Tuesday, November 12, 2019

I got a little verklempt

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Monday, November 11, 2019

John Oliver Kills It

Remind me never to f with John Oliver. The last five minutes of this video is one of the greatest things I've ever seen. His response to finding out that you can say anything about someone who has sued you, as long as it's obviously a joke...



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Minutia Men--Lorne Greene & Loerzel


This week's episdode includes one of my favorite stories we've ever covered, and believe it or not, it takes place in Afghanistan. Also, we interview Chicago journalist Robert Loerzel. Take a listen if you get a moment.

You can listen to it here.
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Friday, November 08, 2019

Baby Blue Suits

Love this picture...

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Hilde


Happy birthday to my mom, a person with more energy today at 78 years old, than I have ever had. I think the energy gene skips a generation. These are her energetic grandsons skiing with her.
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Mason Profit

My college buddies and I have been going down memory lane lately talking about songs we used to play on our old radio station WPGU. Most of these were songs the Townies in Champaign-Urbana requested. This is one I got calls for all the time, and it's been in my head the last two days...

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Nothing to see here

Trump ordered by judge to pay $2M in damages, after he used a charity’s $ to help his businesses and to buy art of himself.

The **President of the US** now isn’t permitted to start a charity in New York without special oversight from outsiders.

This follows up his previous fraud of Trump University, in which he was forced to pay millions to defrauded "students".

And 40% of the country believes that someone who is too corrupt to run a charity or a university was obsessed with rooting out corruption in Ukraine.

(Sigh)
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Thursday, November 07, 2019

Free Kicks--Battle of the Titans

This week's Free Kicks episode is largely about the Titans of the Premier League--Liverpool and Manchester City--previewing their big matchup this weekend.

Listen to it here.
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A day I never thought I'd see...


Cubs LOWERING ticket prices for season tickets.

They should bring back the Cubs play. It's a miracle.
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Tuesday, November 05, 2019

Kelly Crull

Sad to see this news in Robert Feder's column this morning...

Kelly Crull, who covered the Chicago Cubs (including their 2016 World Series championship) during her six years as a reporter for NBC Sports Chicago, is out at the regional sports network. “We appreciate everything Kelly has delivered to our network over the years and wish her nothing but success in her future endeavors,” the company said in a statement. Crull, who earned a journalism degree from the University of Missouri on a tennis scholarship, previously worked for Fox Sports Net in San Diego and Oklahoma City, and KOCO, the ABC affiliate in Oklahoma City.
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Monday, November 04, 2019

Snowflakes

Seriously, Trump fans. Nobody, but nobody, is a bigger slowflake than you are.

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Ken Korber


Enjoyed this podcast featuring Eckhartz Press author Ken Korber. Ken writes childrens books, and has several exciting series out already.

Listen to his story here.
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Gold Glover

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Minutia Men--Hash & Potash


Rick and Dave discuss a dead boyfriend, a lady in Red, a hash funeral, Rick’s brush with guitarist Adrian Belew, and they interview WGN-TV newscaster Larry Potash. [EP156]

Listen to it here.
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Friday, November 01, 2019

Jenniffer Weigel


This month's Illinois Entertainer is out and includes my interview with WLS's Jenniffer Weigel.

You can read it here.
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My favorite Minutia Men review

I especially like the "not over the top smart"...

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 stars.
Curiously Smart
At first I thought this was a show where a couple of comedians talk about current events, standard stuff. But after a couple of episodes you realize that there is considerable depth to their banter. Not over-the-top crazy smart, but pretty insightful. Also their celebrity interviews are fantastic.
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Thursday, October 31, 2019

It's snowing in Chicago too

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The history of Take Me Out to the Ballgame

This is a fascinating read. I never thought of the song as having a feminist message.

Once you read about the history of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" you won't be able to hear it any other way.

Also, love the name of the woman who inspired it: Trixie Friganza.
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Free Kicks--A Star is Born

In this week's episode we talk about the emergence of American superstar Christian Pulisic.

