Month: April 2024

I’ve a few things on my mind.  Here it all is.

All the hubbub about Taylor Swift’s new double album.  Wow!  I admire her work ethic and the massive fandom she’s built around the world.  Pretty incredible stuff. With all that said, Taylor’s music really isn’t for me.  And at age 34, she’s still writing songs from the perspective of a spurned 15 year old girl.  Oh well.  Actually, my favorite Taylor Swift song is one she wrote but gave to the country band Little Big Town.  It’s called “Better Man” and it really carries the message of someone leaving an abusive relationship.  Well done Tay Tay!

“Better Man” is such a great song that Taylor Swift wrote and gave to Little Big Town to record.

At the start of the baseball season, I said the White Sox would lose 100 games. I need to amend that prediction.  In baseball’s 162 game schedule, every team wins at least 50 games and loses 50 games.  It’s what happens in the other 62 games that reflects what kind of season it’s going to be.  Well now I have to say I don’t think the Sox are even going to win 50 games!

They just won 3 games in a row but this White Sox season still looks grim.

Rumors say Adam Sandler is putting together a sequel to the 1996 farce fest “Happy Gilmore.”  In my sarcastic voice I say- “Did they ever make a sequel to the classic “Citizen Kane”?  No.  So why touch a film gem like “Happy G?”

Let’s see if a modern day classic gets a sequel.

I’ve posted on Facebook at how weak the final season of Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was.  There were lots of lame confrontations and way too much yelling which is a telltale sign that the comedy has dried up.  However, the next to last episode of “Curb” titled “Ken & Kendra” was really good.  Bruce Springsteen made a guest appearance and is spot on funny.  When Larry tried to visit Bruce’s L.A. house, Springsteen is damn hilarious.

Bruce and Larry were pretty funny together on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’.

It’s official, Mc Donald’s prices have spiked way too high.  The other day I hit their drive-thru for a dinky caramel sundae and it cost just under five dollars!  Jeez, for a buck and a half more I could get a much bigger and better treat from Culvers.  Sorry, Mc Donald’s, I’m NOT loving it.

People who drive cars with dark tinted windows are often the most aggressive and dangerous drivers on the road.  Kind of scary.

I’m puzzled these days by men on TV doing the weather or hosting sports reports & talk shows wearing sneakers.  (or do you say gym shoes?) These fellas are dressed in suits and ties, looking classy and then when you get a full body view, they’re sporting the latest in New Balance or Nike trainers.  Really?  Come on guys, let’s class it up a bit.

Dunk Tanks at carnivals would be more fun if the person getting dunked dropped into water that was loaded with flesh eating piranhas.

Elmhurst has many beautiful homes. Driving around town I see lots of them have Adirondack chairs set on front porches or neatly positioned in their yards.  Only one problem.  I NEVER see anyone actually sitting on them, relaxing and enjoying some chill time. 

Plenty of nice chair set-ups are out there. But I don’t see anyone sitting in them.

NEXT BLOG- The Return of the Cicadas.

Former major league pitcher Ken Holtzman has died at age 78.  Apparently, he’d been dealing with heart issues and was hospitalized for the past three weeks. Good ole number 30 remains the winningest Jewish pitcher with 174 wins.  He was and will always be my very favorite Chicago Cub player.

Watching him in person hurl for the fabled 1969 Chicago Cubs was an early sports memory for me.  He threw lefthanded as did I. It was Ken’s success that made me want to become a pitcher which I was in Little League, high school and American Legion ball.  Then my arm gave out.   

Ken Holtzman hurling for the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

August 19^th, 1969.  I swear on the lives of all my family members that this next story is 100% true.  I was at home one afternoon watching the Cubs-Atlanta Braves game at Wrigley Field. The game was four innings old and Holtzman had a no-hitter going.  I had to leave watching the ballgame to go with my mom to Sears in Oak Brook to get some back-to-school clothes.  Before turning off our black and white TV and getting in the car, I said a little prayer out loud.  I asked for God to help Kenny get a no hitter on this day. I told my mom about this prayer and she hoped it would come true.

