Every Cub Ever (E)

Today we feature EVERY CUB EVER beginning with the letter E. From Don Eaddy to Scott Eyre–45 entries in all.

What will you find there? Four Hall of Famers, six classic baseball cards, two videos, an incredibly memorable audio clip, two managers, an executive, two Cubs scribes and a publishing house, an Evil Eye, plus someone who really lived up to his nicknamed Bad Bill.

Check it out here.

Keith Olbermann Suspended Again

This time for an angry tweet war with students at Penn State.

Details are here.

You know, I follow Keith on Twitter and it always amazes me when he stoops to respond to every single person who says bad things about him. He is an immensely talented man, but he's also his own worst enemy.

Michael Keaton Vine

This is a bummer moment for Keaton. It's the moment he puts away his acceptance speech after losing best actor Oscar.

Dancing with the Stars

ABC announced the new lineup for Dancing with the Stars. I've actually heard of four of these people this year. That's a nice change of pace. The pairings are below.



Noah Galloway with Sharna Burgess
Robert Herjavec with Kym Johnson
Patti LaBelle with Artem Chigvintsev
Nastia Liukin with Derek Hough
Riker Lynch with Allison Holker
Charlotte McKinney with Keo Motsepe
RedFoo with Emma Slater
Michael Sam with Peta Murgatroyd
Willow Shields with Mark Ballas
Suzanne Somers with Tony Dovolani
Rumer Willis with Valentin Chmerkovskiy

Basketball Twilight Zone

What happens when both teams are trying to lose a game so they get put in the easier playoff bracket?

The most ridiculous basketball game in history.

Drink More Coffee

This is welcome news for the coffee-holic (like me). The Washington Post headline says it all: It's official: Americans should drink more coffee

Fair enough. I think I will.

I have a feeling that medical science will eventually come around on all the staples of my diet. Still waiting on that "Salami saves lives" piece, but mark my words, it's on the horizon.

Every Cub Ever (D)

Today Just One Bad Century features EVERY CUB EVER beginning with the letter D. From Bad Bill Dahlen to Frank Dwyer–108 entries in all.

What will you find there? Four Hall of Famers, eight videos, eight classic audio clips (including a few with some profanity), three broadcasters, two celebrity fans–including one who was shot dead, a song, two brothers, a 1908 Cub, nine Davis’, the one that got away, a homocide detective, a jewel thief, a player who was banned from the game, plus Boots, Cozy, Dizzy, Pickles, and a hell of a mustache.

Check it out here.

Did Bill O'Reilly embellish?

He claimed he had reported from a war zone during his time in Buenos Aires, and a report in Mother Jones magazine says he had exaggered (ala Brian Williams). It all revolves his reports for CBS News at the time. O'Reilly angrily asked that the footage be released to prove his point. CBS News did release it...



You can judge for yourself if he was embellishing or not. Looks to me like a slight embellishment. Honestly, I don't think this is something worthy of taking down Bill O'Reilly.

UPDATE: I just found this tweet from Bruce Wolf, who disagrees with me.

I'm conservative, and I don't like NBC standards being higher than Fox's. "Many people killed"? That's truthiness. @HowardKurtz

— Bruce Wolf (@BruceWolfChi) February 24, 2015

Another UPDATE: The Washington Post examines the charges here. I think the conclusions in this article are exactly correct. He is essentially guilty as charged of embellishing, and it absolutely does not matter to his bosses.

WLS Drops Bruce Dumont

His show "Beyond the Beltway" has been on the air in Chicago for 35 years. WLS told him that this weekend's show will be his last on that station. They are going all-paid programming on the weekends. The show will still air in other markets via syndication--just not in Chicago.

Robert Feder has the details.

A few years ago I interviewed Bruce for Chicago Radio Spotlight. At the time he was still running the Radio Hall of Fame. He passed the baton on that project last year.

Every Cub Ever (C)

Today Just One Bad Century features EVERY CUB EVER beginning with the letter C. From Cabrera to Cvengros–161 entries in all.

What will you find there? Three Hall of Famers, 17 videos, 26 classic baseball cards, two Cubs scribes, three Cubs broadcasters, three classic audio clips, three songs, three celebrity fans, six Campbells, five Collins, four Clarkes, three Clarks, a manager, a ballgirl, a father/son team, and the most famous Cubs movie star ever.

Check it out here.

The Morning Shift

Heading out early this morning because I'm going to be interviewed on NPR, WBEZ (91.5FM) in Chicago about my book "Father Knows Nothing".

If you think of it, tune in to the Morning Shift between 9:00am and 10am. I believe I'm scheduled to be on the air around 9:15 or so, and will be done by 9:45.

I'm excited about reaching a new audience. The NPR audience is notoriously loyal and doesn't tune away to other stations very often.


Late update: Here's the photo taken of me on the air (from outside the windows). Thanks again for having me on WBEZ!



