show hosts from the Score (Matt Spiegel & Dan Bernstein) have been in hot water over tweets they made discussing the physical anatomy of a female CSN sports host, Aiyana Cristal.

Both men apologized profusely on the air already.

Cristal's statement leads you to believe she isn't completely satisfied with the apologies.

The Association for Women Journalists is definitely not satisfied either.

I get what people are saying about the apologies--claiming both men are only apologizing because they were caught. But while I'm not a big fan of the way Bernstein conducts himself on the air (there is no-one who belittles his own listeners more than he does), I also listened to his apology, and it was obvious to me that he was sincere. He knows he absolutely shouldn't have said what he said, and is truly sorry for saying it. Spiegel's apology was even more heartfelt and authentic, in my book. These were not the typical "I'm sorry you were offended by my comments" apologies that blame the offended and not the offender.

I understand why both Cristal and the AWJ are still upset, but I honestly don't think Bernstein and/or Spiegel should have to say or do more than they already have...other than to never do it again.

I'd be shocked if either of them ever did.

On the other hand, it's not too late for sports radio to add more female voices, and more women behind-the-scenes (producers, management, etc.) From that perspective, this can turn into a positive moment. It's about time to end that whole locker room mentality. It's not even appropriate in a locker room anymore. There's no doubt that it exists in sports radio. No doubt at all.

In offices where there are more women around, men simply don't feel comfortable saying these sorts of things. They'll still think them, but at least they'll have the common decency not to say them out loud.

Midnight Rider

Pretty darn awesome version of the tune...

More Cosby Accusers

Same story. Same ickiness.

Two more women.

If this is a conspiracy against Cosby, it's a massive one.