So, my mom and I shopped at Sears for over an hour and before heading home we went to their little cafeteria to get a snack.  Probably got some pie and a soft drink.  We’re eating our treat when I saw two Sears salesguys sitting at the table next to us.  A third co-worker walked up to them and asked, “Did you hear about Holtzman’s no hitter?”  I was stunned!  I said “Mom!  He did it!  I prayed for it and Kenny got his no hitter.”  Mom was equally thrilled and watching the sports coverage on the news that night was never sweeter.

Trade Winds. Holtzman eventually asked to be traded and went on to pitch for the Oakland A’s and it was great to see him win three World Series with Charlie Finley’s mustached ballplayers.  The swinging A’s were colorful guys and awesome ballplayers.  After that, there was a short stint with Baltimore then the Yankees then back to the Cubs in 1978.

Holtzman won three World Series Championships with the swinging Oakland A’s.

Sparky Lyle’s book “The Bronx Zoo” wrote how smart Ken Holtzman was when doing crossword puzzles and playing Password and various card games in the clubhouse.  Lyle also shared when Yankees owner George Steinbrenner wanted to trade his lefty pitcher because he’d been relegated to the bullpen and was costing the owner valuable dollars. Steinbrenner pitched a trade plan to his hurler and Holtzman, being a 10 year league veteran had the final say.  Ken Holtzman heard Steinbrenner’s proposal then looked him right in the eye and said, “Veto.” The Yankees boss was steamed.  He basically told Holtzman, ‘Fine, you sit in the bullpen and rot away and I’ll be here in my owner’s box and we can wave to each other during every home game.’    Ken Holtzman eventually made it back to the Cubs for his last two seasons.

One last Ken Holtzman anecdote.  In the Ron Santo biography movie “This Old Cub” they show when Santo waited for a call hoping to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  The call did not bring good news.  The next scene showed Santo reading a beautifully worded letter telling him how his day would come and how number ten deserved to be in Cooperstown.  It Turned out that letter was from Ronnie’s former teammate, Ken Holtzman!  Still classy, years later.

So long number 30, you’ll always be number 1 in my book and my favorite Cub!  God bless you.

NEXT BLOG- Some things that are on my mind.

Learning of the death of O.J. Simpson, I thought it best to crank up the personal memories I have of the infamy he attained back in 1994.

Monday June 13^th 1994.  I was producing the JD and The Katman Show on US*99. During the show, John Katman Katzbeck and I were writing in our tiny morning show office just outside the air studio.  A newswire machine in the room rang its bells which meant a big story was coming across.  That’s when we learned O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman were found murdered outside her townhome in Brentwood.   At this point O.J. was not a suspect but it was still a big story.  Then later that same morning came newswire information that Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg was retiring, effective immediately!  Katman and I talked about what a crazy news day it was becoming.

As circus-like as the whole O.J. trial was, at the heart of it was the brutal murder of two innocent people. This pic is one of the less graphic ones of the death scene outside Nicole Brown Simpson’s townhome.

The slow speed Bronco chase. Four days later, O.J. Simpson was a runaway murder suspect who had not turned himself in to authorities as his lawyer Robert Shapiro promised he would.  Police cars were in a line behind the Bronco and network TV covered every mile up to the point they made it back to O.J.’s house to turn himself in.  Many people remember where they were during this chase.  I was with my US*99 co-workers, sitting in a luxury skybox at Comiskey Park watching the White Sox play.  We had one eye on the ballgame and one on the skybox TVs as the chase continued.

The infamous slow speed Bronco chase. Most folks remember where they were when this insanity happened.

The trial of the century.  January 24^th, 1995 is when the trial began and CNN had gavel to gavel coverage every weekday from L.A.  Most days I’d get home from work around 11 a.m. so the trial was what I watched most of the day.  Like me, my mom was totally glued to everything that happened with Judge Lance Ito and the whole legal procedure.

A few weeks after the trial started, I was at an Eagles concert at the United Center.  As the band launched into the haunting dirge start of Don Henley’s solo hit “Dirty Laundry,” Henley asked the crowd, “Are you sick of this trial yet?”  The whole crowd roared its approval.  That was February of 1995 and the trial didn’t wrap up until eight months later in early October!

