Merry Christmas!

I'm going to take a little while off from the blog for Christmas, but I wanted to thank all of you for participating and reading the blog this year. More than a million of you did, which is still hard for me to believe.

Have a very merry Christmas, and a happy new year!

I'll be back on January 2nd or 3rd.

Not my kid

This video has gone viral because it makes us all feel a little better about our own kids. Although, if I'm going to be honest, we did have a similar reaction to underwear under the tree once about ten years ago...

The digital story of the Nativity

Nearly 5 million views on YouTube for this one...

Cubs taking a pass on Brandon Webb

At least according to this source.

To which, I say: Good move.

$7 million for a pitcher that hasn't pitched in two years is way too much money. Let the Rangers have him.

The search for Santo's replacement

The Tribune Company actually posted the position on their website. It says: "Preferred candidate will have played with the Chicago Cubs — or played major league baseball with previous broadcast experience as a game analyst."

In his column today, Paul Sullivan lists the candidates that would fit that description: Mark Grace, Rick Sutcliffe, Dan Plesac, Eric Karros, Gary Matthews and Mitch Williams.

I'd add Keith Moreland and Dave Otto to the list too.

My top choice would be Suttcliffe, though I think he won't take the gig because he has a pretty sweet gig with ESPN. My second choice is Plesac. He's actually quite good.

Grandma reads 50 Cent's Tweets

If you're easily offended, don't click on this one. There's a little salty language. But I thought it was pretty darn funny...

A Christmas message from Snoop Dogg

And a commercial for Pepsi Max. But it's a pretty good one...

Jokes for a Hump Day morning

I got this from multiple sources. Thanks to all of you...

Just when you have lost faith in human kindness, someone who teaches at Kean Elementary in Wooster, Ohio forwarded the following.This letter was sent to the Principal's office after the school had sponsored a luncheon for the elderly.

An elderly lady received a new radio at the lunch as a door prize and was writing to say thank you. This story is a credit to all humankind.

Dear Kean Elementary,

Thank you for the beautiful radio I won at your recent senior citizens luncheon. I am 84 years old and live at the Sprenger Home for the Aged. All of my family has passed away. I am all alone now and it's nice to know that someone is thinking of me. God bless you for your kindness. My roommate is 95 and has always had her own radio, but before I received one, she would never let me listen to hers, even when she was napping. The other day her radio fell off the nightstand and broke into a lot of pieces. It was awful and she was in tears. Her distress over the broken radio touched me and I knew this was God's way of sending me a message. She asked if she could listen to mine, and I told her to kiss my ass.

Thank you for that opportunity..
Sincerely,
Agnes Baker

Who should replace Santo?

I have my choice.

He's the one pictured here at this ESPN article about the possibilities.

A unique Christmas wish

This one has more than a million views on YouTube...

Sarah Palin Christmas Song

This is the handiwork of Tom Latourette, the singer of our Just One Bad Century song. He was also a frequent contributor to the Johnny B Showgram on the Loop. His latest comedic target is Sarah...

RIP Phil Cavarretta

Phil Cavarretta died yesterday in Georgia at the age of 94.

For twenty years Phil was the face of the Cubs. He was a Chicago boy (Lane Tech), started playing for the Cubs as a teenager in the mid 30s, was the MVP of the league during their last pennant winning season of 1945, and played with them until he was fired during spring training of 1954 (he was also the manager at the time).

With Phil's passing only two players remain from that last Cubs World Series team. Lennie Merullo will be 93 this year. Andy Pafko will be 90.

Father Knows Nothing

I just posted my latest Father Knows Nothing column at NWI Parent. This week's column contains the secret to happiness. It's called "Saving another life through shtick."

You can read it here.

Tiny Tim & Miss Vicky

It's almost impossible to explain this moment to people that weren't alive in 1969 (and honestly, to a few like me that were), but on this day in 1969 Tiny Tim married Miss Vicky and between 40 and 50 million tuned in to watch. Here's a portion of that show...

A Cubs programming note

The MLB network likes to taunt me. They e-mail me press releases about upcoming programs related to the Cubs (because of Just One Bad Century), so I can pass it along to Cub nation. This week there's another program that I'd like to watch, but can't (because my cable provider doesn't offer MLB network)...

"Steve Bartman obstructing with Chicago Cubs outfielder Moises Alou’s attempt to catch a foul ball during Game Six of the 2003 NLCS will be featured in a new episode of MLB Network Countdown: Fan Moments on Saturday, December 18 at 9:00 p.m. ET. The Bartman incident will be ranked alongside other famous fan moments, including:
- ‘Disco Demolition Night,’ when fans brought their disco records to be blown up at Chicago’s Comiskey Park during a doubleheader in 1979,
- and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Rick Monday grabbing the American flag away from would-be flag-burners"

Bartman, Steve Dahl, and Rick Monday, all in one show. Now that would be worth watching. By the way, MLB network, you know that Rick Monday wasn't on the Dodgers when he saved that flag, don't you?