Listen to it here.
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Happy Halloween

The best Halloween song...

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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Insta-Rick

I set up my first instagram account today. (I know, I know, I'm a little behind the times here). When I got on Instagram I discovered there were three people impersonating me. First of all, what a weird person to impersonate. Secondly, if you were following "Rick Kaempfer" before today, it wasn't really me. Here's the real instagram address: https://www.instagram.com/rickkaempfer8/. Nothing really posted yet. Still figuring it out.
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Tuesday, October 29, 2019

A contrast in style

And class. And grace. And intelligence.

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Can you find Botswana on a map?

According to scientists, we all came from there originally. From CNN.com...

Africa has long been regarded as the cradle of humankind, but scientists seeking a more specific location have narrowed in on northern Botswana as the "homeland" for all modern humans, according to a new study.

There, south of the Greater Zambezi River Basin, which includes northern Botswana and parts of Namibia and Zimbabwe, the ancestors of Homo sapiens began 200,000 years ago, the researchers said.

Their new study, published Monday in the journal Nature, suggests that the ancestors of modern humans thrived for 70,000 years in this region before climate change led them to migrate out of Africa and eventually span the globe.
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Chicago Radio Ratings

This information comes from Robert Feder's column today. If you want the day-part breakdowns, click here. The Mix is #1 in mornings and afternoons. My old pals Bob Stroud (the Drive) and Greg Brown (WLS) are tied for #1 in middays.

1. WTMX 101.9-FM hot adult contemporary, 5.5 (4.2)
2. WVAZ 102.7-FM urban adult contemporary, 5.4 (5.7)
3. WDRV 97.1-FM classic rock, 5.2 (5.4)
4. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM all news, 4.9 (4.8)
5. WLS 94.7-FM classic hits, 4.8 (4.9)
6. (tie) WSCR 670-AM sports talk, 4.3 (4.3); WLIT 93.9-FM adult contemporary, 4.3 (4.2)
8. WXRT 93.1-FM adult album alternative, 3.8 (3.5)
9. WGN 720-AM news talk, 3.5 (3.2)
10. (tie) WRME 87.7-FM soft rock oldies, 3.4 (3.3); WSHE 100.3-FM adult contemporary, 3.4 (2.9)
12. WBEZ 91.5-FM public radio news talk, 3.3 (2.9)
13. WKQX 101.1-FM alternative rock, 3.1 (3.4)
14. (tie) WBMX 104.3-FM classic hip hop, 3.0 (3.2); WKSC 103.5-FM Top 40, 3.0 (3.5)
16. WOJO 105.1-FM Mexican regional, 2.9 (3.0)
17. WBBM 96.3-FM Top 40, 2.8 (2.9)
18. WGCI 107.5-FM urban contemporary, 2.4 (2.5)
19. WLS 890-AM news talk, 2.3 (1.7)
20. WUSN 99.5-FM country, 2.0 (2.7)
21. (tie) WLEY 107.9-FM Mexican regional, 1.8 (2.1); WMVP 1000-AM sports talk, 1.8 (1.6); WPPN 106.7-FM Spanish adult contemporary, 1.8 (1.7)
24. WVIV 93.5-FM Spanish contemporary, 1.4 (1.4)
25. WEBG 95.5-FM country, 1.3 (1.5)
26. WSSR 96.7-FM adult contemporary, 1.1 (1.0)
27. (tie) WCKL 97.9-FM contemporary Christian, 1.0 (1.1); WERV 95.9-FM classic hits, 1.0 (1.0); WMBI 90.1-FM Christian ministry, 1.0 (0.8)
30. (tie) WFMT 98.7-FM classical, 0.7 (0.8); WZSR 105.5-FM hot adult contemporary 0.7 (0.7)
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Rick on the Radio

Fun interview last night on WGN. Andrea Darlas treated me like a true journalist. I was on with Channel 2 anchorman Brad Edwards. At one point he told a tale of saving a homeless woman in Detroit. When Andrea asked me my proudest accomplishment, I almost said "I wrote 'King of Farts' for John Landecker, but I pulled it together in time to say something a little more appropriate.

