Tear down Wrigley?

Message to Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune: No.

E-mails, we get e-mails...

"RP," a Northwestern grad, takes issue with my portrayal of this weekend's Illini-Northwestern game...

"I can't wait, either. I'll have my "house divided" flag out in front of my house, as my wife went to Illinois. But the marquee SHOULD play favorites. Here's a little school on the North Shore, about one-fifth the size of the U of I, aggressively laying claim to being Chicago's Big Ten team. Illinois should have such good marketing. I know Illinois fans will be there (we had to give them SOME tickets) but it is a Northwestern home game. And by the way, the name is Dyche. Not Dyke."

Whoops. Sorry about the spelling. As for the 'little school on the North Shore,' puleeze. Northwestern could buy and sell Illinois. :)

Proud Papa

If you watch the USA-South Africa match on ESPN2 today, look for the commercial about the US National Men's Team. My son Sean is featured in the closing seconds of the spot, representing the "next generation".

You can watch it here too.

19 years ago

Today is my 19th anniversary.

I wrote about that in my Father Knows Nothing column this past weekend, in case you missed it.

Happy anniversary, Bridget. Here's to 19 more.

Programming Note for Cub fans

Got this e-mail from the MLB network this morning...

"The 1906 Chicago Cubs infield will be featured in a new episode of MLB Network’s Prime 9: Infields tonight at 7:00 p.m. CT.

The ’06 Cubs will be ranked alongside other infields, including the ’13 Athletics,’27 Giants, ’34 Tigers, and ’82 Brewers. New episodes of Prime 9 will air every Tuesday in November beginning at 7:00 p.m. CT."

That's a picture of them above. L-R: Harry Steinfeldt (3B), Joe Tinker (SS), Johnny Evers (2B), and Frank Chance (1B). 

Tinker and Evers didn't speak to each other because of an argument about a cab, Frank Chance had been beaned in the head so many times he would eventually die from it, and Harry Steinfeldt was like the Pete Best of this outfit. He was their MVP in 1906, but wasn't included in the poem about the team because his name didn't sound poetic.

Worst Movie Ever

It was released on this day in 1978...



Even more embarrassing all these years later.

Free Agent Pitchers

According to the Sporting News, guess who the Cubs are looking to add as a free agent pitcher? These are the three names on their list: Jake Westbrook, Javier Vasquez and Kevin Millwood.

All I can say is: Ugh.

What? Dick Ruthven or Dickie Noles aren't available?

Sandberg is a Phillie again

How angry is he at the Cubs?

He took the same job the Cubs offered him, but with a Phillies organization that has an even more established manager than we do.

Get Off of my Cloud

Exactly 45 years ago today the Stones appeared on the TV show Hullabaloo and performed this one...

Harry Caray statue damaged

I missed this story over the weekend.

A worker crashed into the Harry Caray statue at Wrigley Field and cracked it. Look out, this may bring the Cubs some bad luck. (Bwaaaa haaaa haaaa). 

Bring it on, back luck inflicter. Do your worst. You can't harm us anymore.

Father Knows Nothing

This week I'm celebrating my 19th wedding anniversary. Father Knows Nothing is about a promise I made to my wife 19 years ago, and my effort to keep that promise.

You can read it here.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Jim Johnson

This week I talked to Jim Johnson, the WLS newsman. Jim's been at WLS since 1968, and has some great stories about what he's seen and heard during those years.

You can read the full interview here.

The Name Game

On this day in 1964, Shirley Ellis recorded one of the most unusual hit songs in history. Anyone that has played around with this song knows not to do "the name game" with the name Chuck, but if you do it with the name Rick, you'll also inadvertently swear in German. Take my word for it.

Sonny & Cher reunion

They reunited for one night on Letterman's show this week in 1987. It feels strange to say it now, but this was one of the most memorable things I've ever seen on a Late Night television show. It was oddly touching...

Kosuke buys a condo

Looks like he's been told not to worry about a trade.

Kosuke Fukudome just bought a $1.32 million condo on Lake Shore Drive.

I know it's fashionable to take shots at Kosuke, but I think he's the very best $10 million-plus fourth outfielder in the National League.

Joke for a Friday morning

Contributed by "MM"




CATHOLIC COFFEE MORNING IN ROME

Four Catholic men and a Catholic woman were having coffee in St. Peters Square, Rome.

