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I Didn't Think It Was THIS Bad

I forgot to do a "...since the Cubs last won..." update last week.

I'm taking a different approach this week:

Did you know Leo Tolstoy (b. 1828) and Mark Twain (b. 1835) were both still alive when the Cubs last won a World Series. That is simply unbelievable. Both writers passed away in 1910.

Wimps in Michigan

I was reading the Peoria paper online today and discovered that despite both teams being there, the Rivermen game in Grand Rapids, Michigan was postponed due to weather Saturday night. They mentioned "blizzard conditions" and I checked, the temp was about zero with "negative windchills."

Um, dudes, you freakin' live in Michigan. Wimps.

Meanwhile, across Lake Superior in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and other cities across the Iron Range, temps dropped to -20 to -30 Saturday night, with windchills of -60 and even lower, yet the state's entire high school hockey schedule went off without a hitch.

I heard people complaining here in Illinois about the weather this past week. Yawn. You want cold? Spend a weekend in Warroad, or International Falls, or Bemidji, or Ely, or Biwabik, in January or February and you'll get cold.

Two Minnesota Guys Shine at The Super Bowl

Thank you, Tony Dungy (Minnesota '77)! Thanks to Tony, I can actually have a normal next couple of weeks instead of listening to non-stop talk about how wonderful the Bears are.

Note to Bears fans: Your team got throttled. Your team got the chance to be throttled by playing in the lamest NFC ever assembled. The '85 Bears would eat these current guys' lunch. And the '06 Colts just did. So thank you Tony Dungy.

Now, when the talk turned to "who is the MVP"? I couldn't think of one that actually wore a Colt or Bear uniform, the first thought that came to mind was the halftime entertainment.

Yep. Prince (native Minnesotan) was the true MVP of this game...the only individual of the bunch I'd pay to see. Mr. Nelson might indeed be one of the top two or three musical artists of all time, Beethoven and Bach included. And certainly his halftime show was much more entertaining than that game. By far.

A Little Sadness Tonight

This blog is named after a song written by my favorite songwriter and performer, Jeffrey Steele.

My buddy Dan Dermody called me tonight to tell me that Jeffrey and Stephanie's son Alex, only 13-years old, was killed Sunday in a 4-wheeler accident. I never got the pleasure to meet Alex, but if he was anything like his dad, I would have liked him very, very much.

I feel so bad for Jeffrey, his wife and their three daughters. I know they'll never forget their young man, and hopefully happy memories can replace the current terrible feelings very soon for all of them.

Amazing.

This week's edition of: "Something that came into the world SINCE the pathetic, hapless, worst pro sports franchise ever - the Chicago Cubs - last won a World Series."



That's right. Talking movies came AFTER the last Cubs' title.

Here's Hoping He Waits...Forever

Mark McGwire didn't get into the baseball Hall of Fame this year. Good. I am among those who hope he NEVER gets in. His obvious steroid use and his pathetic performance in front of Congress would be enough for me to leave him out of the Hall, but beyond that, the guy really wasn't any better than Dave Kingman, he just juiced his body to hit more homers than Kingman did.

McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, they can all rot away and never see the inside of the Hall of Fame. Deserving players like Bert Blyleven, Tommy John, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, and Goose Gossage are still not in, how about we not even discuss these steroid freaks until the right players who DIDN'T enhance their body through chemistry are allowed into the Hall.

Mitch McConnell Is An Idiot

I'll post more later when my head stops shaking uncontrollably. What a freakin' buffoon.

BTW, can I just say this? I am so sick of the GOP line "we haven't been attacked since 9/11". STOP it. It's NOT A BIG DEAL. We've gone DECADES without conflict, CENTURIES without "an attack on our homeland". Just...STOP...it. My word.

It is SO hard to type when you can't stop shaking your head in incredulous disbelief at what you're hearing. Amazing.

What's Good For The Goose...

I'm driving home from Bloomington last night, punching around the AM dial (nothing better than late night AM radio...STILL). I pick up Nashville, Cincinnati, Detroit, Dallas, Minneapolis, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Atlanta...I'm having a blast! And then I pick up a talk show on out of Denver.

The host on that station is upset that Muslim cabbies in Minneapolis are refusing to transport people with alcohol. He says, "if it's part of the job, you have to deal with it. If you knew that going in, why take the job?!?!?"

He then tells of a time when he was at a major league baseball game and ordered a hot dog with chili, and the girl behind the counter had to wait for someone else to come over and help her because "she didn't handle pork products". So again, he says, "why would you take that job if you can't handle the job requirements??!?!"

So a caller joins in and says he's a cabbie in Reno, and if a gay couple wants a ride to a gay bar, he has to take them, whether he supports their "behavior" or not, because "that's the job I signed up to do." And the host says, "see? that's what I'm talking about. Good for you! You just do the job, right? Because if you DIDN'T transport the gays, these liberals would be calling you a bigot!"

Well, guess who's the next caller...yep, me! I say, "I gotta tell ya, I agree with what you're saying...if you take a job knowing what the requirements are and still refuse to DO some of the requirements, why should you be allowed to keep that job?"

And he says, "right on, that's what I'm saying! Why is that so hard to understand?"

I add, "I dunno. I just think these Muslims shouldn't be letting their religious beliefs get in the way of their job."

And he's excited now, "Exactly...no one is telling them they can't be Muslim (the old conservative cabal there, see it?), but they've gotta do the job as described."

I go on: "Absolutely, I agree. And because of that, I feel the same way about druggists. If a guy takes a job at a pharmacy that sells the pill and other forms of birth control and doesn't want to do that based on his religious beliefs, then he shouldn't work there or shouldn't even have applied in the first place, right?"

Silence. Or, as we call it in the business, dead air. Then I hear a click on my end.

I crank up the radio, hear the end of my own comments as the 7-second delay kicks in, and then I hear the silence.

Followed by this intelligent comeback: "Okay people, let's stick to the topic here...we've been talking about only ONE thing here...Muslim cabbies and their refusal to take fares that have alcoholic beverages on them. See how these liberals are? For the last five minutes, I've been laser beam focused on Muslim cabbies, and then they gotta try and spin the subject and twist what I'm saying. (heavy sigh) We'll be right back."

Just to recap...the guy who brought up the big league ballpark situation and allowed the caller right in front of me to express his displeasure with gay people says he's "laser beam focused" on Muslims/cabbies/alcohol and hangs up on me without remotely answering my question.

I drove on, shook my head, laughed out loud, and punched up a Jeffrey Steele CD.

Slight Change

I went to the "moderate comments" section and made it so only "registered users" could comment. Does this mean anonymous gutless wonders will have to sign in with some kind of handle now to comment? Hope so.

Wow...THAT long ago?!?!?

This week's edition of: "Something that came into the world SINCE the pathetic, hapless, worst pro sports franchise ever - the Chicago Cubs - last won a World Series."

Enjoy.