Kid-K returns

A few years ago, after the flame outs of both Mark Prior and Sammy Sosa, I made a deal with myself. I decided that I would never again wear a Cubs jersey unless it was the jersey number of a player from my youth. I kept a couple of Ernie Banks jerseys (my favorite), and I gave the Prior and Sosa jerseys to Goodwill.

But for some reason, I couldn't quite part with the Kerry Wood jersey. I was there for his 20 strikeout game. It was an important day in my life even beyond baseball (I founded my advertising agency on that day), and I felt a sort of kinship for the kid. Plus, even when  he left town, I always suspected he would return to finish his career in Chicago.

I was right.

My Sox fan friend Dave called yesterday to mock this move, but beyond even the sentimental reasons, I think it's a good move for the Cubs. So mock away. I'm fine with it.

A million thanks

Yesterday this blog passed the 1,000,000 hits mark, and I didn't want to let this moment go by without thanking everyone that even occasionally checks out the blog.


Even though I don't allow comments, I do read each and every e-mail that comes in (and occasionally post them), and I appreciate all of your support. And to answer a question posed yesterday via e-mail--No, I have no plans to add advertising. I really don't like the way Google puts ads on these blogs (it's not very pleasing to the eye, and you have no control over who advertises--I don't want to inadvertently endorse someone like Ann Coulter).

If you really want to advertise, I do accept advertising at Just One Bad Century (which also gets quite a few hits), and I'm sure the good folks at NWI Parent (which also gets quite a few hits) would love to take your advertising dollars, but this site is just my personal site, and I want to keep it that way.

Thanks again, everyone!

Joke for a Thursday morning

Contributed by "MS"...



An old time golfer comes in from a round of golf at a new course and heads into the grill room.

As he passes through the swinging doors he sees a sign hanging over the bar:

Cold Beer: $2.00

Hamburger: $2.25

Cheeseburger: $2.50

Chicken Sandwich : $3.50

Hand Job: $50.00


Checking his wallet to be sure he has the necessary payment, the old golfer walks up to the bar and beckons to the exceptionally attractive female bartender who is serving drinks to a couple of sun-wrinkled golfers.

She glides down behind the bar to the old golfer. "Yes?" she inquires with a wide, knowing smile, "May I help you?"

The old golfer leans over the bar an whispers, "I was wondering, young lady, are you the one who gives the hand job?

She looks into his eyes with that wide smile and purrs: "Yes Sir, I sure am."

The old golfer leans closer and into her left ear says softly, "Well, wash your hands real f-ing good because I want a cheeseburger."

Jimmy Fallon does John Boehner

Pretty good. I must admit. Do I need to change my mind about Jimmy Fallon?

5th Anniversary of Blogging

Today is my 5th anniversary as a blogger.

How did I decide to become a blogger? It literally happened over dinner one night.

Five years ago today my family was visiting my sister in law Nancy and her husband Randall. (I was much younger then. This photo of me was taken that night).

I had been out of radio for about a year, and had just written my first draft of $everance, and another never published book "The Bald Handbook" (It's still available, publishers!). I was also writing for Lake Magazine and Shore Magazine, but I was still coming up with a ridiculous amount of additional material and didn't know what to do with it all. After producing a daily radio show for twenty years, I had gotten into the habit of coming up with a ton of content, and couldn't stop.

My brother in law Randall said to me: "You know, you really should do a blog."

"How do I do that?" I asked.

He pulled out his computer, went on blogger, had me pick a template, and before the dessert was served, I was a blogger.

Just like that.

I've since gone on to start up several other blogs and websites, and write other books and magazine articles, but I've never stopped doing this one. My daily blog has become a sort of therapy for me. It forces me to keep in touch with what's going on in the world (and specifically my areas of interest/expertise), and allows me to pontificate about the news occasionally. I like to do it first thing in the morning over my first few cups of coffee. I usually finish up my daily posts as the boys are leaving for school. The door slam is like an alarm clock telling me to stop the therapy, and return to my real writing jobs.

But I realized something this morning. Even though I have done nearly 5000 posts in the five years this blog has existed, I hadn't changed the design at all since Randall set it up for me. After five years, I figured it was about time. What do you think of the new design? Hopefully it doesn't shock you too much. It should be a lot easier to navigate than the old one.

Also, let me take this opportunity to thank everyone that has read it this year. I discovered recently that I'm approaching a milestone. Two thousand more hits (which should come before this weekend), and I'll officially have an even one million hits.

Not bad for a guy just sitting in his basement.