The first Catholic man tells his friends, "My son is a priest, when he walks into a room, everyone calls him 'Father'."

The second Catholic man chirps, "My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Grace'."

The third Catholic gent says, "My son is a Cardinal. When he enters a room everyone bows their head and says 'Your Eminence'."

The fourth Catholic man says very proudly, "My son is the Pope. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Holiness'."

Since the lone Catholic woman was sipping her coffee in silence, the four men give her a subtle, "Well....?"

She proudly replies, "I have a daughter, slim, tall, 38D breast, 24" waist and
34" hips. When she walks into a room, people say, "Oh My God."

Kato talks baseball

The Hall of Very Good is a baseball website, and I'm on their mailing list. They have done quite a few interesting interviews over the past few years, but this has to be one of my favorites.

Kato Kaelin talking baseball.

Guess what his favorite team is? No, it's not the Cubs. Click on the link to find out.

Veterans Day

November 11th is now known as Veterans Day, a worthy day to honor all of the men and women that have served this country.

However, the origin of the holiday actually dates back to November 11, 1918. At that time it was known as Armistice Day. The day that World War I ended...the war to end all wars.

Peter Kaempfer

My grandfather, Peter Kaempfer, was born on this day in 1910, exactly 100 years ago. We lost him about seven years ago, and I delivered his eulogy. (I'm the funeral guy in my family--it's not a great gig).

On this special centennial of his birth, I hope you don't mind if I share the thoughts I shared with the mourners at his church seven years ago. I'd like for there to be some record of his life on the internet (right now it's like he never existed).

They asked me to say a few words about my grandfather, Peter Kaempfer.

To my cousin, my sister, my brother and I, he was Otta.  He gave us more than our name.  He taught us what it meant.

He was a Kaempfer. Most of you know that’s the German word for fighter or warrior.

A man doesn’t make it nearly 93 years without being a Kaempfer. 

This Kaempfer was born BEFORE World War One. He told me that he remembered seeing the soldiers come home from that war.

That was in his hometown in Rumania.  He would have happily lived in that town for his entire life.  It was all he ever knew.   In that little German speaking town, Otta and his brother Andreas were musicians and singers. When he and his brother played and sang together it was among the most special moments of his life.  He told me that if he could have done anything he wanted with his life, that would have been it.  The performing Kaempfer brothers.  I never got to see the brothers perform together, but I did get to see Otta.  He played that accordion for his children…and his grandchildren…and his great grandchildren.  You could tell that music was something that touched him as deeply as he could be touched.

That town was the place of his fondest memories.

It's where he met his wife Anna, my Oma.  If he had lived until January (2004), they would have celebrated their 70^th wedding anniversary.   I don’t know what the record is, but it can’t be much more than that.

Both of his children were born in that town, too. Eckhard, my father, was born in 1935.  Hedy, my godmother, was born in 1938. Otta was in his late-20s then, a well respected member of the only town he ever knew.  A man that was held in such high esteem, he was the bookkeeper of the entire farm co-op.  

He was a Kaempfer. But he had no idea at the time how much of a Kaempfer he would need to be.  He was in the army, fighting in the second World War, when everything he had ever known was taken away from him. The Russians were coming, and his family had no choice but to flee.  By the time he finally met up with them, he would never see his hometown again..

If the war years were rough, the years after the war would really test his mettle as a Kaempfer.  In Austria, times were so hard that he and his family were forced to live in a chicken coop. Last night at the wake we had a few pictures on display from those years in Austria. Going from that world to Chicago must have felt like going in a time machine.  A big city.  A totally different life.  A totally different language.

But he did it, and he thrived. Because he was a Kaempfer.

What kind of a man was Peter Kaempfer?

*He was a thoughtful man. A thinker. A man that thought any problem could be solved with your brain.  Anyone who ever played cards against him could testify to that. 

*He was a caring man. A worrier. I know everyone in the family can give you a few examples of that.

*He was a man of few words.  But he loved to listen.

*He not only figured out how to hook up a VCR when he was in his 80s, he figured out how to hook up two VCRs and record from one to the other.  He made copies of all his German videotapes for his friends.

*He always added on to his age. When he turned 80, he said he was almost 90. The day he turned 90, he said he was almost 100.

