Saturday, November 28, 2020

Minutia Men Thanksgiving Weekend Special

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Wednesday, November 25, 2020

RIP Diego Maradona


There's a great documentary about Maradona on Netflix. Strong recommended. After you see it, you won't be the slightest bit surprised at his passing at the age of 60. 

I don't think I ever rooted for him--he played for Argentina and they faced West Germany in the finals. That was my favorite team. And he did famously cheat (Hand of God goal). But it was a pleasure to watch him play. He was undeniably great.


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Great Ad

Love the dog.
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EveryCubEver Bonus Story: Joe DiMaggio

 From the Studio Walls blog at Eckhartz Press today...

In the book EveryCubEver, at the end of each chapter author Rick Kaempfer mentions there are bonus stories to be found at his website Just One Bad Century. One of those stories kind of leaps off the page, and inspired WGN Radio personality Rick Kogan to ask Kaempfer about it in his interview (during the EveryCubEver publicity tour).

Kaempfer writes: “There’s a heartbreaking story about a Hall of Famer (beginning with the letter D) who was offered to the Cubs first–and the Cubs turned him down–something Marilyn Monroe did NOT do.”

Obviously that refers to today’s birthday boy Joe DiMaggio. Here is that free bonus story…

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He was never a member of the Chicago Cubs, but he could have been. That’s right: The Chicago Cubs passed on Joe DiMaggio. Is there anything that sums up a bad century better than that sentence?

In the off-season between the 1934 and 1935 seasons, the Chicago Cubs were offered Joe DiMaggio by his minor league team, the San Francisco Seals. DiMaggio had a minor knee injury at the time (he banged his knee stepping out of a cab), and the Cubs were scared off by that injury. They didn’t want to commit any money to someone who might have been damaged goods.

Understandable, right? It was even understandable to the owner of the Seals. That’s why he upped the offer. He told the Cubs they could have Joe DiMaggio for spring training in 1935, and if he wasn’t 100% recovered, and he wasn’t 100% the player the owner promised he was, the Seals would gladly take him back and refund every dime the Cubs paid for him.

P.K. Wrigley had just finished his third season as the owner of the Cubs and thought he understood the game better than his baseball guys. He looked at his outfield (Chuck Klein, KiKi Cuyler, and Augie Galan) and decided that the Cubs didn’t need another outfielder. He passed on the offer.

The Yankees did not. They signed him in December of 1934 for $25,000. While it’s true that the Cubs made the World Series in 1935, one of those outfielders Wrigley was counting on (KiKi Cuyler) was released before the season was over. Another one, Augie Galan, was a converted infielder with a weak arm. He made a crucial error in the 1935 World Series that cost the Cubs a game. The third one, Chuck Klein, was traded the following season; 1936.

That was DiMaggio’s rookie year with the Yankees. All he did that season was lead the Yankees to a World Series championship. The following year he did it again. In 1938, he not only led the Yankees to the another championship, he beat the Cubs with a ninth inning home run at Wrigley Field to seal Game 2 of the World Series.

Before he was through playing in New York, DiMaggio was a 13 time all-star, a nine-time World Series champion, a two-time batting champ, a two-time home run and RBI champ, a three time MVP, and the holder of the all-time hitting streak record of 56 games. Oh, and he married Marilyn Monroe.

But at least the Cubs saved $25,000.

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Tuesday, November 24, 2020

The Grammy Nominations

 


This year's nominees have been announced. How many do you know?

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:

  • Chilombo — Jhené Aiko
  • Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition) — Black Pumas
  • Everyday Life — Coldplay
  • Djesse Vol. 3 — Jacob Collier
  • Women In Music Pt. III — Haim
  • Future Nostalgia — Dua Lipa
  • Hollywood’s Bleeding — Post Malone
  • Folklore — Taylor Swift

RECORD OF THE YEAR:

  • “Black Parade” — Beyoncé
  • “Colors” — Black Pumas
  • “Rockstar” — DaBaby Featuring Roddy Ricch
  • “Say So” — Doja Cat
  • “Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish
  • “Don’t Start Now” — Dua Lipa
  • “Circles” — Post Malone
  • “Savage” — Megan Thee Stallion Featuring Beyoncé

SONG OF THE YEAR:

  • “Black Parade” — Denisia Andrews, Beyoncé, Stephen Bray, Shawn Carter, Brittany Coney, Derek James Dixie, Akil King, Kim “Kaydence” Krysiuk & Rickie “Caso” Tice, songwriters (Beyoncé)
  • “The Box” — Samuel Gloade & Rodrick Moore, songwriters (Roddy Ricch)
  • “Cardigan” — Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
  • “Circles” — Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk, Austin Post & Billy Walsh, songwriters (Post Malone)
  • “Don’t Start Now” — Caroline Ailin, Ian Kirkpatrick, Dua Lipa & Emily Warren, songwriters (Dua Lipa)
  • “Everything I Wanted” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
  • “I Can’t Breathe” — Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)
  • “If The World Was Ending” — Julia Michaels & JP Saxe, songwriters (JP Saxe Featuring Julia Michaels)
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Oscar Robertson

 The great Oscar Robertson turns 82 today. He is featured in Chet Coppock’s book “Your Dime, My Dance Floor” (2018). Chet was the producer of the Milwaukee Bucks broadcasts the year they won the NBA Championship. Here he is with Oscar celebrating the night they won it.