Listen to the interview here.

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Monday, October 28, 2019

I want to believe, I really do...

...but I'm not sure about this hire. These boys need a swift kick, not a buddy. Hopefully Ross brings his kicking shoes.

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Rick on the Radio

If you're near a radio tonight (Monday), tune in to WGN-AM 720 between 7pm--8pm. I'll be on for the full hour with Andrea Darlas. We'll talk about my Cubs book (http://everycubever.com/) and whatever else she has in mind. Looking foward to it.
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Trump Wanders Outside of Bubble



The full story is here.
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Da Bears

This is how bad it's gotten with the Bears.

I watched the Liverpool-Tottenham game instead. And I didn't even think about switching over until halftime.

I watched two drives (interception, fumble), and switched it back to the Liverpool game for the second half.
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Everyone Loves Minutia Men

Recent reviews for Minutia Men, via Apple Podcasts...

Binge Worthy
★★★★★ in Apple Podcasts by plyamber65 from United States of America on October 14, 2019
This is a great podcast to binge a few episodes at a time. Quirky news stories, fun hosts and great guests.


Ok, new favorite comedy duo!
★★★★★ in Apple Podcasts by loveboyyyy from United States of America on October 11, 2019
These hombres crack me up. Great mix of topics and hilarious banter! This is a comedy pod you def need to add to your playlist. Perfect for my long commute!


Life’s about the little things
★★★★★ in Apple Podcasts by Michael Paul Smith from United States of America on October 11, 2019
And these guys are here for them (and you). You’ll feel like you’re in on every joke, because their chemistry is warm, funny, and inclusive. Get into it!


Good Stuff
★★★★★ in Apple Podcasts by WTPC85 from United States of America on October 7, 2019
They have voices for radio and our spot on with their content. They sound like they have been friends forever. Cheers!!


Binge Worthy
★★★★★ in Apple Podcasts by inacitylikeyours from United States of America on October 5, 2019
I’m always looking for podcasts that are not True Crime. I am a true crime junkie, and like to break up the murder with something more light. This podcast is one of those easy to get into podcasts. Check them out
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Minutia Men--Yes Please

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Free Kicks--Old Trafford

Adam and Rick discuss the power of Manchester United’s home stadium–Old Trafford. Also, play along with the Guess the Premier League Star game. Can you guess him before Adam does?

Listen to it here.
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Friday, October 25, 2019

Grossest Thing I've Seen This Week

It's not meatloaf. It's feetloaf. Severed-feet-shaped-meatloaf.

Click if you dare.
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Thursday, October 24, 2019

John Landecker, Second Act

My old buddy John Landecker is now using his talents on the stage: https://www.heraldargus.com/news/confronting-racism-on-stage/article_0d460d82-27cf-5396-bc99-383170bbda60.html
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Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Eight Men Out Myths


This is the 100th anniversary of the Black Sox throwing the World Series. That Series has been immortalized in film and books.

But did you know they got a few of the key facts wrong?

It's true. Here are Eight Myths about Eight Men Out.
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Meet Your New Cubs Manager

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Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Memories...

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Monday, October 21, 2019

End of an Era

I only went there a handful of times (it was for frat boys and sorority girls), but it was one of the few remaining places from my time in Champaign...

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Sunrise in Chicago

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South Park

Are you in interested in acquiring streaming rights to South Park?

No problem. Bidding begins at $500 million.

Not kidding.
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Wah wah

Not a good day at the old stadium for father and son yesterday. Bears got crushed.

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Pierre Delecto

This could be my favorite thing ever about Mitt Romney. Over the weekend he admitted to having a fake Twitter account that he uses to lurk and follow the political discussion online.

