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...

Hats off to Harry

Twelve years ago today, we lost a true legend: Harry Caray. (Photo: Harry terrifying Hillary)

I was working for John Records Landecker (WJMK) at the time of Harry's death, and I wrote the lyrics to the following song for John and his band The Legends. It's a parody of the song "Hats off to Larry" by Del Shannon.

We called our song: "Hats off to Harry."

Pat Pieper

Today would have been Pat Pieper's 124th birthday.

Never heard of Pat Pieper? You must be a youngster. He was the PA man at Wrigley Field for many many years.

Read all about him here.

Mardi Gras 1956

This is a cool look back in time...

Whoops

Sometimes the scoreboard proposal isn't such a good idea...even on Valentine's Day.

Carl Lundgren

He was one of the pitchers on the last World Champion Cubs team and he was born on this day, exactly 130 years ago.

They called him The Human Icicle.

Happy Mattress Day

I used to think that the "Mattress Sale" phenomenon every President's Day was inexplicable. But then came the Clinton administration.

After that story emerged, I did some research, and realized that Kennedy, FDR, LBJ, and especially Warren Harding lived up to the mattress sale concept too.

Not to mention the immortal Thomas Jefferson. Just ask his thousands of descendants.

So, in honor of our many presidents, Happy Mattress Day to one and all.

President's Day

On this President's Day, we remember the many times the President of the United States has seen fit to watch a certain team from the north side of a certain city. Read about some of those examples here.

Here is the photographic evidence...

Valentines Day history in Chicago

Between the famous St. Valentine's Day massacre...






...and the notorious murder of the mastermind of that massacre (Machine Gun Jack McGurn) exactly seven years later...



...the Cubs were in the World Series three times.

Since then they've only been in it twice.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This one is called "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and it tells the tale of Tommy's broken leg.

You can read it here.