The Jury.  I remember the O.J. jury got the instructions and the case to debate late in the day on the last Friday in September.  (The 29^th) Throughout the trial, they were sequestered in a hotel but had the weekend off from formal deliberations.

Monday October 2^nd.  I was taking a nap after work and woke to find my mom standing at my bedroom doorway with a sick look on her face.  I asked what was wrong and she said, “They already have a verdict.”  “Who has a verdict?” I asked. My mom replied “The O.J. jury!”  I was stunned.  Everyone figured all the months of evidence meant the jury would be out for a week or two and make a carefully reasoned decision.   This kind of quick verdict meant only one thing.  O.J. would be found not guilty. That’s how most murder trials roll.  While the country may have been divided on Simpson’s guilt or innocence, me, my mom and most folks I know felt he was guilty of those brutal murders. 

Tuesday October 3^rd.  The verdict in L.A. was to be announced around 1 p.m. Chicago time.  Security measures in all major cities across the country were put in place.  Race played a massive part in this story and depending on how the verdict turned out, things could get crazy.  O.J. of course was found not guilty. 

After the verdict was read, one of the legal experts on CNN was asked what was next.  The answer was, “O.J. Simpson gets released right away and is a free man.”  As the TV crews in helicopters tracked O.J. being driven back to his home at 360 Rockingham, I remember sitting on my bed feeling so helpless and in total shock.  I had no doubt a miscarriage of justice had happened thanks to race issues and a piss poor prosecution team that made idiotic strategies. 

O.J. and his legal dream team react to the news that he was found not guilty…Verdict notwithstanding, rational people know he did it.

Yes, not long after the criminal trial, O.J. was found liable for the murders in a civil case but that meant no jail time and barely any of the awarded money ever went to the families of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman.  Many years later Simpson did do 9 years jail time for armed robbery charges as he tried to steal back some of his old memorabilia but real justice for him was still missing.

Now O.J. Simpson is dead.  And now he’s faced the ultimate judgment from his maker.  Enough said.

NEXT BLOG: Lots of things on my mind.

I don’t subscribe to Sirius/XM satellite so I never hear the Howard Stern show when it’s on.  However, there are times when Stern’s best celebrity interviews end up on YouTube and then I catch plenty of material and details I would never have heard otherwise.  It’s always good stuff and Howard gets the fun stories and revelations out of everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Paul McCartney to Pamela Anderson with ex-hubby Tommy Lee and even Dolly Parton.

One of the other highlights from Stern’s shows is when pop, rock and country music stars perform their best known songs and even cover tunes in Howard’s studio.  Here are some of my favorite performances that have taken place in recent years on Stern’s show.

Sammy Hagar & the Circle doing “Finish What You Started.”  Sammy and his players do this Van Halen classic up well but there’s also a fun story about the writing of that track.

Don Henley doing “The Boys of Summer.  Henley did an extensive visit with Howard and then played “Desperado”, “Please Come Home for Christmas” and the 1984 gem “The Boys of Summer.”  As Don said, this is a more thoughtful version of that hit song.

Brandi Carlile covering the Elton John classic “Madman Across the Water.”  The country music singer-songwriter shares with Howard her Elton fandom then does a fine read on this Elton oldie.  Brandi reminds me of Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl in that she is a major musicologist and advocate of songs and artists who were on the scene many years before she was.

The Highwomen playing Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.”  This supergroup is made up of Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Natalie Hemby and Amanda Shires. Four years ago, they put out their own record with great songs like “Redesigning Women” and “Crowded Table.”  On Stern’s show they did up “The Chain” and did it damn well, captivating for sure.

Bruce Springsteen going solo on “Tougher Than the Rest.”  ‘Tougher’ is in my top 5 of favorite Springsteen songs.  In this clip, Bruce plays the song on the piano but also does a detailed explanation of how he wrote the track and what it means.  So damn good!

So, there’s 5 cuts to enjoy. I look forward to sharing more of the best of music that comes from Howard Stern’s shows.

NEXT BLOG: A Few things on my mind.