His fake name? Pierre Delecto.
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Saturday, October 19, 2019

Tommy Kaempfer

Can't believe my oldest son is 24 years old today. That sure happened fast.



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I-L-L...

Hadn't watched a game in two years, but for some reason I turned this one on today to see my alma mater shock the world...

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Friday, October 18, 2019

Bobby Del Greco

Lost another ex-Cub this week. RIP Bobby Del Greco. Here's his write-up in "Everycubever"...

~Bobby Del Greco 1933--2019 (Cubs 1957)
Del Greco was a well-traveled veteran. During his nine-year big league career, he played for six different teams. One of those teams (for a portion of the 1957 season) was the Cubs. Del Greco was mainly a center fielder who was known for his ability to cover a lot of ground. He wasn’t much of a hitter (career .229 average), however, so he never really managed to claim a full-time job. With the Cubs he only got into twenty games and hit .200 before the Cubs traded him to the Yankees in September. The Yankees used him to fill in for Mickey Mantle late in games, so the Mick could rest those ailing knees.
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A view from across the pond

If you're like me, every day you watch the news and think..."Is this really happening? Why aren't sirens going off in the streets? What must they think of us abroad?"

Well, here's one man's take. It's a little NSFW, but pretty dead on...

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Thursday, October 17, 2019

RIP Elijiah Cummings

A class act. A true mensch. Sad to hear about his passing.



His last tweet...

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Wednesday, October 16, 2019

MAGA

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Joe Maddon named Angels manager

I wish him well. Mark my words, we will miss him.

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Overrated, huh?

The Beatles re-released three singles from the 50th anniversary of Abbey Road, and all three of them are in the top 12 of Billboard's Hot Rock Hits...immediately. Two are George songs.

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Liberal Media?

Shari Redstone, currently working on merging CBS and Viacom, is planning on doing a conservative news network to go up against Fox News. The Hollywood Reporter has the news.

This did not come up at our secret liberal media meeting on Monday.

It's almost as if that whole "liberal media" thing is BS, because the people that own the liberal media are all conservative. Someone should write a novel about that. ($everance)
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Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Grow Old With Me

Not a great version, but I'm a sucker for anything these lads do..

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Rock and Roll Hall of Fame



If you get five picks, mine are...The Doobies (how are they not in there yet?), Kraftwerk (for innovation and inspiring others), Todd Rundgren (duh), T-Rex (same reason as Kraftwerk), and Thin Lizzy.

If you ignore the "rock and roll" part of the name, I suppose Whitney Houston, Rufus, and Notorious BIG should get some consideration too.

No way on the others.
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Great Casting Advice

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DVR for Radio

This is actually a pretty exciting technological development. Info courtesy of the RAMP Newsletter...

Entercom today announced the roll-out of RADIO.COM REWIND, an exciting new technology that gives listeners the ability to pause and rewind live radio, enabling users to consume their favorite shows and stations when its most convenient to them. The feature automatically records the broadcast and makes it easy for the user to navigate to their favorite show and begin listening at any point of the broadcast. This new functionality marks the first-ever all-in-one on-demand audio experience for broadcast radio content.

RADIO.COM REWIND unlocks the flexibility to consume broadcast radio content within 24 hours of airing. This feature allows listeners to fast-forward to live content at any time, resume their listening experience from where they left off and select a playback speed up to two times the original speed. In the coming months, users will also be able to share moments of live broadcast radio content for distribution on social media and via email.
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Julie Andrews Memoir


People Magazine has a few highlights from Julie Andrews' memoir, "Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years". It covers the years between 1964 and 1995.

I met in her in 1994. We had a moment. Someone please check the index for me.
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Monday, October 14, 2019

A Columbus Day song?

Yes, that's right. A real one. Made the top 100 in 1964. It's the Reflections doing "Just Like Columbus Did"

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Sunday, October 13, 2019

Free Kicks--The Sack Race

Which Premier League manager will be fired next? That's one of the topics of this week's Free Kicks. We also talk about which magic words to the ref will get you a yellow card. You may surprised by the answer.

