Mike Krukow

Former Cubs pitcher Mike Krukow is celebrating his 58th birthday this week.

Krukow pitched for the Cubs from 1976-1981, and during those years he was a well known prankster.

Cubs fan Jerry Pritikin (The Bleacher Preacher) told Just One Bad Century all about one of the pranks that Mike Krukow liked to pull. Watch the video here.

Bohemian Rhapsody

This is incredible...

Beer People vs. Wine People

My latest article just came out in Shore Magazine.

It's called "Beer People vs. Wine People."

Thanks to all the readers of this blog that helped me write this piece!

Lew Fonseca

Lew Fonseca was a big-league player that played for, among other teams, the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox between 1921-1933. Fonseca was born on this day in 1899.

He never played for the Cubs, but he did become one of their very first radio announcers.

He is part of this audio montage of early Cubs announcers.

Leno addresses his PR nightmare

Jay Leno is upset about the way he's being portrayed in the media, and it's true, he is getting killed from a PR standpoint. He had taken a few veiled shots at the powers that be, but he hadn't addressed it directly until last night. You probably missed this too, so I'm posting it here if you're interested.

This is Jay's explanation of everything that has happened...

YouTube's biggest star

I wouldn't know this if I hadn't searched for video from 1945 for my This Week in 1945 feature at Just One Bad Century.

YouTube's biggest star is Adolf Hitler.

There are literally thousands and thousands of different videos featuring Hitler, mocking Hitler, using Hitler as a comic foil, and yes, even Lego Hitler. Have you seen them?

You've probably seen a number of different versions of that subtitled scene from the Hitler movie, where Hitler is in the bunker and gets the news that the end is at hand. But have you seen Hitler singing?

For my money, these are the most inspired. This morning I was looking for a clip of the Jefferson's theme song because the show premiered exactly 35 years ago today. Guess who I found singing that song?

Yup. Here it is. This is pretty darn funny.

Hopefully I haven't been put on some sort of a government watch list for posting this (not to mention watching a hundred or so others).

1910, 1935

One hundred years ago this week, the Cubs are preparing for yet another NL Pennant winning season. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the world's first Aviation Meet is held.


Seventy five years ago this week, the Cubs are preparing for yet another NL Pennant winning season. Meanwhile, the FBI corners and kills the Barker Gang, including Ma Barker and her son Freddie.

All you need is love

This is pretty cool...

Tom Clay

I post this every year on Martin Luther King day because I believe there's nothing more appropriate. The man who put this together is Tom Clay. Clay was a Detroit disc jockey who captured a terrible time in history almost as perfectly as possible...

The First Lady

Michelle Obama celebrated her birthday over the weekend. The First Lady of our country is (gulp) 46. Yes, that's right, she's my age.

While the First Lady may not be a Cubs fan, the Cubs have always been very good to the Ladies. In fact, they invented something called "Ladies Day."

Read all about that tradition here.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This is one is about my middle boy Johnny, and it's called "Definitely not a Vulcan."

You can read it here.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Matt Spiegel

Chicago Radio Spotlight is back for another year. This week I interview The Score's Matt Spiegel.

You can read it here.

Neil Young sings Fresh Prince

"BP" sent me this video with the title: "The only funny thing Jimmy Fallon has ever done."

Peter Kaempfer

My little brother is 40 years old today! Here's a picture of him at his favorite place in the whole wide world...Chicago's beautiful Wrigley Field. I'm on the left, he's on the right, and that's our cousin Martina between us. Of course, he was only his 30s then...

John Fogerty

Twenty five years ago today he released this great song: "Centerfield." This video is not from 1985, it's from Soundstage in Chicago in 2007, but it's a great version...

The Who

They released this song on this day, exactly 45 years ago. This is what they looked and sounded like in 1965.

Sights & Sounds

Sights & Sounds returns to JOBC today to begin another year. This week I go into my archives for my oldest video and my oldest audio.

A baseball film from 1898 filmed by Thomas Edison, and a recording of Casey at the Bat performed live on stage in 1909.

Great history is here.

Another great mustache

This great mustache signed with the Cubs on this date in 1998. It belonged to reliever Rod Beck.

Read more about the man they called "The Shooter" here.

Humphrey Bogart

He died on this day in 1957.

One of the things I loved about Bogie is that he loved baseball.

Sarah's favorite founder

I've been trying to put my finger on why it is that I think Sarah Palin is such a lightweight. I think I finally know what it is.

She sounds like a high school student answering an essay question...someone that hasn't read the material, so she just strings words together, hoping to at least get a few points on the answer. See if you agree. Here she is yesterday with Glenn Beck...



This is not a political statement on my part. It's just an observation. I honestly think she doesn't have the slightest idea what she's talking about.