If you want to hear my WBEZ interview from this morning, it's posted on their website now. It begins at the 33 minute mark: Author Rick Kaempfer Proves That Father Knows Nothing

Let it Be

I own every Beatles album in every conceivable format. I've seen virtually every special ever written about them. I have delved into the depths of Beatles trivia to the point that I'm probably more than a little annoying when the subject comes up in conversation.

I've never seen the Beatles perform live, but I have seen Paul about a dozen times now, and Ringo a few times too, and I've also seen at least ten or fifteen different Beatles tribute bands. Most of them are pretty good, but there have been more than a few clunkers along the way.

On Saturday night I took my entire family to see the show "Let it Be" at the Rosemont Theater. Nobody was excited about going. When I announced it was time to leave, I heard a collective groan.

But the performers in "Let it Be" won them over pretty quickly. They were extremly loyal to Beatles authenticity, from their costumes and hair styles to their insistence on each Beatle playing the proper part. When it was a Paul song...Paul sang. When George and Paul did the backup vocals on the record, they did it on the stage. Paul played lefthanded. John's voice was spot on. George was outstanding on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Their ad-libs were even exact replicas of real Beatles ad-libs (which I have to say--did annoy me a bit).

I was really enjoying the show, but then again, I'm easy. That's not the test. When I looked over at my family I noticed that my boys were singing along with every single song. That's the test, and Let it Be passed it with flying colors.

I don't know why I never thought of doing this before. It's the perfect night out for the family. The tickets were reasonably priced, the music was excellent, and we all bonded together as a family. I don't have to tell you how rare of an experience that is with two teenagers living in the house.

If the show comes back again, I recommend checking it out.

The Living Wills

I'm not sure what is causing this, but there's been a recent resurgence in sales for my novel (written with Brendan Sullivan) called "The Living Wills". The reviews on Good Reads have been really nice. Thanks to everyone who is buying it, and thanks to everyone who has posted nice reviews. We really appreciate it.

Gary Kroeger

This is an incredible look backstage at the SNL party by former cast member Gary Kroeger. He took his teenage son, and he does a great job of painting a picture of the night. I can only imagine what this must have been like for his son.

Rick on NPR?

Looking forward to Monday morning--I'll be appearing on WBEZ (NPR in Chicago, 91.5 FM) on the Morning Shift between 9-10am. Jason Marck will be hosting, and we'll be talking about my book "Father Knows Nothing". Should be a good time! Haven't been to the palatial studios on Navy Pier since the Landecker book came out a few years ago. Please tune in if you're up and around.

How much did Joey owe Chandler at the end of "Friends"?

Somebody went through all the episodes and did the math.

Would you believe it was $120,760?

Follow the math here.

Don Lemon's "Slip of the Tongue"

I'm not posting this clip to weigh in on the "Bill O'Reilly exaggerates war coverage" story they're talking about in this segment (I'll wait until that story plays out a little more). I'm posting it because Don Lemon pulled another whoopsie-daisy.

RIP Harris Wittels

He was the co-producer of the show "Parks and Recreation" and considered one of the best comedy writers in Hollywood. In 2012 he coined the term and wrote the book "Humblebrag"--a very funny book calling out Hollywood people who are actually bragging while trying to sound humble. It was a drug-related death.

He was only 30 years old.

USA Today has the details.

MSNBC drops Reid and Farrow shows

Joy Reid and Ronan Farrow both had afternoon shows on MSNBC. I've seen both shows...and um...let's just say this is probably a good move.

Details are here at Adweek.

Opie & Anthony Are No Longer Friends

Sometimes radio teams aren't friends at all--just colleagues put together by a programmer, hoping they develop an on-air chemistry. Sometimes they become friends, and that's what creates the chemistry. And sometimes those friendships end over time, and they return to being professional relationships. That last example appears to be what happened to Opie & Anthony. From this morning's Tom Taylor column...

Separately, Anthony Cumia and Gregg “Opie” Hughes talk about how they drifted apart after 20 years together as a radio team. In separate interviews this week, they both say the distancing had happened long before SiriusXM dumped Anthony last year. That was a result of his encounter with a tourist in New York’s Times Square and subsequent comments on social media. TheBlaze.com reports its interview with Anthony, who appeared at the studio with the.40-caliber concealed handgun he usually travels with (and has a license for). Anthony is now fronting his own subscription podcast. On his SiriusXM show Tuesday, Gregg said “I lost my friend a long time ago, and I’m not blaming him. We changed as people.”

I saw this happen up close with another famous radio team. It happens. But after reading this interview in the Blaze with Anthony, it sounds like Anthony has gone off the deep end a bit, and that's probably part of the cause...

Cumia told TheBlaze why he “always” carries a gun on him — including during his interview at TheBlaze’s NYC studios.

“I always carry. Always,” he said. “It’s not paranoia or anything. It’s like not buckling your seatbelt once or twice, and all of a sudden, that’s when you get in an accident. I’d just rather know I am on equal footing to whatever threat might present himself.”

“To me, it’s like putting my shoes on in the morning,” Cumia added.

During the interview, which aired on TheBlaze TV at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Cumia was carrying an H&K .40-cal handgun.