*He had 27 years of retirement. And good years too. He loved those winters in Florida.

*He lived 92 ½ healthy years and 2 bad weeks. 

When you live to 92, you have to be a Kaempfer.  He was at many ceremonies like this.  He lost his little brother. He lost his only son.  He lost nearly every friend he ever had.

But he was a Kaempfer, and he’ll live on much longer in the Kaempfers he left behind.

*My brother, also a Peter Kaempfer, is an accountant—just like Otta was for his farming co-op. My sister Cindy is a CFO—the bookkeeper for her whole corporate town.

*My cousin Robert isn’t a Kaempfer, but he has his grandfather’s personality…and hairstyle.

*My son Tommy shares his great grandfather’s love of music. It touches him as deeply and in the same way it touched Otta.

And we’re all thinkers.  And we’re all worriers.  And we’re all Americans.

And we have Otta, Peter Kaempfer—someone who really lived up to the name Kaempfer--to thank for that.

Ted Lilly's house

Since he signed a new three year contract to stay with the Dodgers, he doesn't need his house in Chicago anymore.

It's for sale in Wrigleyville.

Want to take a virtual tour?

The mitt he threw on the mound during his 2007 playoff hissy fit is not included.

Joke for a Tuesday morning

This was contributed by "MM"...




GEOGRAPHY OF A WOMAN

Between 18 and 22, a woman is like Africa - half discovered, half wild, fertile and naturally beautiful!

Between 23 and 30, a woman is like Europe -
Well-developed and open to trade, especially for something of real value.

Between 31 and 35, a woman is like Spain - very hot, relaxed, and convinced of her own beauty.

Between 36 and 40, a woman is like Greece - gently aging, but still a warm and desirable place to visit.

Between 41 and 50, a woman is like Great Britain, with a glorious and all-conquering past..

Between 51 and 60, a woman is like Israel - has been through war, doesn't make the same mistakes twice, and takes care of business.

Between 61 and 70, a woman is like Canada -
Cool, self-preserving, but open to meeting new people.

After 70, she becomes Tibet - wildly beautiful, with a mysterious past and the wisdom of the ages.... An adventurous spirit and a thirst for spiritual knowledge.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF A MAN

Between 1 and 80, a man is like Iran - ruled by nuts.

Great Trick Play

Love this maneuver...

Hildegard

My mom is celebrating her 69th birthday today. (Yes, she was a very young mom)

How well is my mom still doing these days? For her birthday, we got her a 5-wood. Next month, she's going skiing again.

I don't write about mom very often (and I explain why here if you're interested), and she's not exactly thrilled with my career choices over the past decade or so (she never ever reads anything I write), but between you and me, I couldn't do this whole stay-at-home dad thing without her help.

Mom is the most reliable person I know. That's the ultimate German compliment.

50 years ago this week...

...a young charismatic senator was elected the first Catholic (and still only Catholic) President of the United States.

Father Knows Nothing

My latest Father Knows Nothing has been posted. It's about those horrible few hours between the end of the school day and the end of dinner. It's called "The Witching Hours"

You can read it here.

Chicago Radio Spotlight: Brian "Whip" Paruch

The latest Chicago Radio Spotlight interview is now up on the site. This week I talked to Brian "Whip" Paruch from the Eric and Kathy show.

You can read the entire interview here.

Johnny Horton

He was only 35 years old when he died in an automobile accident on this day in 1960. Most people don't remember Johnny, but he was a huge star at the time of his death. I didn't really learn about him until I worked at the oldies station. This was his biggest hit...



By the way, according to Bob Dearborn's The Olde Disc Jockey's Almanac, actor Ward Bond (Bert from "It's a Wonderful Life"), died on the same day.

Joke for a Friday morning

Contributed by "TH"...


The doctor, after an examination, sighed and said, 'I've got some bad news. You have cancer, and you'd best put your affairs in order.'

The woman was shocked, but managed to compose herself and walked into the waiting room where her daughter had been waiting.

'Well, daughter, we women celebrate when things are good, and we celebrate when things don't go so well. In this case, things aren't well. I have cancer. So, let's head to the club and have a martini.'

After 3 or 4 martinis, the two were feeling a little less somber. There were some laughs and more martinis.

