Queen of Soul

One queen pays tribute to another...

At Changing of Guard at Buckingham Palace this morning, Respect paid to Aretha Franklin. pic.twitter.com/UEKa0ekmf5

— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) August 31, 2018

Free kicks, Episode 14

Schweinsteiger's big day, Premier League week 3 (including Jose's meltdown), and a Man U quiz...

Listen here.

Eckhartz Press on the Radio

Eckhartz Press author Richard Reeder (1001 Train Rides in Chicago) will be on Rick Kogan's radio show (WGN, 720 AM) this coming Sunday evening, September 2, at about 9:30, talking about the new book. Hope you tune in. Richard's a great guest, and Rick Kogan is a great interviewer.

Recalling Pre-Season Football, The Old School Days

Eckhartz Press author Chet Coppock writes a great piece today in Sports History Weekly.

It's about the old Bears training camps in Indiana, and the battles between Papa Bear Halas and his star defensive end Doug Atkins.

You can read it here.

Clint Dempsey Retires

Did not realize he was also the all-time leading scorer (in the Premier League) for Fulham...

231 appearances
60 goals

...Congratulations on an incredible career, @clint_dempsey - our @premierleague top scorer! 👏

📝: https://t.co/MKS2zXMaHI #FFC pic.twitter.com/yfxVRQPrAm

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) August 29, 2018

Goats Like it When You Smile at Them

From "The Cut"...

To better understand how well goats respond to human social cues, the scientific academy gathered 20 goats who were “habituated to human presence” from Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats in the United Kingdom. Then, the goats — 12 males, 8 females — were released into a pen decorated with images of happy and angry humans; observing from afar, the scientists timed how long the goats interacted with the different photographs, noting which expressions they preferred. In short, the scientists learned that goats can “distinguish between happy and angry images of the same person,” and in general, they prefer their humans to be happy.

For the record, I feel the same way about happy goats.

Sinclair Countersues

From this morning's RAMP Newsletter...

Earlier this month, Tribune Media withdrew from its proposed merger with Sinclair Broadcast Group, while announcing a $1 billion lawsuit against Sinclair, alleging breach of contact after its failed negotiations with federal regulators over the deal. Yesterday, Sinclair returned the favor and filed a countersuit against Tribune. As the Los Angeles Times reports, the counterclaim maintains that Sinclair "pushed hard" to secure regulatory approval for the proposed tie-up and called Tribune's subsequent attempt to distance itself from Sinclair "self-serving." Sinclair is asking a Delaware court to find that Tribune was the one that broke the terms of the merger agreement.

Clint Dempsey

The all-time scoring leader for the U.S. Men's National Team has retired. Great career, Clint Dempsey...

Clint Dempsey's final goal for the USMNT to tie Landon Donovan's all-time record was a thing of beauty. 👀

Thanks for the memories, Deuce. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/yBY6ivpA3D

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 29, 2018

Cleese Wisdom

I thought this exact same thing when I heard the news yesterday that Trump told Evangelical leaders the left would be violent...unless Republicans win. Huh?

President Trump forecasts violence if the Democrats win the mid-term elections. This, apparently, will come from the left wing

But wouldn't the left be more upset if they LOST ? Surely WINNING would reduce their bloodlust...

So, to assure a less violent America, vote Democrat

— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) August 29, 2018

Trump vs. The Internet

Yesterday President Trump accused Google of conspiring to stifle conservative voices by making bad news about himself rank higher than the slobbering conservative press coverage of the fake world he wants to exist. That's right, the president was googling himself, and was dismayed to find out most news about him is bad.

Of course, it's another conspiracy.

If you're keeping track at home, the conspiracy now includes the FBI, the CIA, the DNC, Hillary, the mainstream press, Robert Mueller and his angry band of conflicted Democrats, his own Attorney General, the Justice Department, and now Google...oh and also Twitter. That's right, Twitter. The medium that got him elected--that one is unfair to him too.

This is why Bill Maher calls him "a whiny little bitch."

Schweinsteiger

The good news is that Schweinsteiger scored a goal in his homecoming to Bayern Munich (the Chicago Fire played them in an exhibition game). The bad news (for Chicago fans) is that he scored it for Bayern. He played for his old team in the second half. Bayern won 4-0. Actually it was a heartwarming moment for Bastian...

Thanks to our friends at the @ChicagoFire for a good game, and safe travels back to the Windy City. 👊#ServusBasti pic.twitter.com/F4GIU7Oxkn

— FC Bayern US (@FCBayernUS) August 28, 2018

I saw this live

I'm glad it was captured on camera. Great job by the fan...

At Wrigley, it's ALWAYS happy hour! pic.twitter.com/NrJCdvkPqn

— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) August 28, 2018

Dogs are the best

"Kirk, a female Border Collie, watching herself win the 2017 Purina Pro Challenge." pic.twitter.com/4lDS1cADh0

— 🐶🐱 (@moodloop) August 26, 2018

John McCain on SNL

He appeared several times over the years...

Cubs Win!

Bobby Skafish and I were invited into the Cubs radio booth last night. What a thrill. Thanks to Pat Hughes for the invite, Ron Coomer & Zach Zaidman for the hospitality, and Dave Miska for snapping this photo.

Scott Miller

I first met Scott Miller when he was a twelve year old fan of WJMK. He has since made radio his career, and this week announced his next step. Via Robert Feder's column this morning...

Scott Miller, who’s been an outstanding producer for a variety of Chicago radio stations, is becoming a full-time on-air personality. He’s been hired to host afternoons at WJBC, the Cumulus Media news/talk station in Bloomington, starting September 10. Miller, whose credits include Oprah Radio, Tribune Broadcasting and FM News 101.1, most recently was morning show executive producer at Hubbard Radio classic rock WDRV 97.1-FM. “I’ve worked with and learned from the best in Chicago for over 20 years; it’s time to follow in the radio tradition of stealing all their bits and making them my own on WJBC,” he said. “Now if I can just get a hold of Piranha Man, 100,000 disco records and re-work the lyrics to ‘On Top of a Pizza!’”

RIP Neil Simon

One of the funniest men who ever graced the American theater, the great Neil Simon passed away over the weekend. I strongly recommend his book "Rewrites" to any writer--he goes through his writing process and it's absolutely fascinating.

Here he is with old pal Johnny Carson...

Small Man

When an American hero dies, even if he was your political enemy, you do the right thing and you thank and praise him for his service...unless you're President Trump. He couldn't quite bring himself to do it for John McCain.

The two men who defeated McCain's runs for the presidency, President Bush and Obama, both of whom fought with McCain often and sometimes harshly, will be delivering his eulogy.

That's how it's done.

The president is a small man.

Minutia Men, Episode 105

EP105: Rick and Dave discuss bad German haircuts, a Tinder competition, a man impersonating a ghost, Dave’s favorite Cub ever, and Rick’s brush with Robert Urich.

Listen to it here.

Free Kicks, Episode 13

EP13: Adam and Rick discuss Premier League week 2, the English definition of “cracker”, and Rick quizzes Adam about Chelsea.

Listen to it here.