Musings, observations, and written works from the publisher of Eckhartz Press, the media critic for the Illinois Entertainer, co-host of Minutia Men, Minutia Men Celebrity Interview and Free Kicks, and the author of "The Loop Files", "Back in the D.D.R", "EveryCubEver", "The Living Wills", "$everance," "Father Knows Nothing," "The Radio Producer's Handbook," "Records Truly Is My Middle Name", and "Gruen Weiss Vor".
Friday, October 11, 2019
Book of the Year Finalists
Eckhartz Press is proud to announce that two of our books have been named finalists for the CWA (Chicago Writers Association) Book of the Year. In the Indy Fiction category, William Mansfield’s harrowing tale of recovery after a dog attack “The Scar Dance” claimed one of the four finalist slots. In the Indy Non-Fiction category, Rick Kaempfer’s “Everycubever” is one of the three finalists for Book of the Year. Congrats to those two Eckhartz Press authors! We have now had nine finalists (John Landecker, Mitch Michaels, Ken Churilla, Bobby Skafish, Lee Kingsmill, Pat Colander, ML Collins, Rick Kaempfer and William Mansfield) and two winners (Pat Colander & ML Collins) in our eight years of existence. We strive for excellence, and we thank our talented stable of writers for delivering.
Tomorrow's Podcast guest
Guest Podcaster
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Go Hawks
Tonight is the Chicago Blackhawks Home Opener at the United Center! Go Hawks! #nhl #hockey pic.twitter.com/d9xcDO3ss9
— Barry Butler (@barrybutler9) October 10, 2019
Wednesday, October 09, 2019
Happy birthday John
43 New Charges
NEW: **43 new claims of sexual misconduct against Trump**
— Courtney Norris (@courtneyknorris) October 9, 2019
“When he says that thing, ‘Grab them in the pussy,’ that hits me hard because when he grabbed me and pulled me into the tapestry, that’s where he grabbed me."https://t.co/PfGei507mN
Matt Lauer
Overnight, troubling new allegations about former TODAY anchor Matt Lauer were revealed from journalist Ronan Farrow’s soon-to-be-released book “Catch and Kill.” @MorganRadford reports the details. pic.twitter.com/7ooO3oAJ5X
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 9, 2019
Real Housewives of the Premier League
Coleen Rooney has claimed to have caught another footballer’s wife passing her private information to the Sun, after apparently running an elaborate sting operation that involved placing false stories in the tabloid newspaper.
Rooney, an online influencer who is married to the former England international Wayne Rooney, said she was forced to act after a series of posts on her private social media account appeared in the media. She has publicly accused Rebekah Vardy, the wife of fellow England footballer Jamie Vardy, of being the individual who was leaking the private information.
Vardy, a former contestant on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, has denied any involvement and suggested someone else may have had access to the password for her Instagram account. The Sun has not disputed Rooney’s suggestion that Vardy was the source but amended all the disputed stories on its website to note that they could have been fabricated.
Tuesday, October 08, 2019
Thanks for the memories Schweini!
Nun ist die Zeit gekommen: ich danke Euch und meinen Mannschaften @FCBayern, @ManUtd, @ChicagoFire und @DFB_Team. Natürlich danke ich auch meiner Frau @AnaIvanovic und meiner Familie für Ihre Unterstützung. pic.twitter.com/SrCdP8m6ia
— Basti Schweinsteiger (@BSchweinsteiger) October 8, 2019
New boss at ESPN Chicago
In a surprising turn of events, Beasley Media Group announced that Mike Thomas, who has successfully led the programming efforts of the mighty WBZ-FM (98.5 The Sports Hub)/Boston since its 2009 launch has made one of those "life decisions" -- in an effort to a) be closer to his family, and b) fulfill a career goal of becoming a Market Manager, Thomas has accepted a new position as Market Manager for Good Karma Brands Sports-Talk WMVP-AM (ESPN 1000)/Chicago, starting in January 2020.
"We're thrilled to welcome Mike Thomas to the team," said Craig Karmazin, Founder & CEO of Good Karma Brands, who will continue to serve as interim Market Manager. "We're thrilled to welcome Mike Thomas to the team," Karmazin said. "He is the epitome of best-in-class and his expertise, passion for Chicago sports and sports-radio experience will elevate what already is a powerhouse brand." Thomas exclaimed, "As a lifelong Chicago sports fan, this is a dream come true. It's so exciting as ESPN 1000 Chicago has a great team, loyal advertising partners and passionate fans. This also gives me the opportunity to be close to my family and work with a company, who like me, has Midwest roots and a passion for sports!"
I'm not sure he realizes quite what he is getting into here. ESPN has really been struggling. I expect there will be some other changes coming soon.
Monday, October 07, 2019
A Letter from Tom Ricketts
Cubs Fans,
In a season full of ups and downs, we are grateful for your incredible, ongoing support. While we enjoyed several exciting wins at Wrigley Field and solid individual performances from many of our players, we struggled to deliver as a team in the moments that mattered most. Falling short of our potential and failing to make the postseason for the first time in five years was extremely disappointing for all of us. We share your desire for change and are committed to building our next championship team.
As we look forward to creating our future success, it is important we also take a moment to honor a vital part of our past five years. I join our staff, players and fans in offering a heartfelt thank you to Joe Maddon. Joe’s leadership and dedication helped ignite one of the greatest eras in Cubs baseball. He guided us to the most postseason victories in our franchise’s history and helped bring the World Series trophy home to Chicago. We are forever grateful for Joe’s immense impact on our organization, fans and city and wish him continued success and happiness.
As Theo shared during his end-of-season press conference, we are focused on strengthening our roster, defining our team identity and fostering a culture of accountability to help us return to championship-caliber form. Selecting our new manager is just one of the many actions we’ll take. While it’s premature to predict the extent of change, we will be open-minded, thoughtful and thorough as we explore new opportunities and evaluate all levels of our operations to identify areas of improvement. I’m confident our Baseball Operations staff will make the right decisions to maximize our opportunity to win now while also ensuring our long-term success.
Whether we’re working to field a competitive team or preserve Wrigley Field, we keep you at the heart of everything we do. We don’t take your support for granted and will continue to find impactful ways to enhance your experience and provide best-in-class service at our ballpark and Gallagher Way.
While we’re already working to address our challenges, we understand October should be a time for meaningful baseball games not promises of offseason action. We appreciate your faith in our team and look forward to enjoying more division titles and deep postseason runs together. We believe that’s what we’re capable of and what you deserve.
Go Cubs,
Tom Ricketts
Minutia Men--Fat Bees and Sting, please
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