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Replacing Trebek

Now that Alex Trebek is no longer with us, who will host Jeopardy? It looks like they are going with a series of interim hosts to see which one clicks. My money is on the first one up...former champion Ken Jennings.
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Our latest book

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Chicago Radio Ratings

 Thanks to Robert Feder for publishing these today. If you want all the breakdowns of the dayparts, click here....


1. WVAZ 102.7-FM R&B, 8.9 (8.4)
2. WBBM 780-AM/WCFS 105.9-FM all news, 6.5 (6.9)
3. WTMX 101.9-FM hot adult contemporary, 5.1 (4.6)
4. WDRV 97.1-FM classic rock, 5.0 (5.1)
5. WBEZ 91.5-FM public radio news talk, 4.7 (3.8)
6. WLIT 93.9-FM adult contemporary, 4.6 (4.3)
7. WOJO 105.1-FM Mexican regional, 3.8 (4.2)
8. WLS 94.7-FM classic hits, 3.7 (4.0)
9. WXRT 93.1-FM adult album alternative, 3.3 (3.9)
10. WRME 87.7-FM soft rock oldies, 3.1 (2.9)
11. WGN 720-AM news talk, 2.9 (3.0)
12. WKSC 103.5-FM Top 40, 2.6 (2.6)
13. WLS 890-AM news talk, 2.5 (2.2)
14. (tie) WUSN 99.5-FM country, 2.4 (2.3); WBMX 104.3-FM classic hip hop, 2.4 (2.4)
16. WPPN 106.7-FM Spanish adult contemporary, 2.3 (2.5)
17. (tie) WKQX 101.1-FM alternative rock, 2.2 (1.9); WLEY 107.9-FM Mexican regional, 2.2 (2.7)
19. (tie) WBBM 96.3-FM Top 40, 2.1 (2.0); WSCR 670-AM sports talk, 2.1 (3.2); WCHI 95.5-FM rock, 2.1 (2.2); WSHE 100.3-FM adult contemporary, 2.1 (2.4)
23. WGCI 107.5-FM hip-hop, 1.7 (2.0)
24. WPWX 92.3-FM hip-hop, 1.4 (1.4)
25. WCPT 820-AM progressive talk, 1.2 (1.6)
26. WFMT 98.7-FM classical 1.0 (0.9)
27. (tie) WMVP 1000-AM sports talk, 0.9 (0.8); WVIV 93.5-FM Spanish contemporary, 0.9 (0.9)
29. WCCQ 98.3-FM country, 0.8 (0.4)
30. (tie) WGRB 1390-AM gospel, 0.7 (0.4); WSRB 106.3-FM R&B, 0.7 (0.6)

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Monday, November 23, 2020

When you see COVID-denial on Fox News...

 ...keep this in mind. From the Hollywood Reporter...

In a memo to staffers on Friday, CEO and chairman Lachlan Murdoch said that the media conglomerate revised earlier guidance for a return to work from January until later in the spring.

"It was our hope that the trajectory of the pandemic would be such that we could begin our reopening in January 2021," Murdoch wrote. "However, with cases continuing to rise, we have delayed our next possible phase one reopening date to no earlier than April 2021."

 How a company can have an official policy like this, and let their on-air staff (broadcasting from home) deny this is an issue live on the air--endangering lives all across the country--boggles the mind. Act like an f-ing boss Lachlan. You are literally poisoning America.

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Twitter and Facebook to hand over @potus account

 From Reuters newswire...


The @POTUS account on both platforms is the official account of the President of the United States. It is separate from the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account and the @DonaldTrump Facebook page that U.S. President Donald Trump mostly uses to write his posts.

“Twitter is actively preparing to support the transition of White House institutional Twitter accounts on January 20th, 2021. As we did for the presidential transition in 2017, this process is being done in close consultation with the National Archives and Records,” the company confirmed to Reuters on Saturday.

The social media giants will also hand over other institutional handles - for the White House, vice president and first lady of the United States - on inauguration day.

“In 2017, we worked with both the Obama Administration and incoming Trump Administration to make sure the transition of their Facebook and Instagram accounts was seamless on January 20th, and we expect to do the same here,” Facebook said in response to a query from Reuters.

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Minutia Men--Cold cuts & Cold war

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Pre-Basket

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Sibling Love

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