Listen to it here.
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Minutia Men--Johns and Johnsons

My old pal Catherine Johns joins us this week for Minutia Men. Please don't blame her for anything that happened before the interview begins. It's slightly NSFW.

Listen to it here.
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Brilliant

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Friday, October 11, 2019

Book of the Year Finalists

From the Eckhartz Press blog...



Eckhartz Press is proud to announce that two of our books have been named finalists for the CWA (Chicago Writers Association) Book of the Year. In the Indy Fiction category, William Mansfield’s harrowing tale of recovery after a dog attack “The Scar Dance” claimed one of the four finalist slots. In the Indy Non-Fiction category, Rick Kaempfer’s “Everycubever” is one of the three finalists for Book of the Year. Congrats to those two Eckhartz Press authors! We have now had nine finalists (John Landecker, Mitch Michaels, Ken Churilla, Bobby Skafish, Lee Kingsmill, Pat Colander, ML Collins, Rick Kaempfer and William Mansfield) and two winners (Pat Colander & ML Collins) in our eight years of existence. We strive for excellence, and we thank our talented stable of writers for delivering.
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Tomorrow's Podcast guest

We talked to Catherine Johns for this week's Minutia Men podcast. She gave a heads up what we might be talking about in her post on Linked In...

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Guest Podcaster

Had a lot of fun recording this with Brent in my home studio...



Here is a photo of the sunset from my time in Rovinj...

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Thursday, October 10, 2019

Go Hawks

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Wednesday, October 09, 2019

Happy birthday John

He would have been 79 years old today. In honor of his birthday, this is currently my favorite John solo song...

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43 New Charges

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Matt Lauer

New charges...

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Real Housewives of the Premier League

This story is amazing. It features the wife of English soccer star Wayne Rooney, and the wife of English soccer star Jamie Vardy. From the Guardian...

Coleen Rooney has claimed to have caught another footballer’s wife passing her private information to the Sun, after apparently running an elaborate sting operation that involved placing false stories in the tabloid newspaper.

Rooney, an online influencer who is married to the former England international Wayne Rooney, said she was forced to act after a series of posts on her private social media account appeared in the media. She has publicly accused Rebekah Vardy, the wife of fellow England footballer Jamie Vardy, of being the individual who was leaking the private information.

Vardy, a former contestant on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, has denied any involvement and suggested someone else may have had access to the password for her Instagram account. The Sun has not disputed Rooney’s suggestion that Vardy was the source but amended all the disputed stories on its website to note that they could have been fabricated.
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Tuesday, October 08, 2019

Thanks for the memories Schweini!

One of my all-time favorite players is hanging up his cleats...

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New boss at ESPN Chicago

Mel Karmazin's son, the new owner of ESPN Radio in Chicago, made his first move. This news comes courtesy of the RAMP Newsletter...

In a surprising turn of events, Beasley Media Group announced that Mike Thomas, who has successfully led the programming efforts of the mighty WBZ-FM (98.5 The Sports Hub)/Boston since its 2009 launch has made one of those "life decisions" -- in an effort to a) be closer to his family, and b) fulfill a career goal of becoming a Market Manager, Thomas has accepted a new position as Market Manager for Good Karma Brands Sports-Talk WMVP-AM (ESPN 1000)/Chicago, starting in January 2020.

"We're thrilled to welcome Mike Thomas to the team," said Craig Karmazin, Founder & CEO of Good Karma Brands, who will continue to serve as interim Market Manager. "We're thrilled to welcome Mike Thomas to the team," Karmazin said. "He is the epitome of best-in-class and his expertise, passion for Chicago sports and sports-radio experience will elevate what already is a powerhouse brand." Thomas exclaimed, "As a lifelong Chicago sports fan, this is a dream come true. It's so exciting as ESPN 1000 Chicago has a great team, loyal advertising partners and passionate fans. This also gives me the opportunity to be close to my family and work with a company, who like me, has Midwest roots and a passion for sports!"

