Friday, May 27, 2011

Coming this weekend

I'll be going to soccer and baseball games with my youngest son Sean all weekend, so I won't be posting anything on any of the blogs.

Just One Bad Century will go back to this week in 1908 and 1945 as usual, but I won't have a new Father Knows Nothing column or a new Chicago Radio Spotlight interview. Those will both return next week. Regular posts on this blog will return on Tuesday.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

People of Walmart song

Real pictures of real Walmart customers, put to music...


People Of Walmart Song - Watch more Funny Videos

Sink the Bismark

70 years ago today, the British sunk the most fearsome German battleship, The Bismark. It was made into a movie in 1960 (Frazier Thomas used to show it all the time on Family Classics). It was also made into a hit song by Johnny Horton...



I turned it into a parody song for Landecker & the Legends when the movie "Titanic" came out. Our version of the song was called "Sink the Titanic."

Rodrigo Lopez?


This is how desperate the Cubs are for pitching right now. They just traded for a 36-year-old Triple A pitcher who led the league last year with 37 home runs allowed.

Details are here.

Sights & Sounds


Sights & Sounds this week features video of Jack Brickhouse talking about his all-time favorite Cub, and a song written by your humble editor and performed by radio legend John Records Landecker during the 1994 Cubs season.

Watch and listen here.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Fun with Passive Aggressive Techniques

My weekly "Suburban Dad" contribution has been posted to the "City Mom" blog at ChicagoNow, inspired by the recent impressive passive aggressive shot delivered by my teenage son.

You can read it here.

I Dream of Chicago

This song aired in the final episode of "The Chicago Code." It's done by a Des Moines band named Parlours. Not bad...

Sticking a Fork in it

This is not me talking, mind you, it's a reporter from a television station in South Bend. He is ready to stick a fork in the Cubs season, and has a good reason for doing so. (You can read his reasons here)

I've always been accused of being quick with the fork (last year I stuck it in the season on May 1--but I was right).

I don't know if I'm giddy from the blowout win last night, or if it's just because I can't in all good conscience hand off the division to the likes of Dusty or Tony LaRussa, but I'm not quite ready to stick the fork in the season yet. On the other hand, I'm just being honest when I tell you that I have taken it out of the drawer, and I have polished it.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Bo Diddley

45 years ago today Bo Diddley went into a Chicago recording studio and recorded the song "Who Do You Love?" Bo is gone, but the song lives on. (It's a regular part of George Thorogood's act)

Sammy loves the Heat


Did you see who was in the stands for the Bulls-Heat game the other night in Miami?

Yup, it was Sammy, and he was rooting for the Heat.

At least he has given up on the idea of bleaching his skin. He looks like the same old Sammy.

Monday, May 23, 2011

The JOBC Contest

On this day in 1967, the Cubs purchased the contract of a little used infielder from the Chicago White Sox. He played briefly for the Cubs, but became better known as their notorious manager a few decades later.

What was his name?

The first person that e-mails me the correct answer at rick@justonebadcentury.com will win a commemorative Greg Maddux 3000th strikeout scorecard, an autographed copy of the excellent baseball novel "The Pitch" (by Hank Owens), plus a t-shirt from the Just One Bad Century catalog.


UPDATE: Congratulations to Joe Kane. He was the winner in this week's JOBC Contest. He knew that Lee Elia was the answer and was the first one to e-mail me at rick@justonebadcentury.com. Of course, we all remember this fine Lee Elia moment from his managing days

Brown Sugar

#1 this week 40 years ago. Keith and Mick still looked good...

Joke for a Monday morning

Warning: This one is NOT for all-ages. If you're easily offended, don't read on. Contributed by "DS"...


Ted buys a Harley. The seller tells him, "whenever it looks like it's gonna rain, rub Vaseline on the chrome so it won't rust." And he hands Ted a jar of Vaseline.

That night, his girlfriend takes him to meet her parents. So they take the bike, but just before they go in to her parents' house, she says: "I have to tell you, when we eat, we don't talk. In fact, the first person who says anything during dinner has to do the dishes."

"Okay", he says.

Sure enough, after they sit down, no one says a word. As dinner goes on, Ted decides to test the situation, so he reaches over and grabs his girlfriend's chest. Nobody says a word. So he stands up, rips her clothes off, and has his way with her right there, in front of her parents. But no one says a word. So he grabs the mom, and does the same to her, then sits down. But still, total silence.

All of a sudden there is a loud clap of thunder, and it starts to rain. Ted remembers his bike, so he pulls the jar of Vaseline from his pocket and stands up.

The father shouts: "Alright, already, alright! I'll do the dishes!"

Power Outage

Our power went out last night during the 4th quarter of the Bulls game and the 8th inning of the Cubs-Red Sox game.

Thank you, God.

Oh, and also thank you for not ending the world. We can't go until Oprah does.

Marlon Byrd

I don't know if you saw that pitch that hit Marlon Byrd in the face, but it was gruesome. (He's on the 15-day DL with multiple face fractures). I sure hope he's OK. That kind of an injury can affect his eyesight, which is an essential tool for a baseball player.

I'm betting that there were more than a few Boston fans in the stands that were instantly reminded of one of their heroes from about 40 years ago. I remember it well. They had a young star named Tony Conigliaro who also was hit in the face with a pitch. He was never the same after that.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This week's is called "Birthday Party Failure".

You can read it here.