They were eventually approached by some of the woman's old friends, who were curious as to what the two were celebrating. The woman told her friends they were drinking to her impending end, because 'I've been diagnosed with AIDS.'

The friends were aghast, gave the woman their condolences and beat a hasty retreat.

After the friends left, the woman's daughter leaned over and whispered, 'Momma, I thought you said you were dying of cancer, and you just told your friends you were dying of AIDS! Why did you do that?'

'Because I don't want any of those women sleeping with your father after I'm gone.'

Ah, web cam effects

This made me laugh...

Monopoly turns 75

On this day in 1935, the board game Monopoly was introduced by Parker Brothers.

The first players of Monopoly are almost done with that first game.






My son Sean and I play it pretty regularly, but we have our own rules. We double the money, hotels are free with the purchase of the final property of a color, and when the last property is sold, the game is over. It drives Bridget crazy that we don't follow the real rules exactly, but as I noted above...the real rules are insane.

Turn back the clocks

We get an extra hour of sleep this weekend.

Don't forget to turn back your clocks...

Sammy's corked bat sold after all

Mike Remlinger and Grant DePorter of Harry Caray's restaurants made a private deal after the bat didn't sell at auction.

DePorter's highest bid was accepted after all (more than $14,000), and he is now the proud owner of Sammy's corked bat.

Tina Fey gives Dave some Sarah

They were just another band out of Boston

On this day in 1978, the band Boston played their first live concert in the city of Boston...two years after the release of their first multi-platinum album. They were definitely not just another band out of Boston...

Ryno tells Cubs to shove it

This wasn't too hard to predict.

After doing everything he was told to do to train for the Cubs manager job, and still not be given the job when it opened up (even from an owner that considers him to be his all-time favorite player, and even after winning the minor league manager of the year award), Ryno said bye bye to the Cubs yesterday.

I have a feeling this wound will take a little while to heal, but it will. Don't forget, that flag on the right field flagpole still has his number on it. He will always be a Cub.

Ask Ernie Banks. He lobbied for the Cubs manager job for years from P.K. Wrigley--who also considered Ernie his all-time favorite player--and Wrigley wouldn't give it to him. A statue heals all wounds.

November Birthdays

Just One Bad Century will return for Spring Training with new features, but for now, check out some of the stories about some of November's birthday boys...

Larry French (Nov 1) (Photo)

Cub Fan Warren G. Harding (Nov 2)

Johnny Vander Meer (Nov 2)

Ken Holtzman (Nov 3)

Chick Tolson (Nov 6)

Dwight Smith (Nov 8)

Billy Sunday (Nov 9)

Mike Vail (Nov 10)

Cubs curser Martin Luther (Nov 10) (painting)

Former Cubs part-owner (and sausage king) J. Ogden Armour (Nov 11)

Rabbit Maranville (Nov 11)

Sammy Sosa (Nov 12)

Jody Davis (Nov 12)

Cub fan Joe Mantegna (Nov 13)

Steve Bilko (Nov 13)

Willie Hernandez (Nov 14)

Jim Brewer (Nov 14)

Rollie "Bunions" Zeider (Nov 16)

Mitch Williams (Nov 17)

Gene Mauch (Nov 18)


Dickie Noles (Nov 19)


Rick Monday (Nov 20)

Clark Griffith (Nov 20)

Cub Fan Kenesaw Mountain Landis (Nov 20) (photo)

Dick Bartell (Nov 22)

Cub Fan Harpo Marx (Nov 23)

Richie Hebner (Nov 26)

Clay Bryant (Nov 26)

Johnny Bear Tracks Schmitz (Nov 27)

Howard Johnson (Nov 29)

Tornado Jake Weimer (Nov 29)

Joke for a Wednesday morning

This was contributed by "AH"...

A husband walks into Victoria's Secret to purchase a sheer negligee for his wife. He is shown several possibilities that range from $250 to $500 in price, the more sheer, the higher the price. Naturally, he opts for the most sheer item, pays the $500 and takes it home.

He presents it to his wife and asks her to go upstairs, put it on, and model it for him. Upstairs, the wife thinks, "I have an idea. It's so sheer that it might as well be nothing. I won't put it on, but I'll do the modeling naked, return it tomorrow, and keep the $500 refund for myself."

So she appears naked on the balcony and strikes a pose.