I'm not sure he realizes quite what he is getting into here. ESPN has really been struggling. I expect there will be some other changes coming soon.
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Monday, October 07, 2019

RIP Rip, Ginger & Diahann

Lost three big names over the weekend. RIP all of them...





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A Letter from Tom Ricketts

I think this went to all the season ticket holders, but I was happy to receive this e-mail from Tom Ricketts over the weekend...

Cubs Fans,

In a season full of ups and downs, we are grateful for your incredible, ongoing support. While we enjoyed several exciting wins at Wrigley Field and solid individual performances from many of our players, we struggled to deliver as a team in the moments that mattered most. Falling short of our potential and failing to make the postseason for the first time in five years was extremely disappointing for all of us. We share your desire for change and are committed to building our next championship team.

As we look forward to creating our future success, it is important we also take a moment to honor a vital part of our past five years. I join our staff, players and fans in offering a heartfelt thank you to Joe Maddon. Joe’s leadership and dedication helped ignite one of the greatest eras in Cubs baseball. He guided us to the most postseason victories in our franchise’s history and helped bring the World Series trophy home to Chicago. We are forever grateful for Joe’s immense impact on our organization, fans and city and wish him continued success and happiness.

As Theo shared during his end-of-season press conference, we are focused on strengthening our roster, defining our team identity and fostering a culture of accountability to help us return to championship-caliber form. Selecting our new manager is just one of the many actions we’ll take. While it’s premature to predict the extent of change, we will be open-minded, thoughtful and thorough as we explore new opportunities and evaluate all levels of our operations to identify areas of improvement. I’m confident our Baseball Operations staff will make the right decisions to maximize our opportunity to win now while also ensuring our long-term success.

Whether we’re working to field a competitive team or preserve Wrigley Field, we keep you at the heart of everything we do. We don’t take your support for granted and will continue to find impactful ways to enhance your experience and provide best-in-class service at our ballpark and Gallagher Way.

While we’re already working to address our challenges, we understand October should be a time for meaningful baseball games not promises of offseason action. We appreciate your faith in our team and look forward to enjoying more division titles and deep postseason runs together. We believe that’s what we’re capable of and what you deserve.

Go Cubs,

Tom Ricketts
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Minutia Men--Fat Bees and Sting, please

Rick and Dave discuss fat bees, he really is just happy to see you, scamming scammers, Rick’s brush with Sting, and they interview great Chicago photographer Barry Butler. [Ep153]

Listen to it here.
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Friday, October 04, 2019

Eckhartz Press Finalists

Congrats also to Eckhartz Press author William Mansfield who also was named a finalist...

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Book of the Year Finalist


It was a disappointing Cubs season this year, but I was honored to find out this week that my book "Everycubever" is a finalist for Chicago book of the year (In the Indie-Non-Fiction category). That's a first for me. Takes a little sting off the Cubs season.



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Free Kicks--The Ugliest Kits

Adam and Rick discuss the perils of playing it out of the back, the up-and-coming Leicester team, the ugliest kits in the Premier League, and they play “Guess that Premier League Star”

Listen to it here.
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Thank you Joe

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Wednesday, October 02, 2019

The Look on His Face

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Chicago Radio Ratings

There's a new station on top. Info courtesy of Robert Feder's column today. He has the dayparts broken down if you want more specific information. Click here.

