Chicago Radio Spotlight: Dave McBride

I just posted my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week I talked to former Murphy in the Morning and Steve Dahl show newsman Dave McBride.

You can read it here.

Grover Cleveland Alexander

He was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.

He was also one of the most troubled.

Read all about Grover Cleveland Alexander here. He was born on this day in 1887.

Trailblazers

Laura Ricketts, one of the new owners of the Chicago Cubs, has been making news because she is the first openly gay owner of a major league sports franchise.

But, as the Windy City Times noted yesterday, she was preceded by an openly gay owner of the Iowa Cubs (our Triple-A affiliate).

Read all about him  here.

Breakfast Club

25 years ago today...

The Breakfast Club

Ron Santo

Would you believe that Ron Santo is 70 years old today?

Happy birthday Ron.

In honor of Ron's birthday, we're going to replay one of our favorite moments in Cubs broadcasting: The day that Harry and Ron discussed Ron's toupee.

Ouch.

That's the only thing to say to this poor guy. Ouch.

Pinky

He didn't have the manliest of nicknames, but Pinky Pittenger was once a member of the Chicago Cubs. He was smart as a whip, but sadly, not that great in the field.

Pinky was born on this day in 1899.

Read all about Pinky here.

Zeppo Marx

We all remember Groucho and Chico and Harpo, but what about Zeppo? He was the youngest Marx brother, and he appeared in several of their films. His last one was "Duck Soup."

Zeppo was born this week in 1901, and yes, you guessed it, Zeppo was a Cubs fan--just like his brothers.

William Peterson

The former CSI-star turned 57 over the weekend. Of course we all know what team he roots for, don't we?

Read all about his Cubs love here.

Miracle on Ice

NBC had a wonderful tribute to the 1980 Miracle on Ice game yesterday afternoon. Al Michaels hosted it along with Mike Eruzione, Mark Johnson and Jim Craig. I was tearing up a little bit remembering the emotions of that moment.

It's hard to believe it was 30 years ago today. Here are the closing seconds one more time...


I was living in Europe at the time. My dad woke me up at three in the morning to watch that game. He had a feeling that something special was going to happen.

By the way, they didn't show the USA-Canada game on Olympics prime time last night. They only showed the last 30 seconds of the game. Wouldn't want to miss a second of Ice Dancing.

1910/1935

 One hundred years ago this week, the Cubs are preparing for yet another NL Pennant winning season. Meanwhile, in Egypt, the nation is shocked by the assassination of their Prime Minister: Boutros (that's just one Boutros) Ghali.

(Photo: Johnny Kling of the Cubs)




Seventy five years ago this week, the Cubs are preparing for yet another NL Pennant winning season. They're nowhere near the headlines in the newspapers though, because this is the week that Bruno Hauptmann is convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnap/murder of the Lindbergh baby.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest "Father Knows Nothing" column at NWI Parent. This one is called "Brother's Little Helper" and it's about the "help" Tommy's brothers are giving him now that he has a broken leg.

You can read it here.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Ray Stevens

I just posted my latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. This week I talk to Ramblin' Ray Stevens, the morning host at WUSN, US-99.

You can read the interview here.

We are the World

I'm getting soft in my old age. I really enjoyed the new "We are the World." I thought they did a real nice job. Jennifer Hudson is my personal favorite...

Sights & Sounds

Incredible video from the 1910 World Series, and audio from a 1936 Cub-Sox game are featured today on Just One Bad Century.

I'm sorry, but you're just not going to find this stuff anywhere else. We make Cubs history come to life.

Check it out here.

Adam Greenberg

Remember Adam Greenberg?

His major league career lasted for exactly one pitch...and it hit him right on the noggin. The whole story is here.

Adam turns 29 this weekend and still hasn't given up his dream of returning to the big leagues. Here's hoping he somehow defies the odds.

E-mails, we get e-mails...

"RP" writes...

Bill Holub is so right. I appreciate it every year when you publish his words.

Each year when the World Series ends, I'm sad. Even when my beloved Cardinals have won it all, there was a tinge of sadness. I'm never good at goodbyes, and each year on that day, I finally have to say goodbye to summer. For six months, something will be missing. I guess it's all because of my upbringing. I started falling asleep to the sounds of the game on the radio when I was eight years old, and I fell in love. Since then, there have been only two seasons. Baseball season and not baseball season.

Indeed, the sweetest words.

The Sweetest Words in the English Language

Bill Holub and I worked together at the Loop (WLUP) in the 1980s and early 90s. Every year on this day, he would walk up and down the hallways of the Loop saying..."The sweetest words in the English language: Pitchers and Catchers Report."

When I started writing this blog five years ago, I asked Bill to write about that, and every year when pitchers and catchers report, I bring it back it out for another spin.

You can read it here.

Time to Celebrate!

I had a pretty awesome day yesterday.

I finished the first draft of my second novel first thing in the morning, and I was pretty excited about it for nearly an hour.

In addition to that, later in the morning I signed a contract with an agent for a non-fiction book I'm co-writing with a friend. That's a HUGE step. Very exciting. I was excited about that for another hour.

(What are these books about? All in due time. I don't want to tip my hand quite yet.)

Around noon I pitched a TV show idea (a full proposal already registered with the Writer's Guild) to a long-time friend with connections. His initial reaction was very enthusiastic. If he gets behind this, it could really happen. Crossing my fingers there.

More excitement.

Then it was time to pick up the boys (including broken leg boy), help with homework, make dinner on a meat-free Ash Wednesday, and...to tell you the truth...by the time I sat down for my celebratory Guinness (I like to celebrate in style), I couldn't quite remember what I was celebrating.

That's probably because I know I'm still a long way from the finish line on all three ventures. Last novel was a series of premature celebrations. (I actually wrote about that when it came out. You can read that here.) Last non-fiction book proposal was just the beginning of the writing process. I've also had a dozen or so meetings about TV shows and movie scripts and initial excitement often leads to nothing.

But still...a good day.

Cheers. The Guinness was delicious.

Who wants a horny TV host?

This cracked me up...