The husband says, "Good Grief! You'd think for $500, they'd at least iron it!"

He never heard the shot.

Funeral on Thursday at Noon.

Closed coffin...

Undercover Boss

Phil Rosenthal has a little more information about Todd Rickett's upcoming episode of "Undercover Boss."

That will air this weekend, by the way. At the very least, it should be interesting for Cub fans to see what happens behind the scenes at Wrigley Field.

Sammy's corked bat doesn't sell

Mike Remlinger put Sammy's corked bat up for auction, but couldn't get enough money to make it worth his while. He was hoping for $15,000, but the highest bid was made by Harry Caray's restaurant ($14,407).

The San Francisco Giants

I'm happy for the Giants and their fans. They've waited a long, long time for this. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to root for a team that hasn't won it all in more than fifty years. That's got to weigh on you; slowly, achingly crushing your hopes, your dreams, your spirit and your soul.

But that's just a guess.

On the ground at the Rally to Restore Sanity

I finally have the feeling back in my legs.

On Saturday afternoon I spent six hours standing in a wall-to-wall crowd of over 200,000 of the most reasonable people you’d ever want to meet. And trust me; I had no choice but to meet them. The person next to me was literally inches away. We were packed in there like sardines. At one point I dropped something on the ground and it took me a few seconds to maneuver my body in such a way that I could actually reach down to get it.

Bridget and I arrived almost three hours before the show began, and I had a VIP pass to get backstage, but I couldn’t get near the VIP section through the sea of humanity. That turned out to be a blessing, because the story to me was not what was happening on stage, it was the size and scope and spirit of the crowd.

They came from all over the country. Just in my little section I spoke with people from Texas, Maryland, Tennessee and New York. I’ve seen a few reports that said the crowd was mainly 20-somethings, but unless there’s an epidemic of prematurely graying Anderson Coopers of the future, that wasn’t what I saw. They came in all different ages, shapes, sizes, and colors.

Some were there to witness a memorable event. Others came to express their political views. Still others just wanted to see a great comedy show. But nearly all of them also came just to prove that they existed. At one point Jon Stewart even admitted that’s all he wanted out of this rally—to show the country that it was OK not to be a screamer—that if you’re sick of the screaming, you’re not alone.

Take it from one of the sardines. You’re not alone.

The signs people were carrying were hilarious (see a few of them below). Despite the really uncomfortable conditions, the attendees were laughing and joking and wisecracking in the crowd all day long. But most importantly, they weren’t bickering. In a sardine can, that’s not easy to do. At one point, a man carrying a baby yelled out that he needed to get out of the crowd to change a diaper, and I’m still not sure how this was possible, but the crowd parted like the Red Sea to form an exit path.

After a relentless barrage of negative radio and television political advertising over the past few months, it was like breathing fresh air. Then again, it might have just been the minty fresh breath of the woman standing two inches away from me.

Rally to Restore Sanity coverage

I was there, and will have my report complete with photos soon, but in the meantime, here's a few examples of the Rally coverage....

CBS News: "Jon Stewart Rally Attracts Estimated 215,000"
(This one claims the crowd was actually more than twice as large as Glenn Beck's rally, and details their methodology for saying so.)

The Wall Street Journal: Counting the Crowd Hard to Do For Jon Stewart's Rally
(This one compares the crowd to previous rallies, but won't hazard a guess)

The New York Times: "Rally to Shift the Blame"
(This one is a little snarky--methinks they were upset by the media criticism.)

Here was the most important part of the rally...

Cubs bullpen catcher caught with weed

Corey Miller, a bullpen catcher for the Cubs, was pulled over in downstate Lincoln, Illinois. When the cops looked in his car they noticed he had some weed and "drug paraphanalia" in a bag of baby formula (and oh yeah, a baby was in the car too).

Then they found 8.4 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of the car. 8.4 pounds.

His plan was apparently to get the entire state high to help us get over the pain of the Cubs 2010 season.

Father Knows Nothing

This week's Father Knows Nothing column has been posted at NWI Parent. I call it "Meet the (2nd grade) Press."

Here it is, if you're interested.

Chicago Radio Spotlight update

I was in Washington this weekend, but I did post a Chicago Radio Spotlight update with Mitch Michaels.

If you haven't seen it, you can read it here.