1. WVAZ 102.7-FM urban adult contemporary, 5.7 (5.0)
2. WDRV 97.1-FM classic rock, 5.4 (5.4)
3. WLS 94.7-FM classic hits, 4.9 (3.8)
4. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM all news, 4.8 (4.8)
5. WSCR 670-AM sports talk, 4.3 (4.1)
6. (tie) WLIT 93.9-FM adult contemporary, 4.2 (4.5); WTMX 101.9-FM hot adult contemporary, 4.2 (5.7)
8. (tie) WKSC 103.5-FM Top 40, 3.5 (3.8); WXRT 93.1-FM adult album alternative, 3.5 (3.5)
10. WKQX 101.1-FM alternative rock, 3.4 (3.4)
11. WRME 87.7-FM soft rock oldies, 3.3 (2.9)
12. (tie) WBMX 104.3-FM classic hip hop, 3.2 (3.1); WGN 720-AM news talk, 3.2 (2.8)
14. WOJO 105.1-FM Mexican regional, 3.0 (3.0)
15. (tie) WBBM 96.3-FM Top 40, 2.9 (2.9); WBEZ 91.5-FM public radio news talk, 2.9 (2.8); WSHE 100.3-FM adult contemporary, 2.9 (3.1)
18. WUSN 99.5-FM country, 2.7 (2.6)
19. WGCI 107.5-FM urban contemporary, 2.5 (2.5)
20. WLEY 107.9-FM Mexican regional, 2.1 (2.0)
21. (tie) WLS 890-AM news talk, 1.7 (2.1); WPPN 106.7-FM Spanish adult contemporary, 1.7 (1.9)
23. WMVP 1000-AM sports talk, 1.6 (1.4)
24. WEBG 95.5-FM country, 1.5 (1.6)
25. WVIV 93.5-FM Spanish contemporary, 1.4 (1.5)
26. WCKL 97.9-FM contemporary Christian, 1.1 (1.0)
27. (tie) WERV 95.9-FM classic hits, 1.0 (1.1); WSSR 96.7-FM adult contemporary, 1.0 (0.6)
29. (tie) WFMT 98.7-FM classical, 0.8 (0.8); WMBI 90.1-FM Christian ministry, 0.8 (0.9)
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Rob Hart


The latest issue of Illinois Entertainer is out and includes my interview with WBBM Newsman Rob Hart.

Read it here.
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Monday, September 30, 2019

Joe Maddon/Joe McCarthy

The five year reign of Joe Maddon as manager of the Cubs reminds me a lot of a similar five-year reign by a Cubs manager in the late 20s. His name was Joe McCarthy. That Joe never had a losing season, took the Cubs to the World Series (1929) and was let go after the Cubs collapsed in the closing days of the 1930 season. He did OK after he left the Cubs. He went on to manage the Yankees, and won seven World Series. Two of them were sweeps of the Cubs. (And yes, of course, his story is in everycubever)
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Kaempf-toberfest


Threw an Oktoberfest party at my house over the weekend. My apologies to the neighbors. It got a little loud. Bridget really wanted to throw a party. I was on grill duty...and agreed to wear the lederhosen.
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Minutia Men--Hops, Skip & a Jump

Rick and Dave discuss Jenkins at the White House, spotted cows, Dave’s awards, Rick’s brush with David Lee Roth, and they interview singer/comedian Skip Griparis.

Listen here.
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Free Kicks--Chelsea Blues

Crazy weekend at my house. Sorry. Forgot to post this on Friday.

Adam & Rick discuss Chelsea’s climb up Liverpool mountain, throat-crushing Man City, the bubbles at West Ham, take a quiz about a Premier League star, and pick the scores of the top 5 games for next weekend.

Listen to it here.
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Thursday, September 26, 2019

Al Franken

Look who has re-emerged! Al Franken signs deal to host a talk show for Sirius/XM.

It will good to get him back on the radio. When he was with Air America he was a good counterbalance to Rush and his ilk. I think that radio show actually showed the people of Minnesota that Al was more than just a comedian.

He was super serious as a senato thoughr. Hope he remembers to keep it light like he used to. That's the secret of Rush. He's a hyper partisan, but he's also funny (for conservatives).
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Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Truth

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Dahlcast


I was invited to go to the live Dahlcast last night at Zanies in Rosemont by Joe Callahan, and I thought, "what the heck, I haven't seen that before".

