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This Issue from John Kuczaj:
• Kornheiser & Wilbon Wannabees
• Do Sneed Read?
• Musings
Kornheiser & Wilbon Wannabees
When ESPN's "Around the Horn" debuted, I figured I'd give it a shot. One stumbling block was that one of the featured talking heads was the Sun-Times #3 sports columnist, Jay Mariotti. Other than the fact that he hates Chicago sports and constantly contradicts his own opinions, I really have no problem with Mariotti. This, of course, presented a problem in my potential enjoyment of "ATH". The suggestion from the start of the show was that the line-up would change daily, so I figured that a couple times a week I could watch. Depressingly, while three of the slots on the show change daily, Mariotti has been consistently glued into the program. At first that was disappointing to me. However, something very special has happened in the meantime.
The other sportswriters are actually CALLING Mariotti on his hypocrisy! Yes!!
A month or so ago, I had finally decided to give up on the show when T.J. Simers & Tim Cowlishaw started to needle Mariotti for hating everything about Chicago sports. This was an interesting turn of events. In subsequent shows, I've seen them as well as Woody Paige and even the much-revered Bob Ryan make light of Mariotti flip-flopping his opinion. Wow. In fact, "Pulling a Mariotti" has become a favorite term of everyone on ATH including Max. Needless to say, I now watch "ATH" more frequently and delight in the regular ribbing Mariotti gets from the other panelists.
Still, I had wondered why Jay seemed to be the only permanent panelist on the show. Well--I wondered up until it was announced that Mariotti was teaming up with show host Max Kellerman on a weekday talk show for ESPN radio.
I guess Max & Jay are buddies in some ways. Of course, this makes Max's favoritism to Jay a bit more apparent (though not as much as his worshipful attitude toward Bob Ryan) and begs the question of how Max can possibly 'score the argument" fairly when his radio partner is in the game every day.
Visit the Jay Merriman archive.
Do Sneed Read?
Last Tuesday the 22nd of April, The Sun-Times' Michael Sneed got a tip on who posted bail for US Cellular Field intruder Eric Dybas: "Who was Shirley D. Erickson, who put up the $25,000 cash to make good on the $250,000 D-(deposit) bond?"
On Wednesday the 23rd, Sneed announced that the mystery was solved! "The woman who bonded out Eric Dybas...was his mother, Shirley D. Erickson."
Meanwhile, let's go back a week prior , when the Sun-Times (along with every other news organization) reported the reaction of Eric Dybas' mom, "Shelly Erickson". Okay, the first name was wrong, but come on! I wasn't paying close attention, but even I noticed that once again, we have a person from a broken home accused of a crime, and his mother has a different last name. This kind of thing is catching my attention. I can't believe Sneed didn't pick up on this.
Musings
Kudos to 60 Minutes for doing a story last night about the well-connected corporations that are getting lucrative no-bid government contracts to rebuild Iraq. After the FCC's current review of the Telecommunications Act, this story will prove to be the most important story that U.S. news media will not be covering. Some due to their corporate ownership, the rest due to their low opinion on the intelligence of their audience.
On Monday the 21st of April, the man who had been passing out free Red Eye newspapers at the Jefferson Park CTA terminal had a spiffy new sandwich board to stand behind that said "Free Red Eye". The next day, the man-who had been passing out free Red Eyes for months-was gone, replaced by a different, lonelier man and another sandwich board that said "Red Eye - 25 cents". After only one week, that man & his sandwich board were gone. As of last Tuesday, there are no longer free Red Eyes for commuters at Jeff Park, and apparently sales were not brisk enough to warrant someone selling them at the entrance. Conclusions?
Pick up the May issue (cover story: Best New Restaurants) of Chicago Magazine for a nice article on Channel 7's head honcho, Emily Barr. It's a good write-up on the GM who succeeded Joe Ahern at WLS. She seems like a cool person & someone who is good to work for-a rarity for an O&O TV station. No link on the Chicagomag web site yet. By the way, I'd like to proudly announce that I've never been to any of the 20 restaurants profiled in the mag, and have no plans to do so.
Changes are afoot at the Nude Hippo Show . If you live in Chicago...and have cable...keep tabs on the show Thursdays at 7pm on channel 25. Host/cable kingpin Tony Lossano has some grand plans for "Your Chicago Show" and some of the improvements are starting to kick in. For some reason, he thinks having me on the show constitutes an improvement, so starting with last week's episode, I'll be on the set with Tony & Bridget talking Chicago Media.
Check it out...If you don't laugh at me, maybe you'll laugh with me.
IN THE CURRENT CHICAGO RED FACE:
- Pate Picks Successor
- COMPLETE COVERAGE! WAR ON IRAQ
- Ex-Gov. Ryan: Sox trespassers deserve death penalty
- Homeland Security names first Time Travel Czars
- Ford & Chrysler announce "Hummer" knockoffs
- "Fraternity Vacation" Event Canceled on Robbins War Stance
- NASL Preview by Jenny
- JAY MERRYMAN: Cubs going all the way!
- Cool Again: The Heights
Check it out at: www.chicagoredface.com.
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