Enjoyed it. They did three shows and I had to leave during the third one, but I enjoyed it very much. It was nice meeting Joe. I saw a few people I haven't seen in years (like Jennifer Keiper in the picture), and Steve fans from many years ago. Didn't get a chance to talk to Steve or any of the other guys in the show (or Janet), but only because I couldn't stay all the way until the end.
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Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Will Byington

Another great photographer captures my favorite city in the world...

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Why are they so scared of a 16-year-old girl

16-year-old Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg is really freaking out the right wingers. Go on Twitter and look at the responses she is getting, if you want to see a real cesspool.

A guest on Fox News called her a "mentally ill Swedish girl". That made Fox News do something it never does--they apologized and banned him from their station.

Get a grip, people. She's 16. She has Aspbergers. She's really smart. But she is no threat to you. Stop acting like whiny little brats. She's the one that's 16. Not you.
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Monday, September 23, 2019

Todd Manley

WGN Shakeup underway. From Robert Feder's column...

It didn’t take long for the new owner of WGN 720-AM to start shaking things up. Less than 24 hours after acquiring the former Tribune Broadcasting news/talk flagship, Nexstar Media Group fired Todd Manley, station manager and vice president of content, and named news and operations director Mary Sandberg Boyle interim boss. Manley, who’d headed programming since 2013, took the fall for WGN’s precipitously low ratings. In the latest Nielsen Audio survey, the station tied for 16th place overall, with mornings, middays, afternoons and evenings all out of the top 10. In a meeting with staffers Friday, new executive vice president Sean Compton hinted at more changes to come.
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Autumnal Equinox

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Minutia Men--Mind the Gap

Rick and Dave discuss the pigeon poop problem, the science of semen extraction, the Cubs we lost this week, Rick’s brush with Walter Payton, and they interview the voice of the London Underground, Emma “Mind the Gap” Clarke.

Listen to it here.
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Friday, September 20, 2019

17th birthday

This is what he really wanted for his birthday, so I took him last night. Great game, but the end results were a little disappointing.

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Free Kicks--Upset of the Year


The latest episode of Free Kicks is out. We've now started to give score predictions for our wagering friends. If you're a Premier League fan, check it out: https://radiomisfits.com/fk44/
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Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Jimi

He was only 27 when he died, and he died on this day in 1970...

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Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Strawberry Fields

The place that John Lennon sought refuge as a kid is finally opening to the public. Strawberry Fields is in Liverpool, and it inspired the Beatles song.

Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.


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RIP Alex Grammas

On Friday September 13, we lost another ex-Cub. Alex Grammas played on the Cubs in 1962-1963, the last two seasons of his playing career. He later became a coach, and served on the staffs of two World Series champs (1975 Reds, 1984 Tigers). Here is his obit.

Here's his entry in Everycubever...

~Alex Grammas 1926--2019 (Cubs 1962-1963)
Grammas was a big league infielder for ten years, the last year and half of which were with the Cubs. He came to the Cubs (along with Don Landrum) from the Cardinals in the midst of the College of Coaches fiasco. The veteran glove man backed up young Cubs studs Ken Hubbs, Andre Rodgers, and Ron Santo. After his playing career he became a big league manager for the Pirates and Brewers.
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Bobby & Chuck

Happy birthday to two Eckhartz Press authors today, Bobby Skafish and Chuck Quinzio. Best way to celebrate their birthday is to buy their incredible books ("We Have Company: Four Decades of Rock and Roll Encounters" and "Life Behind the Camera"). Both are still available at www.eckhartzpress.com. If you love television (Chuck's book) and rock and roll radio (Bobby's book), you won't be able to put these books down.

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RIP Cokie Roberts

One of my favorite political pundits is gone. Cokie Roberts was 75 years old.

They are dropping like flies now.

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Monday, September 16, 2019

RIP Ric Ocasek

Lost another R&R great over the weekend--the Cars singer/guitarist Ric Ocasek was found dead in his apartment in Manhattan. He was 75. Actually I was surprised he was that old. That means he was 40 when this song was a hit...

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